How many cards are in the traditional tarot pack

[Juliamae]

Hi there,  I have only ever used the Mythic tarot deck with 84 cards. I would like to buy a pack of cards and workbook for my niece but was suprised to find looking online that tarot decks vary in the number of cards.  Is there a 'right' number?  I think I will have to buy her an 84 pack as it is the only one I know so it would be confusing otherwise.  All advice appreciated. 

I hope joining this site enlarges my understanding of the tarot.  Which is quite limited really.  I do my own readings twice a year and stick to that.  Interestingly in my last reading (April this year) the central card was the hanging man, representing sacrifice.  Which pretty much summed it up for me!  

[Marirowana]

Hi Juliamae, welcome!
I would say that a 'standard' amount of cards is 78. Most decks I encounter, and all the decks I have, have this number of cards. 

 

I would like to recommend you a book, which is at the same time meant as an answer to your question: 

78 Degrees of Wisdom, by Rachel Pollack. I truly enjoyed reading this book, it gives some beautiful insights about each of the (78) cards.

Enjoy your journey! I love that you are looking into this for your niece. My aunt once gifted me my first tarot deck when I was 10, and I'm forever grateful. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Marirowana

[katrinka]

Yes, 78 cards is standard, although there are a few with extras.
Rider Waite Smith is a good starter deck, if only because there are so many books that feature it. And there are a lot of versions with different coloring that are still standard RWS: the USG version, the Centennial, the Albano Waite, etc.

Thoth is the best for learning the Golden Dawn meanings without the blinds that Waite put in. Crowley's writing can be a bit cryptic, but we have Lon Milo Duquette's Understanding the Thoth Tarot, and this website is very helpful and clear: https://www.corax.com/tarot/thoth.html

 

And then there are the pip decks, the Marseilles, etc. People use different methods with those. I like reading them by number and suit, like playing cards.

And there are many, many decks based on RWS, too many to count. Some are excellent, others not so good (the less-good ones may contain some ideas she'll have to unlearn later.) My favorite RWS-structured decks are the ones from Baba Studios. They have companion books you can order, and it's all very well done. This one is currently available for preorder and should ship next month: https://baba-store.com/products/the-fantastic-menagerie-tarot-deck-second-edition

 

All of these decks contain the standard 78. Some of the Baba decks have extras, but they're alternate versions of one of the standard cards, not standalone extras.

 

78 cards is the gold standard. 😉
 

[LogicalHue]

Is this the deck you have? I can't find anything saying it has more than 78 cards or info on the other cards. I'm curious.

Tarot decks, as stated, have 78 cards - 22 majors and 56 minors, or sometimes its just the 22 majors. Other decks called Oracle decks have as many as the creator felt like, so that would be where you'd see the most variation.

[katrinka]

There's a newer, redrawn version of that one, but AT still shows a count of 78:

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/new-mythic/