Exploring the Tarot of the Spirit Deck

Answer-first intro: The Tarot of the Spirit deck is a 78-card esoteric tarot system that maps the Tree of Life onto every card. Created by Pamela Eakins in the 1990s, it replaces the traditional Minor Arcana suits with elemental correspondences and embeds Hebrew letters, astrological glyphs, and alchemical symbols directly into the card art. It is not a deck for beginners.

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What Makes the Tarot of the Spirit Different from Other Decks?

Most tarot decks follow the pictorial structure of the Rider-Waite-Smith system. The Tarot of the Spirit does not. It was designed as a working tool for ceremonial magicians, Qabalists, and those who treat tarot as a system of spiritual transformation rather than divination alone.

The deck was first published in 1991 by U.S. Games Systems. The creator, Pamela Eakins, was a scholar of comparative religion and a practicing ceremonial magician. She worked with artist Eakins (her husband at the time) to produce the imagery. The result is a deck that looks nothing like the familiar pastoral scenes of the Waite-Smith tradition. Instead, each card is a dense arrangement of symbols: Hebrew letters, planetary seals, elemental triangles, and color fields that correspond to specific sephiroth on the Tree of Life.

The deck is organized around the Qabalistic framework. The Major Arcana follows the path of the Fool through the 22 paths on the Tree of Life. The Minor Arcana is restructured entirely. Instead of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles, the suits become Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Each card in the Minor Arcana is assigned to a specific sephirah on the Tree of Life, meaning that every card carries a fixed Qabalistic meaning that does not change with the reader’s intuition.

Where Did the Tarot of the Spirit Come From? A History

Pamela Eakins was not the first to attempt a Qabalistic tarot. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn had already assigned Hebrew letters and astrological correspondences to the tarot in the late 19th century. Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris produced the Thoth Tarot between 1938 and 1943, which also used Qabalistic and alchemical symbolism. But the Tarot of the Spirit took a different approach.

Eakins wanted a deck that could be used as a meditation tool for ascending the Tree of Life. She described the deck as a “map of consciousness” in her companion book, Tarot of the Spirit, published in 1992. The deck was designed to be studied in sequence, not shuffled and read. The idea was that a practitioner would work through the cards in order, using each one as a focus for contemplation on a specific sephirah or path.

The deck was produced during a period of renewed interest in Western esotericism. The 1980s and 1990s saw a surge in occult publishing, with authors like Israel Regardie, Dion Fortune, and Gareth Knight being reprinted and rediscovered. Eakins drew heavily on the works of Regardie, particularly his writings on the Golden Dawn system and the Qabalah.

The original 1991 edition is now out of print and commands high prices from collectors. A second edition was released in 2005 by U.S. Games Systems, with slightly revised artwork and a new companion book. The second edition is still in print as of 2025.

How the Deck Is Structured: The Qabalistic Framework

The Tarot of the Spirit uses the Tree of Life as its organizing principle. The Tree consists of ten sephiroth (spheres) connected by 22 paths. The Major Arcana cards correspond to the 22 paths. The Minor Arcana cards correspond to the ten sephiroth, with each suit representing a different level of the Tree.

The suits are:

• Fire (replacing Wands): corresponds to the world of Atziluth, the archetypal world
• Water (replacing Cups): corresponds to the world of Briah, the creative world
• Air (replacing Swords): corresponds to the world of Yetzirah, the formative world
• Earth (replacing Pentacles): corresponds to the world of Assiah, the material world

Each suit has ten cards, one for each sephirah. The Ace of Fire, for example, corresponds to Kether (the Crown) in the world of Atziluth. The Two of Fire corresponds to Chokmah (Wisdom), and so on down to the Ten of Fire, which corresponds to Malkuth (the Kingdom).

This means that the Tarot of the Spirit does not use the traditional numbering system of the Minor Arcana in the same way as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. The Two of Fire is not about “planning and decisions” in the Waite-Smith sense. It is about the sephirah Chokmah in the world of Fire, which carries specific Qabalistic meanings: wisdom, expansion, the masculine principle, the force of the divine will.

What the Card Art Actually Shows

The artwork of the Tarot of the Spirit is abstract and symbolic. There are no human figures in the traditional sense. Instead, the cards use geometric shapes, color fields, and symbolic objects.

Take the Ace of Fire. The card shows a red triangle pointing upward, surrounded by flames. The triangle is the alchemical symbol for fire. The Hebrew letter Yod appears in the center. The card is bordered in gold, representing the sephirah Kether, which is associated with the divine crown.

The Ten of Earth shows a black square, the alchemical symbol for earth, surrounded by a circle. The square is divided into four smaller squares, each containing a different symbol: a cross, a circle, a triangle, and a crescent. The card is bordered in brown and black, representing Malkuth, the material world.

The Major Arcana cards are similarly abstract. The Fool shows a white circle on a black background, with a single Hebrew letter (Aleph) in the center. The card is bordered in white, representing the path between Kether and Chokmah on the Tree of Life.

This abstraction is deliberate. Eakins designed the deck to bypass the conscious mind and speak directly to the subconscious. The lack of recognizable figures forces the reader to engage with the symbols on a deeper level, rather than relying on narrative associations.

How to Use the Tarot of the Spirit in Practice

The Tarot of the Spirit is not a deck for quick readings. It is a study tool and a meditation aid. The companion book provides a detailed method for working with the cards.

The recommended practice is to take one card per day. You study the card’s symbols, read the corresponding chapter in the book, and meditate on the card’s meaning. The goal is to internalize the Qabalistic correspondences so that they become second nature.

For those who want to use the deck for divination, the approach is different from a standard tarot reading. The reader must understand the Qabalistic framework to interpret the cards. A card’s meaning is determined by its position on the Tree of Life, not by the traditional meanings associated with the Rider-Waite-Smith system.

A spread might be designed around the Tree of Life itself. The reader lays out ten cards, one for each sephirah, and interprets them in relation to each other. The positions are fixed: the first card is Kether (the question’s spiritual source), the second is Chokmah (the wisdom behind the situation), and so on down to Malkuth (the material outcome).

The deck can also be used for pathworking. The practitioner visualizes themselves moving through the paths on the Tree of Life, using the Major Arcana cards as gateways. This is a form of guided meditation that draws on the Golden Dawn’s techniques of astral projection and visionary experience.

How the Tarot of the Spirit Compares to the Thoth and Rider-Waite-Smith Decks

The Tarot of the Spirit is often compared to the Thoth Tarot because both decks use Qabalistic and alchemical symbolism. But the differences are significant.

The Thoth Tarot retains the traditional suit structure of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Disks. The Tarot of the Spirit replaces them with Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. The Thoth deck uses human figures in many of its cards, while the Tarot of the Spirit is entirely abstract.

The Thoth deck was designed for divination as well as meditation. Crowley intended it to be used for readings, and the card meanings are rich with psychological and mythological associations. The Tarot of the Spirit is more narrowly focused on the Qabalistic framework. It is less flexible as a divination tool but more precise as a Qabalistic reference.

The Rider-Waite-Smith deck is the most accessible of the three. Its scenes are narrative and intuitive. A reader can interpret the cards without knowing anything about the Qabalah. The Tarot of the Spirit requires study. You cannot read it without understanding the Tree of Life, the Hebrew alphabet, and the elemental correspondences.

Common Misconceptions About the Tarot of the Spirit

Misconception 1: It is a replacement for the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. It is not. The Tarot of the Spirit is a specialized tool for Qabalistic practice. It does not work well for general readings or for readers who rely on intuitive interpretation of images.

Misconception 2: It is the same as the Thoth Tarot. The two decks share a Qabalistic foundation, but they are different systems. The Thoth deck is more flexible and more widely used. The Tarot of the Spirit is more rigid and more academic.

Misconception 3: You can learn the Qabalah from the deck alone. The deck is a reference tool, not a textbook. You need to study the Qabalah separately to understand the card meanings. The companion book helps, but it assumes prior knowledge of the Tree of Life and the Hebrew alphabet.

Misconception 4: The deck is out of print and impossible to find. The second edition (2005) is still in print as of 2025. It is available through U.S. Games Systems and major bookstores. The original 1991 edition is collectible and expensive, but the second edition is affordable.

FAQ

Is the Tarot of the Spirit good for beginners? No. The deck requires knowledge of the Qabalah, the Tree of Life, and the Hebrew alphabet. Beginners should start with the Rider-Waite-Smith or the Thoth Tarot.

Can I use the Tarot of the Spirit for daily readings? Yes, but the readings will be different from a standard tarot reading. Each card has a fixed Qabalistic meaning, so the interpretation is less flexible.

What is the companion book like? The companion book, Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins, is 400 pages long. It provides detailed explanations of each card, including its Qabalistic correspondences, astrological associations, and meditation instructions.

Is the Tarot of the Spirit a “dark” deck? No. The deck is abstract and academic, not dark or threatening. It does not use horror imagery or demonic symbolism. The abstraction can feel cold to some readers, but it is not malevolent.

The Tarot of the Spirit in the Context of the Esoteric Tradition

The Tarot of the Spirit belongs to a lineage of esoteric tarot decks that began with the Golden Dawn’s secret teachings. The Golden Dawn assigned Hebrew letters, astrological signs, and planetary symbols to the tarot in the 1880s. These correspondences were published by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in his Book T (1888), which circulated among members of the Order.

Crowley and Harris transformed these correspondences into the Thoth Tarot. Eakins took the same correspondences and pushed them further into abstraction. The Tarot of the Spirit is the most purely Qabalistic tarot deck ever produced. It strips away the narrative and mythological elements that Crowley retained and presents the symbols in their most distilled form.

This makes the deck valuable for serious students of the Qabalah. It is less useful for casual readers or for those who use tarot primarily for divination. But for the practitioner who wants to internalize the Tree of Life, the Tarot of the Spirit is an unparalleled tool.

Closing

The Tarot of the Spirit is not a deck you pick up and read. It is a deck you study, meditate on, and integrate into a larger practice of Qabalistic work. For those who make the effort, it offers a direct encounter with the symbols that underpin Western esotericism. For more on how tarot and Qabalah intersect, see our guide to tarot and our glossary of Qabalistic terms. If you are considering adding this deck to your practice, our guide to esoteric tarot decks compares the Tarot of the Spirit to the Thoth, the Golden Dawn, and other systems.