Keep seeing people freaked out about the Hermetic Tarot being “dark” or “dangerous.” It’s black and white drawings with a ton of symbols, not a Ouija board. Yeah, it looks serious compared to your average pastel deck, but scary? Nah. Just information-dense. Kind of like working with black crystals before you really understand them.
If you felt drawn to it before reading those reviews, get it. The Hermetic Tarot won’t summon anything to your living room just because you’re new. It’s a study deck - might take longer to learn, but that initial pull you felt means something.
Trust your gut over random internet warnings.
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For those who are unfamiliar, this is maybe one of the first dark tarot decks people are introduced to, but I don’t personally find it that dark compared to some of the others.
While I don’t find it that dark, I do think YMMV and you should always be working with a deck you trust anyway. If you don’t like the vibe, don’t use it. 
Ive been using the Hermetic Tarot as my only deck for eight years, and over time, Ive found that its dense symbolism becomes clearer.
It’s like how a tool you use a lot shows you more features than a drawer full of gadgets. The black and white artwork makes you focus on the symbols instead of getting sidetracked by colors, and that’s helped me improve as a reader.
I got curious about who made the Hermetic deck and started doing some research.
Reading their other stuff really helped those crazy symbols click for me. It felt like finally getting the instructions after being stumped by a puzzle for ages.
The intensity thing is real, but I found starting with just ONE symbol per card instead of trying to absorb everything at once made the Hermetic way less intimidating.
You don’t need to understand every planetary glyph and Hebrew letter on day one, it becomes more like slowly learning a language rather than cramming for an exam. Give it a try with just focusing on the main imagery first, then add the astrological stuff when you’re ready, the deck’s not going anywhere.
The Hermetic Tarot is intense, there’s symbolism in literally every corner of every card.
At first, I was trying to decode every single symbol, and it was taking forever. I’d get so caught up in the details that I’d forget what I was even asking about in the first place. These days, I try to get the overall vibe first, then dive into specifics if I need to.
Much better results.
What makes a deck dangerous anyway? The artwork? Or just us projecting fear onto stuff we don’t understand?
I’ve been using the Hermetic deck just when I’m called to and honestly, it reads gentler than a lot of colorful decks. Without all the visual noise, you have to rely on intuition. Black and white doesn’t mean dark energy.
My grandma used regular playing cards for fortune telling for 40 years. Never had any weird supernatural stuff happen.
every card reflects back what you’re going through right now. let the symbols speak to you, they’ll show you both the positive and difficult aspects of your situation. trust what comes up.
You might want to check out the Deviant Moon instead (if you haven’t already got this deck):
That deck has such a devoted following (I count myself in that crowd). It gives readings with the warmth of a cozy fireplace, but every time I look at it, I feel like the Tower card is personally coming for me! Choosing a deck is like choosing a familiar.
What makes one reader’s heart sing might make another reader’s eye twitch. I’ve seen people get gorgeous readings from decks that make me want to sage my entire house just from looking at the box art. (Looking at you, certain gothic decks that shall remain nameless.)
Fair warning: Once you start collecting decks based on ‘vibes,’ your wallet might start giving you reversed Pentacles readings! The Hermetic deck has its own intense energy. My advice? Check out a full flip-through video first. If the imagery speaks to you without making you want to hide under your altar cloth, then it’s probably meant to be in your collection!
Remember: The ‘scariest’ deck is the one that tells you exactly what you need to hear when you’re not ready to hear it. But that’s true for all of them, really!
Got the Hermetic deck pretty early on when I was new to tarot. I loved all the astrological and alchemical symbols (I thought they’d help me learn the meanings better).
Did plenty of readings with it that worked out fine. No weird energy or anything like that. But there’s something about it that never really clicked with my reading style. Been sitting unused in my collection for a while now, the only deck collecting dust. Sometimes a deck just isn’t right for where you are.
The Hermetic feels like it needs a different me, maybe one who’s ready for what it offers. Everyone probably has decks like this, technically great but just not for them.
I find working with the Hermetic Tarot during winter can get pretty intense.
I avoid bringing this deck to holiday parties because of it. The introspective vibe of the season really boosts the deck’s energy. Readings end up feeling way deeper and more inward-focused than what most people want at social gatherings.
I’ll happily pull out lighter decks for New Year’s Eve readings, but the Hermetic takes things to a level that works better for one-on-one sessions than festive events. Seasonal changes definitely affect how the cards feel, especially if you’re the person everyone asks for readings at parties.
Yeah, I get why some decks can feel creepy! Have you figured out what exactly bothers you about it? Sometimes it’s the art style or the colors that just don’t sit right.
The thing about tarot is it shows all of life (the good stuff and the hard stuff. Those darker cards aren’t trying to scare you. They’re actually there to help you work through difficult feelings and situations. If a deck feels too intense, try getting to know it better. Read up on what the cards actually mean. Death and the Tower look scary but they’re really about big changes and letting go of what’s not working. Once you understand the symbols, they become less frightening.
Cards are just a tool. They only have the meaning you give them.
I think the Hermetic Tarot might come across as more mysterious than outright ‘dark.’ It’s really about deepening your tarot knowledge. Maybe just spend some time focusing on a single card to slowly uncover its messages.
The Hermetic Tarot definitely assumes you know your way around occult systems.
For newer readers, that can be a lot to take in all at once. People who’ve been reading tarot for a while tend to pick it up faster. They’ve seen similar symbols before in other places, so the deck’s language clicks more easily.
Like that old mystical saying goes, once you’ve seen enough moons, you start recognizing stars in the darkness.
The Hermetic has great card stock. Takes a bit to break in but then it shuffles really nicely. The line drawings are super detailed too. I find myself tracing them sometimes when I’m doing readings - helps me concentrate.
The Hermetic Tarot works great for journaling btw. All those symbols give you so much to write about. Just pull a card and see what comes up - you’d be surprised what you end up discovering about yourself.
I grabbed the Hermetic Tarot early on, thinking all those symbols would make me a tarot genius overnight. Nope. Just sat on my shelf, feeling like homework.
The deck tries to teach you everything at once, like that friend who explains every ingredient when you just asked what’s for dinner. Sometimes a deck can be technically brilliant but still feel like you’re reading a textbook instead of having a conversation.
I started with Thoth before getting into the Hermetic Tarot and honestly, it helped a lot. They’re both Golden Dawn decks with all that symbolism and elemental stuff. The black and white artwork in the Hermetic is cleaner in a way - you can focus on the symbols without getting distracted by Crowley’s intense color choices.
Once you understand how to read one of these complex decks, the others start making sense too. Definitely need some experience before tackling it, though.
Fair warning about the Hermetic Tarot, you’ll end up studying kabbalah at weird hours and scribbling planetary symbols everywhere.
Next thing you know, you actually understand all those glyphs. The downside is you’ll become that person who blames everything on Mercury retrograde.
