Too big to handle – Why are some tarot cards so big?

Some tarot decks are enormous! They make your hands feel clumsy as if you had never handled cards before. So why are some tarot cards so big? 

The standard Tarot card size is 2.75″ x 4.75″, which is one inch longer than traditional playing cards. Some Tarot decks come in even larger formats like 3.75″ x 6.5″. The larger size allows the details of the tarot card imagery to be presented more distinctively on the larger canvas, which improves the close symbolic study of the tarot cards. 

While the large imagery makes observing easier, they do make you feel a bit clumsy. While researching for this blog post, I found some useful techniques on overcoming this childish feel of being unable to even shuffle the large cards correctly. 

Why are some tarot cards so big?

One of the first things you will notice when you get your hands on one of the larger decks, that your hands will start to feel small. Shuffling, plus basically, everything that requires handling the cards will feel a bit harder. And I wouldn’t say that you get used to it very quickly. I still feel a bit estranged with my Tarot of Marseille deck because it is so big. 

Not all decks, of course, are like that. The standard Tarot card size is pretty manageable with 2.75″ x 4.75. This is the size most of us are used to having on our hands. It is just an inch longer than the cards in a deck of regular poker cards. Among the many decks out there that use this standard size is the world’s most sold tarot deck – The Rider Tarot deck, by Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Coleman Smith.  

The reason behind making tarot decks slightly more extensive than regular playing cards have to do with the card imagery and the unique meanings each card holds. Tarot cards are decorated with vivid and compelling illustrations on each card. But not only that, if you look closely, you will notice that the imagery holds a lot of symbolism, behavior, numbers, interactions, colors, facial expressions, characters, etc. 

Many of these symbols originate from astrology, different religions like Christianity and Judaism, and esoteric methods like Kabbalah and the Golden Dawn. There are so many unique details that give away small fractions of information about the card’s entire meaning. 

For example, let’s look at the World Tarot card. 

First, you will notice a beautiful naked woman is standing inside a large laurel wreath. There is a purple cloth that is barely covering her private parts while leaving her breasts exposed. The color purple and the fact that she is surrounded by the laurel wreath are both signs of success.

There are also four creatures on each corner of the card. They represent the classical elements and the four evangelicals. Together, they symbolize harmony.

It looks as if she was taking a step through the laurel wreath. This small token of information tells that she has successfully come to the end of a journey. If you look closely, you notice that her head is pointed to the left, indicating that she is taking a last look at the road she has traveled. Now she is also about to enter another one. 

If we compare this with the meaning from the little white booklet that comes with the Rider Tarot deck, it matches that quite well. “Assured success, voyage, change of place.”

As there are 78 cards on the standard deck of Tarot, it helps to closely observe the card imagery and draw the card meanings from the illustrations. I can’t even start to imagine what sort of task it would be to memorize the tarot deck without any visual clues. Of course, numerology and knowing the characteristics of each suit helps as well. Still, the imagery tells a story within itself. 

Some of the larger tarot decks are actually entirely meant for studying purposes and aimed for beginners. The subtle hints of the card meaning can be seen more clearly from the larger image. But not only that, I think the larger cards make for great decoration as well. 

But with the large clear images comes the minus of its size. And it is not only about handing and shuffling the cards. It is also about not being the best travel buddy. The “giant” 3.75″ x 6.5″ sized decks aren’t ones that you’ll be wanting to take on your travels. For those, you have got to take something smaller. But luckily, it is another excellent reason to get another beautiful tarot deck to your collection. 

How to shuffle large tarot cards?

With large tarot decks, shuffling can turn out to be the greatest challenge of handling the cards. This is if you use traditional ways of shuffling. A couple of workable ways to mix your large cards are:

• Cut the deck – You start off by placing the cards in front of you and cut it to several smaller decks. Then bring them back together and repeat. The downside to this method is that they need to be mixed, significant amounts of time to properly randomize them.

• Smushing – Now this is my preferred way of mixing the deck, especially when I am handling a large deck of cards. This method needs some space, so clear the table before you start doing this. When all is set, you mix the cards into a random, messy pile of cards. Mix them up for at least one minute in total. In between, you can bring the deck together a couple of times. This is a very effective way to shuffle your cards. This method is used by professional card dealers in casinos, so it has to be an effective way to shuffle the cards.

Using these two techniques will take away the most annoying part of handling large decks. You can get used to turning and flipping large cards, but honestly, if there wasn’t a shuffling method like the smushing, I don’t know if I could use the more oversized decks. 

One thing to point out about smushing is that it is good to make sure you are mixing the entire deck and not just the middle part. I try to really go at it and make a big mess. Just don’t drop your cards off the table while you are doing this. You don’t want to damage your big cards. Small dents in the big cards are more visible than on smaller ones. So be careful. 

Pocket and mini size tarot decks

On the contrary to the gigantic tarot cards, there are also mini and pocket-sized tarot decks. Many of them are roughly the size of a standard poker deck, which is 2.5″ x 3.5″, but some decks go even smaller to around 1.70″ x 3.15″. You can probably find even smaller ones if you search for them, but they will start to go so little that the deck will be larger in thickness than in width and length. 

Anyhow, these small decks are convenient to slip into your purse or pocket when you travel. It is nice to draw some cards on your downtime if you are on a bus, train, or airplane. Especially when there is no wifi available. I sometimes even carry a deck of playing cards with me, which are also useful and a bit smaller than standard tarot decks. If you want to read more about using regular playing cards to read Tarot, you can check out my guide. 

I hope this article gave some insight into why some tarot decks are so big. In the end, the explanation is quite logical. It is easier to spot the hidden symbolism through a bigger picture. 

Thanks for sticking all the way to the end. I would love to hear from you in the comment section below. What are your thoughts on the larger deck sizes? 

Happy readings! 

Eliana