Deck Review: Sufi Tarot

Ayeda Husein, The Sufi Tarot. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2022. ISBN: 9781401970413. 

Genre: Tarot, cartomancy

Subgenre: Sufism

Format: 78-card deck with companion book

Source: I own this one 

Side note: as of this post, checked the publisher site, and deck was not available. It may be out of print at this time.  

 

Two of Coins 

This kit includes the 78-card deck and a small companion book. As the publisher describes, this deck "creatively reenvisions the cards through a Sufi lens and shares the potency of its ancient of its ancient teachings and healing techniques." I picked this up due to the art, and I was curious about how the deck would blend Tarot and Sufism. The concept works well. 

The book has two major parts: Using the Deck and The Cards. Part One explains how the deck draws on the Persian practice of Fal (Fal-e Hafez), offers card spreads, and short explanations of the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana cards. Part Two has the card entries. Entries include upright keywords, reversed keywords, descriptions of card images and symbols, "when this card appears for you," contemplations (a couple of reflective questions), and an affirmation. The entries have the same information and quality for the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. 

The book is an easy read, and I found it interesting. The text blends lessons of Sufism and Tarot well. The reflective questions are helpful and can work well for journaling. The book also includes a small set of endnotes to document some references. Endnotes may help readers find some suggestions for further readings on Sufism. 

The cards do follow Rider Waite Smith (RWS) for the most part. Note that some of the card names are changed to Arabic names, but you can still recognize the basic imagery. The art is beautiful, expressive, and colorful with images that draw you in. The images are nice to look at and good for meditation. I feel this deck can work well for intuitive readers. 

You don't need to practice Sufism to use this deck. I found myself learning some new things, and I really enjoyed using the deck. I found the deck works well and provides good readings. 

The cards measure about 5 inches by 3 1/2 inches. Size is close to most oracle card decks. The card stock is a bit thick. It makes for a bit heavy deck. The cards have a very soft gloss, and they can stick when shuffling. They are not always easy to shuffle, but the effort is worth it. The art on the back of the cards is reversible. I love this one and recommend it. 

5 out of 5 stars. 

 

Kit qualifies for the following 2026 Reading Challenge: