Quick and Easy Tarot Deck with Keywords on Cards — by Ellen Lytle

Short description:

The Quick and Easy Tarot Deck with Keywords by Ellen Lytle — a 78-card beginner-friendly RWS-based tarot deck from U.S. Games Systems with upright and reversed keyword meanings printed directly on every card, eliminating the need to constantly reference a separate guidebook. Each card shows the familiar Rider-Waite imagery alongside concise interpretive keywords, making it ideal for new readers building their tarot vocabulary while still doing actual readings. A practical, confidence-building starter deck.

Description:

Quick Specs

• Brand: U.S. Games Systems
• Type: 78-card tarot deck with printed upright and reversed keyword meanings on every card
• Size/Quantity: 78 cards, approximately 2.75 inches x 4.75 inches
• Best for: Beginners learning tarot, self-study, readers who want printed keyword meanings as a reference during readings

Keywords on Every Card, From the Start

The Quick and Easy Tarot by Ellen Lytle does something no other deck in my tarot starter kits and sets collection does: it prints keyword meanings directly onto the face of each card, for both upright and reversed positions. This is a genuinely different design philosophy from a traditional tarot deck, and it solves a specific and real problem that stops most beginners cold. Learning the Rider-Waite system requires memorizing 78 card meanings across two orientations, and most people spend their first months of tarot study looking everything up mid-reading, which breaks concentration and makes the process feel like a lookup exercise rather than an intuitive practice. The Quick and Easy Tarot treats that memorization period honestly, giving you the reference right there on the card face rather than requiring you to flip through a book.

The artwork is based on the Universal Waite Tarot, itself a softer and more warmly colored reinterpretation of Pamela Colman Smith's original Rider-Waite imagery by Mary Hanson-Roberts. That artistic foundation matters because it means the card symbolism follows the RWS tradition exactly. The printed keywords are layered onto these familiar compositions rather than replacing them. A reader who uses this deck to learn the system will recognize every card when they eventually pick up a standard RWS deck, with no translation required. The deck functions as structured training wheels that come off naturally as the meanings become internalized.

Study Tool and Working Deck in One

Lytle's keyword selections are oriented toward practical interpretation rather than esoteric depth. The upright and reversed meanings printed on each card lean toward accessible, actionable language, which is appropriate for someone building their foundational vocabulary. Experienced readers who pick up this deck as a curiosity sometimes find the printed words interfere with their intuitive reading process, since their eye tends to catch the text before the imagery. That's a fair observation, and it's also exactly the right description of what the deck is for: a structured entry point, not an advanced working tool. For its intended purpose, as a study aid that also functions as a complete reading deck, it's well-designed.

The set includes a spread reference card covering four common layouts, which means a beginner has everything needed to begin reading without purchasing a separate book. The 2.75" x 4.75" card size is standard, making it easy to handle and shuffle. A companion booklet is also included for additional context beyond the printed card keywords.

How to Use Quick and Easy Tarot

The Tarot Fellow Standard

I stock the Quick and Easy Tarot because it addresses a legitimate gap in beginner resources. Most decks marketed as beginner-friendly are really just decks with simple art; they still require the student to memorize 78 interpretations independently or to consult a separate book for every card. Lytle's approach integrates that reference directly into the reading experience, which is a genuinely useful design choice for someone in the first months of learning. I carry it in the same spirit as my books for beginners section, as a resource for people building their practice from the ground up rather than a showpiece for established readers.

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