Deck review: Total Tarot's Tarot of the 78 Doors

Every aspect of our existence can be understood as a passage, an opening, a Door. Love, resentment, friendship, success, failure, birth, death ...

The cards in this deck are 78 Doors, physical and metaphorical, able to provide us with the key to the most important Door, that of our soul. Pietro Alligo, art by Antonella Platano.

You can see the complete flickthrough on Tiktok or youtube. I posted a deck interview spread.

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Total Tarot is a bimonthly magazine designed to help teach anyone how to read tarot. With every two issues, readers get a complete tarot deck from Lo Scarabeo, one of the major Tarot companies on the market. The art of these decks is true to the originals, but they have frames where the originals don't and the LWB is not included, instead there is some information in the magazine about the history of the deck and the specific meanings attached to cards. This is a great collection if you want to try a lot of styles of deck at very reasonable prices - I'm learning a lot about my preferences!

I. First Impressions

Artwork Style: The cards are based on the RWS style, but more modern, stretching from Edwardian to mid 1900s. Some of them have a magical feel, like the 2 of Wands who's walking through a wall or the centaur on the Knight of Swords, while others are much more realistic. It's a blend that shouldn't work, but the art style holds it all together.

II. The Cards

Major Arcana: The Majors have Justice at 8 and Strength at 11. The images are a mix of the mystical - the Hermit being tempted by a spirit - to the everyday - the World represented by a woman giving birth. The titles are across the bottom, with the number in Roman and the name written out. 

Minor Arcana: The Minor Arcana are fully illustrated. There's no unifying theme between suits. Some of the images make a lot of sense, like the couch potato in the 4 of Cups, while others I had to think about a bit more - 8 of Swords being harried by ghosts while 9 of Swords sits in a big bird cage? But they all made sense once I worked at them a bit. The colours are mostly muted and gentle, easy to look at.

III. The Guidebook

As this is a Total Tarot deck, it doesn't have the guidebook.

IV. In Use

Intuition and Connection: Honestly, this is a deck I had to work a bit at. It made the readings stronger, but it's not a 'pick up and read' deck for me.
Clarity of Readings: As above, I had to work on the readings a bit. I liked the answers I got, but it's definitely not the deck for a quick read! It's fantastic when I have time to sit and ponder my readings.
Suitability for Different Skill Levels: I would reluctantly say this isn't for complete beginners, as some of the images don't match the traditional. However, once you have any level of comfort with the cards, this is a great deck to stretch your abilities and push the edges of your readings.

Pros:

• Unique concept: every card is a doorway, literal or metaphorical.

• Balanced blend of realism and magical imagery.

• Encourages deeper, more reflective readings.

• Muted, soft colours make it easy on the eyes.

• Affordable entry point through Total Tarot magazine.

Cons:

• Some card imagery departs from traditional RWS symbolism, requiring extra thought.

• Not ideal for quick, casual reads.

• No dedicated guidebook in the Total Tarot edition.

• Beginners may find it challenging without prior tarot experience.

✨ Closing Thought:
If this deck were a card, I’d call it the Page of Swords — curious, willing to push at the edges, and challenging you to look again when something doesn’t make sense at first glance.