If you’ve spent any time around tarot decks, you’ll notice one thing: they cluster around themes. Witches. Cats. Folklore. Crystals. Wild animals. Whatever aspect of life you can imagine, there’s probably a deck for it.
But even decks that share a theme can feel wildly different. The way a card is drawn, the atmosphere of the illustrations, the little details the artist chooses, they all shape how the deck “talks” to you.
In this post, we’re going to look at three witchy decks and how they handle the same four cards. This isn’t a contest for “which is better” or “more magical.” Instead, it’s a chance to see how each deck creates its own tone, voice, and approach to the same story.
By the end, you’ll see how the same Major or Minor Arcana can feel comforting, challenging, playful, or serious - depending entirely on the deck. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll notice what kind of conversation you want to have with your tarot cards.
The Decks at a Glance
Before we dive into the cards, here’s a quick snapshot of the three decks we’ll be exploring today:
- Everyday Witch Tarot – approachable, practical, modern magic. Friendly, down-to-earth energy that makes every card feel doable.
- Cosy Witch Tarot – emotional safety, inner life, and softness as strength. This deck invites reflection and self-care with every spread.
- Witches Tarot – tradition, ritual, archetypal authority. Powerful, dramatic imagery rooted in classic witchcraft and symbolism.
Comparing these decks side by side gives us a window into different styles of witchiness. They’re all Rider–Waite–Smith based, so they will hopefully feel familiar - but the tone of each deck can shift the story you tell with your cards.
Why These Cards
I chose a mix of Majors and Minors to show how each deck handles action, solitude, effort, and emotion. The differences between decks often appear most clearly in the everyday cards, so the Minors are especially revealing. I would love to hear which cards you would like to see in future installments!
The Cards
The Magician – Manifestation & Willpower
Everyday Witch Tarot 🌟
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🎨 Visual Style: Bright, approachable, mystical garden. Tools of magic are present but not intimidating.
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🔮 Tone: Friendly and practical—this Magician feels like a guide, not a test.
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🐱 Mini Personality: The clever assistant cat is serious but approachable, grounding the magic in everyday life.
Cosy Witch Tarot 🌱
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🎨 Visual Style: Working in a greenhouse, hands dirty, immersed in growth.
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🔮 Tone: Empowering - you have the tools, but the work is yours to do.
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🐦 Mini Personality: Warm, nurturing energy; this Magician invites collaboration and experimentation.
Witches Tarot 🔥
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🎨 Visual Style: Dramatic cloak, ceremonial setup, archetypal imagery. Tools sit prominently.
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🔮 Tone: Formal, authoritative, and slightly intimidating. This Magician assumes the reader is ready for mastery.
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🌿 Mini Personality: Wise, traditional, commanding respect - less approachable, more awe-inspiring.
What Changes Across the Decks:
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Everyday Witch feels friendly and practical
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Cosy Witch is nurturing and collaborative
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Witches Tarot is formal and authoritative
Takeaway:
The same card, three very different voices. Your deck choice subtly shifts the conversation: do you want guidance, gentle empowerment, or awe-inspiring authority?
The Hermit – Solitude & Wisdom
Everyday Witch Tarot 🌟
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🎨 Visual Style: A peaceful forest clearing with a cosy campfire
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🔮 Tone: This witch has retreated, but it feels like a short retreat, maybe an overnight, rather than the longer times in other decks
🐱 Mini Personality: The owl is watching over the young witch, symbolising the Hermit's wisdom
Cosy Witch Tarot 🌱
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🎨 Visual Style: Sitting alone in a comfy room, learning at her own pace
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🔮 Tone: For this Hermit, it's not about not being around others; it's about doing things for herself
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🐦 Mini Personality: This Hermit is comfortable in her own space, doing her own thing.
Witches Tarot 🔥
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🎨 Visual Style: Icy landscape, thick cloak and the lantern of knowledge. This is a traditional Hermit.
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🔮 Tone: This Hermit has chosen long term solitude to gain wisdom.
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🌿 Mini Personality: Traditional and slightly imposing. You don't approach this Hermit without a very good reason.
What Changes Across the Decks:
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Everyday Witch feels peaceful and calm
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Cosy Witch is enjoying her own company
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Witches Tarot is traditional and authoritative
Takeaway:
Solitude, wisdom and quiet. Your deck choice subtly shifts the conversation: do you want permission to rest, permission to try on your own, or permission to withdraw?
Eight of Pentacles - work and practise
Everyday Witch Tarot 🌟
🎨 Visual Style: A herbalist's shop with potions lined up to sell
🔮 Tone: She has worked hard, perfecting her recipes, and now she's ready to start selling
🐱 Mini Personality: The broom above the door reminds her of where she came from
Cosy Witch Tarot 🌱
🎨 Visual Style: Creating fairy houses, being useful while perfecting her craft
🔮 Tone: The houses may change in style, but her skill is obvious.
🐦 Mini Personality: She's enjoying the work, watched by a fairy and a fairy cat.
Witches Tarot 🔥
🎨 Visual Style: Sitting alone late at night, a man polishes golden pentacles. The skull and raven add a dark feeling.
🔮 Tone: This card feels more like it's about hoarding knowledge than building something new.
🌿 Mini Personality: The dark background and intense details make this an intimidating card.
What Changes Across the Decks:
Everyday Witch feels happy and fulfilled
Cosy Witch is enjoying her work
Witches Tarot is serious and demanding
Takeaway:
Work can take many forms. Your deck choice subtly shifts the conversation: do you want happy fulfilment, self confidence, or guarded defensiveness?
Ace of Cups - a new beginning
Everyday Witch Tarot 🌟
🎨 Visual Style: Colourful and realistic
🔮 Tone: This witch has discovered a new potion.
🐱 Mini Personality: The splatters of potion have grown new plants, and her cat is licking at them - very catlike curiosity.
Cosy Witch Tarot 🌱
🎨 Visual Style: A single hand offering a chunky potion cup, overflowing with goodness.
🔮 Tone: The mug has potential, but it's everyone's choice whether they drink or not.
🐦 Mini Personality: This is the kind of cup you want on a chilly day.
Witches Tarot 🔥
🎨 Visual Style: An overflowing cup sits on a lily pond as the sun rises.
🔮 Tone: This is gentle. The rising sun adds a softer tone.
🌿 Mini Personality: Like the Lady of the Lake, wisdom rests inside this chalice.
What Changes Across the Decks:
Everyday Witch is at the edge of something new
Cosy Witch is offering a choice
Witches Tarot is classic and supportive
Takeaway:
How do you see a new beginning? Your deck choice subtly shifts the conversation: do you want new beginnings, a new choice, or bright opportunities?
Patterns That Emerge
All three decks are about witches and magic, but they take very different tones.
- The Witches Tarot is about history, power and ritual.
- The Cosy Witch is about belonging and feeling comfortable in your own skin.
- The Everyday Witch keeps magic in the real world.
Each good at what it does. Each having a different conversation with the reader.
Final Thoughts: Choosing a Voice, Not a Meaning
The meanings of the cards didn’t really change across these decks. The Magician still creates, the Hermit still withdraws, the Eight of Pentacles still works, and the Ace of Cups still opens.
What changed was the relationship each deck suggested you have with those moments.
In the Everyday Witch Tarot, the cards feel like advice you can act on tomorrow. In the Cosy Witch Tarot, they feel like emotional truths you’re allowed to grow into. In the Witches Tarot, they feel closer to lessons - something to live up to, or step into.
That’s why deck choice matters more than we sometimes admit. You aren’t just choosing artwork you like. You’re choosing the tone of the conversation: encouragement, comfort, or challenge.
So if you’ve ever picked up a deck and thought, “I know what this card means, but it feels different here,” you weren’t imagining it. The story didn’t change - the narrator did.
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