The Sacred Rose Tarot

The Sacred Rose Tarot

by Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman, 1982

The theme of The Sacred Rose Tarot is the rose as a “symbol of Western consciousness, similar to the lotus in the East.” On the back of the cards are five roses: red, white, blue, gold and starry purple. The artist Johanna Sherman drew inspiration for this deck from Byzantine icons and medieval stained glass windows. Most cards show a prominent figure facing forward in a lush, natural setting. The idea for the Sacred Rose Tarot began in 1977 when Sherman’s illustrated business card arrived at the offices of U. S. Games, sparking an interest in her artwork. A limited, signed edition of 1000 sets with gold edges was published in 1981. The current edition was first issued in 1982. There is a separate companion book for this deck called Guide to the Sacred Rose Tarot.

This is the deck I’ve been using on and off since 1985 and it’s the one I always go back to as I feel very comfortable with it, and since I’ve returned to the tarot I use this nearly every day for a personal mood/energy reading.

Even though I’ve used this deck for almost 40 years I’m going to start off the deck explorations with this one to get my thoughts and formatting down.

Each deck I own is going to get a page where I explore it, getting a feel for it, and showcasing some of the card for you to see.

There will be an initial unboxing if it is a brand new deck, showing contents of the box and a quick look at any booklet it comes with.

Then after shuffling the deck for a while there will be a deck interview draw where I take five cards to get a feel for the deck.

These are the questions I’ll be asking the deck:

1. What is the energy of the deck?
2. What is my initial energy when I interact with this deck?
3. What might I learn about myself when using this deck?
4. What kind of growth might this deck inspire in me?
5. Card of the day

After this I’ll use the deck for a while and post any draws I do on the page set up for the deck so you can learn along with me how the deck works and feels.

Then there will be a little bit of information about the deck with a link to buy if it’s still on sale.

The Sacred Rose Tarot (affiliate link)

Publisher: US Games 1980
Deck Type: Tarot Deck
Cards: 78
Major Arcana: 22
Minor Arcana: 56
Deck Tradition: Rider-Waite-Smith with Qabbalistic additions
Minor Arcana Style: Playing Card Pips
Suits: Cups, Swords, Wands, Pentacles
Court Cards: Page, Knight, Queen, King
The Fool is 0
Strength is 11
Justice is 8
Card Size: 2.75 x 4.75 in. = 6.99cm x 12.06cm
Card Language: English
Card Back: Five roses; red, white, blue, gold, and purple.