The original Tarot House Deck
The story of our tarot deck
The drawings, people and unexpected moments that led from one hand-painted deck to Simply Tarot.
The original Tarot House Deck was created by mother and daughter Patricia and Jen House. Patricia drew and painted every card by hand, while Jen developed the meanings and written guidance that accompanied them.
An early interest
Angel cards and playing cards
Jen’s interest in cards began when Patricia bought her angel and fortune cards as a young teenager.
She later began using ordinary playing cards to give simple yes-or-no readings to friends at school. These were informal first experiments with reading cards for other people.
Learning tarot
A Christmas present
When Jen was 19, her boyfriend’s sister gave her The Mythic Tarot as a Christmas present. At the time, she was completing an A level in Classical Civilisation.
Created by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Greene, The Mythic Tarot uses figures and stories from Greek mythology to explore the traditional tarot archetypes. It provided a natural connection between the classical stories Jen was studying and her existing interest in card reading.
Learning with the deck encouraged a deeper interest in tarot and in the way familiar stories and characters can help people understand the cards.
Explore a companion workbook for The Mythic TarotAffiliate link to a workbook sold by its author on Amazon.
The project begins
Creating an original deck
Patricia is a very talented artist, and Jen began encouraging her to create an original tarot deck. After some persuasion, the idea became a project they could work on together.
Patricia took responsibility for the artwork, while Jen worked on the meanings and written guidance.
Each of the 78 cards began as a pencil drawing before being outlined in ink and painted in acrylic by Patricia. The intention was to create imagery that communicated the character and mood of each card without becoming overly complicated.
Jen developed the accompanying meanings in clear, accessible language. This combination of original artwork and straightforward interpretation became the basis of the Tarot House Deck.
The first edition
From paintings to printed cards
The first edition was published in 2011 under the name The Tarot House Deck, taking its name from the House family surname.
Seventy-eight cards
A complete deck following the traditional Major and Minor Arcana structure.
Original artwork
Every card was drawn, outlined and painted in acrylic by Patricia House.
Printed in the UK
The finished deck was printed by Cartamundi on matt card stock.
Prepared by hand
Each deck was wrapped in gold tissue and placed in a brocade drawstring bag.
The deck also included two additional cards showing tarot spread layouts and a leaflet of short meanings. More extensive meanings were published online.
Reiki and the original edition
During this period, Jen completed Reiki I and II training with Reiki teacher and author Penelope Quest.
Reflecting that part of Jen’s practice at the time, the original Tarot House Decks were prepared with Reiki Harmony energy before being sent to customers.
View Penelope Quest on AmazonAffiliate link to the author’s product on Amazon.
Taking the deck to readers
The first exhibitions
The first decks were sold online and presented at exhibitions, where visitors could see Patricia’s artwork and handle the finished cards.
The original display included the cards, gold-wrapped boxes, brocade bags and printed information about the deck.
A change of name
Shortly after the launch, another business objected to the Tarot House name. The original printed edition could still be sold, but a new identity was needed for the work that followed.
That is how Simply Tarot began.
The deck on screen
Featured in Apartment Troubles
The Tarot House Deck appeared in the independent comedy-drama Apartment Troubles.
The film follows two New York artists whose journey to Los Angeles is influenced by a tarot reading. The deck’s appearance in the film became another small part of its history.
Affiliate link to the DVD on Amazon.
The deck in print
Featured in Fate & Fortune
The Tarot House Deck appeared in Take a Break’s Fate & Fortune magazine in October 2016.
The feature used Patricia’s cards to illustrate a seven-card spread, placing the original artwork at the centre of the reading.
An evolving approach
How the way we talk about tarot changed
The original deck was created during a period when Jen was also exploring holistic practices. That remains part of the deck’s history, but it does not define how Simply Tarot presents tarot today.
Over time, the Simply Tarot approach became broader and more grounded. Working meaningfully with tarot does not require someone to follow a particular spiritual practice or belief system.
Tarot can be spiritual, psychological, creative or simply a way to pause and reflect.
Simply Tarot aims to provide thoughtful imagery, sound card meanings and clear interpretations. Readers remain free to bring their own beliefs, experiences and perspectives to the cards.
The deck today
Preserving the original work
Patricia has since developed macular degeneration and is no longer able to paint as she once did. Her original artwork remains the foundation of the deck and of Simply Tarot’s visual history.
Simply Tarot is now exploring a new interpretation of the deck using contemporary digital tools, including generative AI. The images are directed, tested and refined card by card.
These new images are not presented as Patricia’s original hand-painted work. They represent a new version of a project that began with her paintings, guided by the same card structure, meanings and approach to visual storytelling.
The original 2011 edition
Own a piece of the deck’s history
A limited number of original first-edition Tarot House Decks remain. These are the original Cartamundi-printed cards featuring Patricia’s hand-painted artwork and presented in a brocade drawstring bag.
Discover the original deck Explore the tarot card meaningsAs an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
