Explore the artwork
Explore the CatTarot Cards
Filter by arcana or suit, then select any portrait to open it at full size.
Source note: the supplied Pinterest section did not provide a usable Page of Wands image, so no substitute artwork has been inserted.
Aurica’s Quick Take
CatTarot feels like opening a velvet curtain on a tiny theatre. Every cat arrives already inside a story, and I let that first spark speak before returning to the card’s number, suit, traditional role and neighbours.
I love the conversation between The Fool and Queen of Wands. One climbs into impossible weather; the other sits with calm creative heat. Together they ask whether courage means leaping, holding steady, or knowing which moment you are actually in.
Learn this deck’s cast slowly and keep your own impressions close. CatTarot can turn each spread into a brave, playful invitation to see your story with kinder, more imaginative eyes.
The short version
Famous lives, familiar stories, and whiskers everywhere
CatTarot turns cultural memory into a reading language. Instead of copying familiar Rider-Waite-Smith scenes, it casts feline versions of people and characters from history, literature, film, television, fairy tales and legend. Diana Cammarano paints them with such serious detail that the joke never feels flimsy. A cat can become Marilyn Monroe, Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes or Captain Nemo, and the costume, setting and expression do the work of a traditional symbol.
That makes the deck playful, but not simple. When I recognise the character, a whole story wakes up at once. When I do not, the card can feel like a locked little theatre until I consult the booklet or research the reference. Experienced readers may love that extra layer. Complete beginners may wish the cards showed more obvious cups, swords, wands and pentacles inside the scenes.
Deck facts
What comes with CatTarot
- Concept and text
- Carol-Anne Eschenazi
- Illustration
- Diana Cammarano
- Publisher
- Lo Scarabeo, 2016
- Structure
- 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana
- Suits
- Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles
- Court cards
- Page, Knight, Queen and King
- Card size
- Approximately 65 × 120 mm
- Booklet
- 63-page multilingual little white book with the Cat Hero spread
- ISBN
- 978-88-6527-420-0
- Card back
- Reversible mirrored feline figure inspired by the Vitruvian Man
The deck follows the standard 78-card framework and the familiar Waite-style Major Arcana sequence. The pictures, however, are original character portraits rather than direct copies of Pamela Colman Smith’s scenes. Numbers and small suit or court symbols sit in the ornate frame, so every card can still be identified even when the central image contains no obvious suit object.
Artwork and atmosphere
Fairytale realism with a sly theatrical wink
Cammarano’s cats are not soft mascots. They stand upright, wear fitted costumes, occupy elaborate rooms and landscapes, and carry expressions that can be proud, lonely, dangerous or absurdly self-aware. The palette shifts with the cast: moonlit blues around The Hermit, burnished reds around Death, spring green around The Fool, and stage-lit gold around the court cards.
Each illustration sits inside a black-edged mechanical frame of rope-like coils, wheels and cogs. Major Arcana cards show Roman numerals on plaques at top and bottom. Minor cards use a number or court marker above and a small suit emblem below. The result resembles a cabinet of miniature storybook portraits, each one waiting for you to recognise its guest.
Card study
The Fool climbs a story before knowing its ending
A small traveller scrambles up an enormous green beanstalk, one paw reaching higher while the ground falls away beneath him. The picture borrows the danger and wonder of Jack and the Beanstalk: ambition has opened a path, but the path is alive, unstable and far larger than the one climbing it.
In a reading, I would not reduce this Fool to cheerful innocence. It can describe the thrilling moment when curiosity outruns certainty. Upright, the card asks for movement, faith and a willingness to learn while climbing. In shadow, it warns that excitement can make us ignore scale, risk or the long way home. Look to the neighbouring cards to see whether the beanstalk is an invitation or an escape.
Reading experience
Read the character, then bring it back to tarot
The most useful way into CatTarot is to let the portrait speak first. Notice the costume, posture, weather, room and emotional temperature. Ask what kind of story the figure seems to be living. Then return to the card’s traditional function. If you recognise the cultural reference, use it as another lens rather than allowing it to replace the tarot meaning.
The Six of Cups, for example, uses Peter Pan to make childhood, memory and refusal to grow up feel immediate. The Seven of Wands turns a caped superhero into a bright image of holding one’s ground. The King of Swords becomes a pipe-smoking detective in a room crowded with evidence. These choices can make combinations vivid because every card arrives with a personality.
Where it reads beautifully
Creative questions, character work, relationship dynamics, storytelling prompts and reflective readings where a familiar cultural reference can open an emotional door.
Where it needs care
Fast predictive pulls can become tangled if you chase every reference. For health, legal or financial matters, use the cards for reflection and seek qualified professional guidance for decisions.
Four-card study
When a famous face becomes a tarot clue
These cards show the deck’s central trick: a recognisable story creates an emotional shortcut, while the printed number and suit keep the reading anchored.
The little white book
A key to the cast, though not always a straightforward one
The 63-page booklet presents instructions and meanings in several languages and includes a seven-card layout called the Spread of the Cat Hero. Its playful feline names can make some identities harder to recognise in English. Contemporary copies also include a correction for the Two of Cups: the printed booklet refers to a Carrie Bradshaw-inspired character, while the finished card shows Laurel and Hardy.
I would keep the booklet close for the first few readings, then make my own quiet notes about the references that matter. The deck becomes warmer once each portrait stops being a puzzle and begins to feel like a member of an eccentric repertory company.
Card study
The Eight of Swords hides its restriction inside beauty
A poised cat in a deep red dress sits beneath a high arched window, all grace, fabric and quiet attention. Nothing in the pose looks visibly bound. That tension is the point: the card’s prison belongs to story, circumstance and perception rather than literal ropes.
This image asks a sharper question than “What is stopping me?” It asks, “What looks like freedom from the outside but feels narrow from within?” In a practical reading, it can name self-censorship, a role performed too long, or a belief that keeps a capable person seated. Beside supportive cards it may show the first moment of seeing the door; beside conflict it can reveal how fear dresses itself as good behaviour.
Beginner friendliness
Charming for learners, but not a picture-book shortcut
The cards keep standard numbers, suits and court ranks, so the structure is reassuring. The challenge lies inside the pictures. Many scenes omit the familiar Rider-Waite-Smith action and obvious suit objects. A beginner may recognise Dorothy, Superman or Cinderella yet still need help connecting that story to Four of Cups, Seven of Wands or Ten of Cups.
If this is your first deck, pair it with a simple tarot reference and learn one suit at a time. If you already know the basic meanings, CatTarot can be wonderfully refreshing because it makes you translate rather than merely recognise. It nudges intuition without cutting the rope back to tradition.
Four-card study
Drama, desire, memory and reinvention
CatTarot is strongest when a portrait changes the emotional temperature of a familiar card without erasing its role.
What I like
- Cammarano gives every portrait its own setting, mood and visual dignity.
- The cultural cast creates memorable emotional hooks for combination reading.
- Standard numbering and suits keep the unusual artwork connected to tarot.
- The reversible Vitruvian-cat back is witty and genuinely usable.
- The deck feels humorous without treating the cards as a novelty.
What may not suit you
- Many scenes omit familiar Rider-Waite-Smith symbols and actions.
- Unknown cultural references may require research before they become useful.
- The multilingual booklet has limited space for each card.
- The close-fitting cardboard tuck box benefits from an extra bag or case.
- Some older guidebook naming does not match the final Two of Cups card.
Who it is for
Choose CatTarot if stories are part of how you remember
This deck suits cat lovers, pop-culture readers, illustrators, writers and anyone who enjoys tarot as a conversation between archetype and character. It is especially rewarding for readers who like researching a card after a spread and watching a reference become more meaningful over time.
Skip it if you want a close visual clone of Rider-Waite-Smith or a deck whose Minors explain themselves immediately. CatTarot asks for participation. Its humour opens the door, but your knowledge of tarot and story carries the reading across the room.
Aurica’s golden rule
Let the character open the scene, but let the card finish the sentence
When I hold The Fool, Six of Cups and Eight of Swords together, I feel a brave climb, a bright memory and a room that is difficult to leave. I let that first feeling arrive; it is the doorway into CatTarot.
Then I return to the spread’s bones: number, suit, traditional meaning and nearby cards. Ask whether they soften, challenge or deepen your first impression. The character opens the scene, but the answer appears where artwork, tarot meaning and the question meet.
Final thoughts
A clever deck that grows richer as its cast becomes familiar
CatTarot could easily have been a one-joke deck. Instead, its meticulous art and strange, affectionate casting give it staying power. The cards can be funny, but they also understand loneliness, ambition, performance, memory and danger. The cats do not simply dress up as people; they inherit the emotional weather of their stories.
I recommend it most strongly to readers who already know tarot’s basic structure and want something imaginative enough to wake up their habits. Give the deck time, learn the faces you do not recognise, and allow the little theatre to become a language of its own.
Questions before you choose
CatTarot FAQ
Practical details about the deck, its structure and how it reads.
Who created CatTarot?
CatTarot was conceived and written by Carol-Anne Eschenazi, with artwork by Diana Cammarano. Lo Scarabeo published the deck in 2016.
How many cards are in CatTarot?
The complete deck contains 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana across Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles.
Does CatTarot follow Rider-Waite-Smith meanings?
It follows the familiar 78-card structure and Waite-style Major Arcana order, but its scenes are original portraits of historical, literary and pop-cultural figures rather than direct Rider-Waite-Smith copies.
Is CatTarot suitable for beginners?
It can be, especially with a basic tarot reference beside it. The cards preserve numbers, suits and court markers, but many scenes rely on character references instead of obvious traditional symbols.
What is included with the deck?
The standard edition includes 78 cards in a cardboard tuck box and a 63-page multilingual booklet with card notes, instructions and the seven-card Spread of the Cat Hero.
Can reversed cards be used with CatTarot?
Yes. The mirrored Vitruvian-cat card back is reversible, so card orientation is not revealed before a card is turned.
