On Decks: Terra Volatile

20 Feb, 2026

A beautiful deck with esoteric backing and interesting quirks

Warning : This decks contains violent imagery, decapitation imagery and also images with frontal nudity.

I've seen this deck on the channel of a Youtuber Tarot Magpie, and I was hooked, and saved up for it immediately. In fact, it was one the first indies I got. It's also one of my few early decks I used comprehensively and one of the few survivor's from the "Aurel's Tarot Baby Era" (with some of its victims being Aquarian, Secession Tarot and Star Spinner Tarot). Since I've started collecting more, it fell to wayside, especially when I developed distaste for RWS decks. However, it still stands proud with its unique approach to tarot and it remains not only usable but beloved.

First of this decks many attractive points is the beautiful expressive art, reminding me of the beautiful visions of old church fresco. This deck is stunning and expressive, with a lot of hidden details that'd make Pamela Smith proud. The coloring also feels rather artificial and uneven, in a good way. It's a hard look to describe to me - something so clearly modern and yet classic. It reminds me of some Czechoslovak film adaptions which were filmed in black and white and then manually colored in later years. These cards feel HEAVY, something that truly demands your attention. You can easily feel the environments of the cards, hear them, maybe even smell them.

A brilliant invention of this deck is the use of alternate cards. This is a far cry from the first decks which has some cards you can freely swap out for some alternate copies. However, Tera Volatile is the first one to truly take it beyond, by providing many alternatives to some cards, allowing you to truly modify the tone of your deck even further. Some of these alternates are based on different foci or look at the symbol (Death - Rebirth, f.e).

Many other alternatives delightfully reference older tarot decks or Thoth deck (Temperance - Art, Strength - Fortitude etc.) ¹

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Some alternates already came with base deck, but the creators released extension of 44 MORE cards. And now we have one more extension coming in May with total of 72 new cards. As extremely excited I am, I wish that they did this before releasing a giant book with meanings and art. Or that they didn't change the cardstock, making me buy a new base deck that is compatible with it.

Something that is definitely plus, but I feel mixed about, is the very interesting 5th Suit called Vessels. To quote the freely available online guidebook on this suit:

The alchemical Vessel represents the ethereal Quintessence. Being transparent and sealed vases, they depict different kinds of operations and transformations occurring mostly in our inner side. The combinations, separations, or other adjustments of the four symbolic elements could be seen through the vessels and felt in the different levels within ourselves.

Visually, the cards may have immediate references to the German illuminated text Splendor Solis by Salomon Trismosin. ³

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If you are even a little bit of Thoth-head, you already have some ideas of Spirit as an element (contained in Majors) and the alchemical process as also being largely expressed in Majors. Since almost everything that Vessel as a Suit can do had already been filled out in other suits, it does become hard to sort of categorize them. Doubly so, if you are like me, and you don't just listen to Golden Dawn, but are also influenced by more practical Marseille and Playing Cards approaches. Well cups and drinking are social activities, swords are dangerous and for fighting, wands are for building, coins are resources - if we apply this common thinking what the fuck are Vessels you know? Another problem is - how do they interact with other elements, if you work with elemental polarities? All of these problems makes it difficult to approach and use this rather ambitious fifth suit. However, the suit do have rather very well explained and described theory in the guidebook where they are connected to Heroes' journey and alchemical processes in a very clever way. It's quite different tale from the explicitly New Age and poorly defined Triaxes of Deva's Tarot (Piatnik). So I am not giving up on them yet - using them will just take research and thinking. And if I don't want to use the, I can just put them away, as I did with aforementioned Triax suit. The modularity of Terra Volatile freely invites using what you prefer or need.

More on the negatives side, I feel like it being based on RWS base sours my excitement a little tiny bit. I can still work with it particularly because I had built rapport before finding out I am oversaturated with RWS and ways it forces approach to Tarot. The fact I can play with majors only and swapping cards also makes it fresh. This issue shows up notably on some also make some cards utterly boring to me (Emperor, Justice) but again, the alt-cards solve that situation wonderfully.

Some depictions also bother me, such as court cards of Wands being represented by "tribal" black people. I don't blame the creator for having a white bias, you are not forced to make your tarot deck equal in representation (or even do representation). However, when one of few black people are shown like that, it does come out as a little bit exoticizing. I am glad, looking at future Extension that there are some more people of colour, but it does feel a bit like... diversity gated by DLC? I don't want to say the creators have harmful intentions, they most likely don't, but esoteric correspondences and cultural shorthands are a hell of a drug sometimes. This shows up not only here but in some descriptions of cards. Look, I as any esotericism-exploring queer person get headache when people bring up "receptive female concept", or Animus and Anima. This deck is unfortunately, not an exception.

Worth of criticism is also the fact that the online guidebook, which is free, doesn't contain the description of Alternate cards. As some indie decks do, they also only released a rather expensive and cumbersome artbook/meanings-book, a BIG black book rather than little white book, if you will. Luckily, an affordable pocket edition came out later, but that's after I've purchased everything.

Now, I would like to analyse some of the cards I find rather fun and exciting!

The Star is simple and common rendition of this specific card, but the soft purple hues on the sides give it a dreamy feeling, cloudy, confused. Is this even reality, or are we not in Kansas anymore?

The Pope goes back to the naming of Marseille deck, and it's a bit more honest than Waite calling his obvious pope a Hierophant. What captures me about this card are the added details - listening in are not just monks or bishops, but warlords and fighters as well. The Pope himself is in deep trance, as if posessed, or commuting with the higher power. He was, after all, meant to be the representative of Christ on our Earth. It does feel more like religions ecstasy or prophetic vision, which is not something we connect with this figure. The theme of control is subtly reinforced by the golden lines seeming like wires coming from above.

9th of Coins has all the hallmarks of Pixie's 9th of Coins, but I like the influence of Klimt, adding gold, as well as deeply amiable relationship this woman has with all the animals. Many commentators claim she is alone, but is she? In my opinion, in this image, where we see snake, bird, cat and snail alike, I think she found in her company some silent companions whose quality exceeds that of some men.

King of Swords is one of my favourite Courts in the whole deck. I like very individualistic courts, where who they are becomes almost a symbol in and of itself. Butterflies of Waite are replaced with half-beast men holding up his throne (defeated materialistic impulses), and one of his eyes removed speaks of experience most likely gained in combat - a common result of those who follow the way of sword literally.

The Truth is an alternate card to Justice, and unlike our favourite blinded lady, it displays an ancient ceremony that faced the deceased in Egyptian spirituality. The god Anubis weighing their Souls, as they either face continuity or destruction in maws of Ammit. It asks us what is the truth - what is in our heart, or what are the facts and external circumstances and to strike a careful balance. The idea of judgement or operating the scales is underscored by the fact the sword is cast aside. This makes it a more of definite process full with execution but something ongoing - or, as the guidebook suggests an idea that the time for action is past, or suspended. Now we need to think - or listen.

Time is yet another historical tarot alternate, a very specific connection to the depiction of our Hermit as Saturn, Father-Time. Here we see a gruesome motif of Saturn devouring his child, an obvious reference to infamous painting by Goya. Meaning of classic Hermit is harder to transpose, other than maybe "gain of experience through time" or "journey we must experience". In astrology Saturn is particularly connected with restriction and limitation. Yet only if we like Hermit venture forward into outwards limit, decompose and crumble, only then we can regain some wisdom. So devour me daddy.

Unnamed Card is an alternate version of the Death card that came with the book. It's very opaque reference to some of Marseille Tarots' majors number 13s, which went unnamed (presumably because of cultural wariness around this skeletal fella). The randomly blue coloured bones do call out this connection pretty explicitly. Unlike its base deck counterpart, this scene is found before dark woods, in fields of sunflowers. The cycle of life indeed.

Knight of Cups is one of the alternates to minors, to Knight of Cups. Blinded and stumbling forward both the rider and the horse they let their intuition guide them. They recall the flawed-but-romantic Knights of the Round Table on their quest for Grail they may never find, yet guided by visions and prophecies.

Hubris is an interesting reframing of Tower as a failed rebellion and ruin with a welcome guest to see outside of usually extremely annoyingly Major 15th. Lucifer. He had been cast down and failed and now has his own kingdom down in Hell yada yada. Yet, this symbol becomes as rich as the Tower, if it makes us look at what made us fail, if we went up against something stronger without preparation, or, even if our cause was just. Rather than distinct Tower, WE failed and now WE have to contend with it.

Determination is alternate to Chariot, which I like primarily because it's more badass and dynamic than the original image. This is ... not to say. There is no symbolism to analyze here. I merely claim intellectual honesty in proclaiming I am sometimes a teen boy in my preferences and this image goes hard, as the kids say.

Seven of Vessels is one of my favourite Vessels, because it makes sense. It refers to specific plate of Splendor Solis where three birds make combat. Here, the soul purified and rising fights the still contained impurities. The red bird is to be the heat melting them together - the circle that binds them together is their cage. This is a conflict of self against self and reads fairly easily as compared to some other Vessel cards. None of them can rise alone. They need to become one to rise, yet they fail to realise that right now. What parts of the systems are fighting? In tension? It is instinctually understandable even without understanding alchemical allegories.

Fertility is a way more interesting version of Marseille Empress. This idea and image gets across the force of nature in all its beauty and dangers (lily and poison). Historical "Venus" statue stands in foreground reminding us of the idea of cultural concepts and how things like femininity, masculinity and even beauty itself are constructs rather than naturally bound.

To sum it up, Terra Volatile is like a beloved book you know is a bit flawed but you still find beauty in. In the tarot worlds it's one of my oldest friends, full of details I still discover when I read with it and with imagery that speaks to me. I'm exceedingly happy it continued to develop and I'll LOVE to see the new Extension.

#decks_showcase #tarot