The Alchemical Tarot: Reimagined - thirty years of alchemy, redrawn
In August 1987, Robert M. Place was studying an alchemical image of the Philosopher's Stone when something clicked: the alchemical Great Work and the story told in the tarot trumps were the same story. He picked up Jung's Psychology and Alchemy and started writing notes in the margins, card by card. That moment led to the first edition of The Alchemical Tarot in 1995.
Thirty years and six editions later, Place has redrawn every card. Not because the earlier versions failed, but because he understands his own visual language better now than he did then. The Alchemical Tarot: Reimagined is not an update. It is a restatement of the same foundation.
What the cards show
Each trump represents a specific alchemical material or stage of the Magnum Opus, the great work that leads toward the Philosopher's Stone. Every trump carries the corresponding alchemical symbol in the image. The World card represents the Philosopher's Stone itself.
The four minor suits correspond to the four alchemical elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Each element maps to one of Jung's four functions of consciousness: sensation, intuition, thinking, and feeling. The feminine elements align with the passive observational functions, the masculine with the active decision-making ones. This is not a loose metaphor. It runs through the entire structure of the deck.
This edition also includes Veritas as the twenty-second trump, already present in the sixth edition and carried forward here. The gold gilding on the card edges is a deliberate choice, and gives each card a tangible presence in the hand.
What sets this deck apart
Place was not the only person to connect alchemy and tarot, but he did it earliest and most systematically. The symbolic link between the trumps and the Magnum Opus is not decorative: each card holds a specific position within the alchemical process. That makes readings work differently than with a standard Rider-Waite-based deck.
The Jungian layer reinforces that. Not as an addition, but as the lens through which the whole system is built. The minor arcana division reflects Jung's four functions directly, and anyone familiar with that framework will recognise it immediately.
Look at the alchemical symbol on each trump. It marks the stage of the Great Work the card belongs to, and adds a reading layer that sits alongside the classical tarot meaning rather than replacing it.
About Robert M. Place
Robert M. Place is a visual artist working in painting, sculpture, and jewellery. His work has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide. He is the designer, illustrator, and author or co-author of more than ten tarot and oracle decks, including The Tarot of the Saints, The Vampire Tarot, The Raziel Tarot, and The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery.
He also wrote The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, described by Booklist as possibly the best book ever written on tarot. Place lectures and teaches on mysticism and tarot across the United States and on five continents.
Specifications
- Number of cards: 78, including Veritas as the 22nd trump
- Language: English
- Author and illustrator: Robert M. Place
- Edition: seventh edition (Reimagined)
- Finish: gold gilding on card edges
Questions we often get
How different is this edition from the earlier versions of The Alchemical Tarot?
Significantly. Place redrawn every card for this edition. It is not a reprint of an earlier design, but a new rendering of the same symbolic structure. The alchemical framework and the Jungian layer remain unchanged.
Do I need to know alchemy or Jung to read with this deck?
No. The cards work without that background, because the imagery carries meaning on its own. But knowing the alchemical stages and Jung's functions of consciousness adds a second reading layer that is built into every card.
