Having found out more about the Tarot, I looked at Tarot decks created by fantasy artists, including
Brian Froud and H.R. Giger.
Brian Froud’s tarot deck, "The Faerie Oracle," features his original faerie artwork, accompanied by a book that explains the different meanings of the cards. As with all tarot decks, each card has both positive and negative meanings.
H.R. Giger is a very different fantasy artist, whose futuristic and occult pictures have a very dark, often erotic appearance. His “Baphomet” Tarot set features some of his most disturbing yet intriguing pictures, including his “biomechanoid ” creatures like “Pump Excursion 1,” which symbolises The Fool.
While I found both of these decks appealing, I decided to aim for a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy in the cards, some based on Giger. I found this gave greater flexibility in the images I used, and allowed for bolder designs.