Katina vs Tarot

What is the difference between Katina and tarot?

Katina has 65 cards arranged in groups, while tarot has 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards in four suits. Katina’s person types, horses, spirits, elements and symbols create a different structure from tarot’s suits, numbers and court cards. You can explore relationship, family or work questions in either deck, reading each card through its own meaning and its position.

	Katina	Tarot
Number of cards	65	78
Structure	groups: ladies, lords, sultans, rulers, horses, spirits, elements, two special cards, a guide card and 34 symbol cards	the Major Arcana (22) and the Minor Arcana (56) in four suits
People	ladies, lords and sultans describe types of person	court cards can show a person, a trait or an approach
Reversed cards	the same theme delayed, overdone or in shadow	delay, turning inward, the card’s shadow side
Example question areas	relationships, family, communication and decisions	relationships, inner life, decisions, work and money
Tradition	a younger tradition, known especially in Turkey and Greece	a deck used in Europe for centuries and documented in many sources

Choose one question and record a separate reading with each deck. Note the card, its position, its traditional theme and the connection you make with the question. Compare a Katina person card with a tarot court card by their qualities, rather than assuming one reveals a real person while the other reveals an inner state. Keep any difference in your interpretation tied to the actual cards drawn.

Read both the quality and the position of a person card. Mida describes a distant, cold and touchy woman type; the Queen of Cups brings compassion, intuition and attention to feeling. Either can be read as a person type or an attitude in context. In a position about your own stance, explore the quality in your behaviour; elsewhere, compare it with exchanges you have observed.

Katina or tarot: how to choose for your question

1. Decide what your question is about

Write the question before choosing the deck. Relationship, family, work and inner-life questions can be explored with either Katina or tarot. Choose a spread that gives the question useful positions, then use that deck’s own card meanings. If you are learning both, note how each deck structures the same question rather than assigning people to Katina and inner life to tarot.

2. Measure how wide the question is

Is your question about one conversation or a wider decision? For a career change, separate the values involved from the daily preparation, then compare tarot’s Majors and suits with Katina’s person groups and symbols under those headings. Keep the wording about present circumstances, such as “What do I need to clarify about this news?”, and choose positions that help you explore those circumstances.

3. Choose a spread that matches the shape of the question

If you are torn between two options, tarot’s seven-card Decision Spread sets two paths side by side. With three options, Katina’s ten-card Three Paths compares all three at once. For a relationship, Katina has Mirror of the Heart and tarot the Relationship Spread.

4. Keep the meanings apart

Both decks have familiar names such as the Sun and the Moon, but the meanings are not the same. Read a Katina card within Katina’s tradition and a tarot card within tarot’s. Carrying a meaning from one deck to the other is like speaking two languages in one sentence.

5. If it helps, read the same question with both decks separately

For a comparison exercise, use the same written question in separate Katina and tarot spreads. Finish each interpretation before placing the summaries side by side. Note the card, position and theme behind each observation, and where the interpretations differ. Keeping the layouts separate is a useful learning method; it does not establish a universal ban on creating a mixed-deck spread.

6. Find out by trying which deck feels closer

Some readers feel at home in Katina’s language of people and signs, others in tarot’s layered symbolism. Work with a single card from each deck for a few weeks and note in your journal which one speaks to you more clearly.

Example: a three-way decision read with both decks

The question: “Should I stay in my city, move to another one, or try working remotely?”

Katina, with Three Paths. In “Main energy of the decision”, Hesse brings longing and the heart’s direction into the question. Staying has Valide in “First path beginning”, the Ebony Wheel in “First path development” and the Emerald of the Waters in “First path result”: family authority, repetition and emotional balance. Moving has the Sailboat, Dare and the Ruby of Fire in the corresponding Second path positions: departure, crisis and passion. Remote work has Ishafan, the Fox and Turan in the Third path positions: ideas, concealment and strategy. Compare the needs and tensions in each column rather than treating its result theme as a completed outcome.

Tarot. Narrow the Decision Spread to “Stay or move?”. Read its seven positions: Eight of Cups in “Decision theme” brings dissatisfaction and the wish to leave. For staying, Four of Pentacles in “Option one start” concerns holding on, Eight of Pentacles in “Option one development” practice, and Ten of Pentacles in “Option one result” family and long-term structure. For moving, Ace of Wands in “Option two start” concerns initiative, Two of Swords in “Option two development” indecision and missing information, and the Fool in “Option two result” curiosity, a first step and risk. Compare security, effort and novelty with the actual circumstances of each option.

Together. The Katina example emphasises family authority, repetition, departure, crisis and planning; the tarot example adds holding on, effort, initiative and missing information. Compare those themes with the options’ working arrangements, distance from family and skills required. Make one row for each option, recording what you know and what you still need to ask. Choose one missing piece of information to investigate as the next step, rather than letting a card’s calm or passion decide which future is attractive.

Common misconceptions about Katina and tarot

• Thinking Katina is tarot with different pictures. Katina has no suits, numbers or Major Arcana; it has its own groups and its own language.
• Believing tarot cannot speak about love. Tarot’s Cups, court cards and relationship spreads also explore relationships. Compare these with Katina’s person groups, horses and symbols. The difference lies in the decks’ structures and traditional meanings rather than a guarantee that one makes a relationship more concrete.
• Transferring meanings between decks. Keep separate readings while learning. Do not give a Katina card the meaning of a tarot card with the same name; record the card, deck and position together when comparing interpretations.
• Assuming Katina is the older tradition. Katina is younger and less documented than tarot; presenting it as “ancient” does the tradition no favours.
• Expecting dates from either deck. Both describe processes, not calendars. Turn “When?” into “How is this process moving?”.

Where to go from here

The best way to get to know both decks is to give each deck a week of its own: one week with a morning tarot card, the next with a Katina card. At the end of the two weeks, compare which symbols you explained easily and which meanings you confused. Choose one card from each deck to study again, using the notes to plan your next practice session.

The next time you are torn between three options, try Three Paths among the Katina spreads in the Larisa app: put your options into the question, draw the ten cards and read the beginning, development and result of each path column by column before you open the reading.

To learn Katina itself, continue with how to read Katina cards, and for love questions with Katina love reading. On the tarot side, the method is in how to read tarot cards. To compare the two languages, read Katina’s guide card, the Dervish, next to the Hermit in tarot.