THE COMPOSITION of the Lurianic Tarot deck is essentially no different from most popular Tarot card decks in use today; the viewer will notice that the deck consists of the same standard seventy-eight cards: twenty-two trumps, four aces, sixteen court cards, and thirty-six numbered ‘pip’ cards, organised into the Major Arcana (trumps) and the Minor Arcana (the cards in the four suits).
The four suits of the Minor Arcana of the Tarot are actually the precursors of the four suits found in modern playing card decks: Staff (clubs), Graal (hearts), Blade (spades), and Seal (diamonds). Most modern Tarot decks list these same suits as Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (or Coins), respectively. According to the common understanding regarding the Tarot, these four suits are each related to one of the four letters in the Tetragrammaton, or Divine Name (spelled YHWH/Yodh-Heh-Waw-Heh: euei). This quadruplicity also correlates with the four kerubic elements of nature, namely m fire, , water, . air, and / earth, as well as a whole host of other mystical correspondences which are related to these four elements.
In truth, the real differences between this and other Tarot decks are found in several areas, most notably with regard to the ordering of the ‘planet’ cards of the Major Arcana, several of the Major Arcana card names, as well as emphasis on correspondences with Judaic personages (prophets, Hebrew adepts, ministering angels, and the like). The reader will notice a minimal amount of Anglish text on these cards, with translations in Spanish and Hebrew. I chose Spanish in light of the inclusion of the Sefardim within the kabbalistic tradition. I chose to include Hebrew for the simple fact that it is a verifiable mystical language (the modern Romance languages and Anglish not having been traditionally regarded as such) and because it is intimately connected with the twenty-two Major Arcana.
Additionally, there are other aspects to this particular deck which contribute to its peculiarity with respect to other Tarot card decks. Students of the Tarot are familiar with the traditional images of the Tarot decks authored by Arthur Edward Waite, Paul Foster Case, as well as those others embraced by the tradition of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In designing this Tarot deck, I observed the symbolism used in these other decks; in situations where my understanding matched the symbolism included in a particular card, I retained the use of that symbolism in some form. Where my understandings of the Tarot differed from the established convention set forth by the Order of the Golden Dawn, I readily departed from the symbolism employed in such cards, producing my own symbolism and including explanations in this accompanying documentation. Indeed, all of the cards in this deck are described in the companion literature, to the extent that this literature provides extensive insight into the symbolism used on the various cards. It is recommended as requisite material for the novice and the established practitioner alike, in order to provide concrete explanations behind some significant changes in the ordering of the cards, and also in the symbolism employed in each of them.
The functionality of the Tarot should be clarified here. Unlike the typical ‘modern’ European tradition of using the cards to purport the future or to divine particular past, present, or future events, this approach to ‘reading’ the Tarot is somewhat different. The ‘book’ of the Tarot itself (composed of the seventy-eight cards) is opened, dealt, and read not as a tool with which to divine of unknown future or past events, but rather as an instrument to open the mind of the reader to alternative points of view with respect to a particular inquiry or scenario. This use of the Tarot departs radically from its popular, traditional application as a divination tool. In this alternate approach to reading Tarot, it must be understood that all proper Tarot card spreads express truth, albeit shrouded in symbolism, based on the vantage point of the reader. Certainly in this school of thought, some (and in fact, perhaps many) various card spreads will reveal nothing of particular importance with respect to the significator, although with regard to the card spread and the reader’s interpretation of it, the cards provide information which on some level could be verified as relevant. The cards themselves, of course, are not concerned with the personal relevance a particular spread may have to the current significator, but they do provide insight in any given randomly dealt card arrangement.
An example will help to illustrate this understanding. A certain Tarot card spread of four cards, used to indicate the significator (the subject), the family, the local community, and the world-at-large or extended community, respectively, may in one instance provide insight into different attitudes regarding a particular concern (e.g., romance, finance, home life, &c.). A similar Tarot card spread consisting of four other cards may on the other hand connote an entirely different aspect of the situation, such as describing external influences on the situation at hand, with respect to the four areas of individual, family, local community, and world-at-large or extended community. Part of the art of reading Tarot is being able to identify the common denominator in any card spread and applying that understanding to the significator or object of the reading. This places the burden of understanding not on the cards themselves, but rather on the person performing the reading. This is as it should be, because as we all know, the arbitrary nature of the Tarot card spread is devoid of its own articulation, and must be interpreted through a human reader.
If, after several attempts, no card spread seems to provide any verifiable information, then the reader should suggest a different approach to the scenario, and specific questions demanding a particular response format should be wholly avoided. I have encountered techniques which consisted of nothing more than a ‘Twenty Questions’ type of interview, with the reader deciding on what the ‘correct’ response should be by attempting to correlate the newly overturned card with a possible answer. Fundamentally, it behooves the Tarot reader to understand that all card spreads contain elements of truth regarding any valid inquiries, but are not necessarily overtly revealing of that truth; generally, probing is necessary to uncover how a particular card fits into a Tarot reading. Therein lies the true discernment of the significance of the Tarot, because it provides us the information we seek, but only from a distinctive point of view.
This documentation is intended to serve as a companion guide for the cards of the Lurianic Tarot deck as they appear within; the reader will notice certain references to information which may likely only be found on these cards. Additionally, because some of the cards have been reordered (as well as for other reasons), the mystical significance or esoteric meaning of a particular card may be represented differently than in ‘traditional’ decks.