The Death card is a very scary card. Most people I read for gasp when it falls in a reading. I quickly explain that the card does not mean death but change and transformation, but I suspect many people still fear that impending doom is imminent. Besides its title, the images on the Rider/Waite/Smith card are also scary and confusing. The main symbol is a skeleton dressed in armor and riding a white horse. He holds a black banner. The horse appears to be stepping over the body of a fallen king. There is also a priest, child and maiden, and a sun rising/setting between two pillars. When these images are studied and understood the meaning of the card becomes clear but Expanding Dimensions, the creators of Today’s Journey Tarot, chose to demystify the symbols and depict an image that would not instantly invoke fear. We call our card Transition and it shows a beautiful golden bridge surrounded by clouds. It still conveys the idea that changes are occurring and that transformation takes place as we cross from one idea, place, cycle, or whatever is occurring in our lives. Does it ever express physical death? Death is definitely a transition. But in Key 13, Transition leads to a renewal of the spirit, not a dark and scary place.

The Hanged Man is one of the most recognizable of all Tarot cards but the image alone without the symbolic interpretation is difficult to understand. We have a man hanging upside down from a tree limb. His hands are behind his back, forming one triangle and one leg is crossed behind the other forming another triangle. His head is illuminated. The Hanged Man suggests looking at something from a new point of view – changing our perspective. There is also surrender in this card – surrender to a higher power perhaps or just to things the way they are. It is accepting or grasping that there is a bigger picture and we are only part of the whole. Until we can accept and adapt, we are suspended from evolving to greater understanding. Today’s Journey Tarot brought these ideas into the modern world. When we think of standing still in our society most of us can identify with a traffic jam. We’ve all been there at least once and for some it is an everyday occurrence. The Choice is whether we want to stay where we are and hope that things will eventually get better – and in due time it will – or take a chance and exit onto an unknown, which could transform our lives. The “Quantum” sign suggests that there are unlimited possibilities if we make that change. What we cannot change is the deadlocked traffic.

Teresa Sue McAdams, co-creator of “Today’s Journey Tarot”, co-author of “Today’s Journey Tarot, A Traveler’s Guide”, co-author of “Tarot Meditations, A Journal for Self Discovery”, and author of “Lessons, The Wisdom Within Each Moment”

The traditional meaning for the Justice card is the idea that justice will always be done. That means that it might not go your way all the time but it will always balance out to be fair for all. The Rider/Waite/Smith Justice card shows a woman sitting between two pillars. She is wearing a crown with a square stone, holding a sword upright in her right hand and balanced scales in her left hand. Her robe, her foot peeking out from beneath it, and the square stone at her throat all have symbolic significance. When Expanding Dimensions began to discuss this card, the modern representation was obvious although it is an ancient principle. We called it Karma. Today’s Journey Tarot Key 11 shows a man and a woman engaged in the “dance of life”. They are polar opposites of each other, illuminated by the symbol of yin and yang. In fact their body positions mimic this pattern as well. They represent the complimentary aspects of the law of balance throughout the Universe – cause and effect. They not only compliment each other, they support one another. One cannot exist without the other. What does all this mean? It means that everything balances eventually. This is an absolute.

Teresa Sue McAdams, co-creator of “Today’s Journey Tarot”, co-author of “Today’s Journey Tarot, A Traveler’s Guide”, co-author of “Tarot Meditations, A Journal for Self Discovery”, and author of “Lessons, The Wisdom Within Each Moment”