The Moon card from the traditional Rider/Waite/Smith deck is profoundly symbolic. It was a difficult card for me to learn. I could easily understand that the moon represents the shadow aspects of us – intuition, dreaming, psychic powers and imagination, but the rest of the symbolism escaped me. Besides the moon in her three phases (and a rather predominant profile) we also have a violet crayfish crawling out of water, a yellow wolf and a dog that is baying at the moon, two pillars, and droplets falling from the sky. There is a path that leads from the water between the animals, and between the pillars and into mountains far into the distance. While all of the meanings associated with the symbolism are fascinating, what a reader needs to know is the basic meaning of the card and what it would mean if it fell in a reading. Expanding Dimensions, the creators of Today’s Journey Tarot chose to show a glowing crystal ball for this card and a reader scrying its wisdom. This goes right to the point of the mysterious and unknown path we must take to bring the intuitive aspect of ourselves into the light and use that perception in everyday life.

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”

www.todaysjourneytarot.com

The Star card in the Rider/Waite/Smith deck is one of the most beautiful and inspiring of all the Major Arcana. It shows a kneeling woman with one foot in a pool of water and one on land. She pours water from two pitchers, one in each hand – one into the water and one onto the land. There is a large eight pointed star above her with seven smaller stars surrounding it. While this is a beautiful picture, the symbolism here is not apparent without further study. It is a card that inspires us to develop inner calm and peace. The card suggests that through this development we will find access to divine guidance. The Star is often referred to as the card of meditation. So, Today’s Journey Tarot simplified the symbolism to show a woman in a classic meditation pose and the card is titled, Meditation.

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”

www.todaysjourneytarot.com

The Tower card in the Rider/Waite/Smith deck shows lightening striking a tower and two people, a man and a woman, are falling from its heights. The tower is topped with a crown, which has been blown off by the lightening. This symbolism is a bit easier than some cards because we all identify with what it is like to be “struck by lightening”, a metaphor for something that occurs out of the blue. That is the basic meaning of this card but it goes a little deeper than that as additional symbolism expresses. It is suggesting a sudden, life altering event that changes us forever. It is the proverbial rude awakening. Today’s Journey Tarot calls this card Intervention – which is exactly what the card means. Something happens, apparently outside of our control which changes things forever – spiritually, physically or in all ways. Key 16 shows a family escaping from their home after a tree has fallen on it. They appear unhurt – just terrified – but from this point on, everything will change. Their routine, the structure of their house, their memories of the event and many other things have changed and will never be the same as before.

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”

www.todaysjourneytarot.com

The Devil card is another of those cards that should be addressed right away when you are doing a reading. Even if the person you are reading for knows nothing about the Tarot – or maybe because they know nothing, a lot of assumptions are made when this card falls in front of them. It frightens them immediately. The Rider/Waite/Smith deck shows a rather imposing devil figure with ram’s horns, donkey ears, bat wings and clawed feet. His face is pink and his right arm is raised with the astrological glyph for Saturn in the palm – the planet of limitations. He is perched on a one-dimensional cube. There are two figures before him – a man and a woman – with cloven feet, horns and tails. They are chained loosely to the cube. This card’s symbolism suggests the perverse gratification humanity receives through material attainment rather than spiritual fulfillment. All evil in the world is enacted because somebody wants something someone else has – money, position, relationship, property, land, ideals, ideas, innocence, power. It is fueled by greed, jealously, desire, pleasure, escape, hate, or fear. Human beings are addicted to the material world. It is hard for us to identify with what we cannot experience with our senses – the spiritual. This addiction manifests on many levels but it is all tied to Materialism, Today’s Journey Tarot’s title for this card. Key 15 shows a party where the host is on a sofa preparing drugs for his guests – who are obviously in various stages of inebriation. It expresses the futility of excessive gratification in modern terms that we can all understand at a glance.

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”

www.todaysjourneytarot.com