The Fifth Tarot: Restoring the Fifth Element: Fire, Water, Air, Earth...and Ether Perfect Paperback – December 18, 2008

This Tarot deck was created for the new Age of Aquarius. It is not your usual Tarot deck. There are 92 cards in this deck, because of the addition of a 5th suit, containing the usual 14 cards. There are 5 elemental suits, that is, fire, water, air, earth, and ether; ether is the element, according to the authors of the book in this Tarot set, which "is the life force that flows through all creation". The symbols for the suits are also not the usual rods, cups, swords and pentacles, but are fire, shells, feathers and stones, respectively, being symbols from nature. The symbol for the 5th suit is lotuses. The Court cards also have different designations, not those of royalty, but following the status of knowledge in the suit, namely, seeker, initiate, apprentice and elementor. There are 22 Major Arcana cards, however there are some changes in the names of the Majors. The artwork is beautiful and colorful. It is multi-cultural, with much symbolism from Native American and so-called primitive societies. The artwork is full of symbolism, and some of it is abstract and surreal. The pip cards are not fully illustrated, in general, but there is more than just the corresponding number of elements pictured. On the borders of the Majors cards, there are astrological and other esoteric symbols, and the pip cards contain one or two word designations on the bottom of each card. I found these designations very helpful. There is a book included in the set, which gives detailed discussions for each card, including divinatory meanings and practical applications. The discussions of the cards tend to be based on spiritual themes. For those who are interested in the relationship between Tarot and Kabbalah, the book does discuss the relationship between the cards of the Major Arcana and the Tree of Life. I highly recommend this deck as a unique Tarot experience. If you are waiting for me to say something negative, here it is; the box in which this set arrived came apart quite easily.

This deck absolutely INFURIATED me. It seemed like a really odd idea - my study of Tarot has led to the understanding that the five elements ARE represented - the four cardinal elements by the four suits, and the fifth element by the Major Arcana. However, the review also suggested that some outmoded concepts contained in the tarot had been removed, or altered to connect to new forms - new archetypes and new energetic practices. I was fascinated by the idea, and wondered how they were going to manage that - where they'd take it.The creators of this deck took it to the sewer.The tarot has over 700 years of history behind it, if not more. It has worked as it works for this long because it's based on a sound understanding of human archetypes, human psychology, and the recognition that the subconscious/collective unconscious of our race hasn't changed all that much. Yes, every day technology advances, and we change the way we view the world and how we operate within it, but how much do we actually change on a species-wide level? Practically not at all. Our modes of being are hardwired into us by evolution... so it's not surprising that, even with the broad changes to our social values, we're still the same animal.The creators of this deck don't seem to really understand the original format of Tarot and the archetypes and rich symbolism that are behind it, driving the happy subconscious/mystical bus, and because of their poor research, when they altered it, they broke it; the deck has no energy. The artwork is OK, but it's sparse and scanty. And not a single card in the deck has a negative meaning.For instance... The five of swords (here in this deck called the five of feathers) - in a normal deck the five of swords represents knowledge changed. We are presented with an image of a battlefield, after the battle is lost. The character in the card is gathering swords from the fallen... his world has crumbled, all that he believed to be true has turned out to be false, and he's gathering what's left of his thoughts, his changing ideas, and attempting to fit them into his world-view - and he feels that to change his mind is a betrayal of all he holds dear - a dishonor that can never be washed away. It's an image of a shattered belief system that must be replaced by new thoughts, new ideas... usually by conquest. The usual definition of the card is Failure - the failure of ideas or ethics, and the forced reaping of new ones.They decorated the card in pinks and greens. They put four hummingbirds on the card. They called it JOY.They removed the high priestess completely, but they replaced the fecund image of the Empress with an image of the high priestess (while still calling it The Empress) - complete with gauzy dress and lunar crown.Or what about the Devil in a normal deck - the card that represents self-deceit, lies we tell each other, the animal lusts, living without moderation.They called it The Shadow, which I wouldn't object to normally, but then they suggested that by AVOIDING negative thoughts, the Shadow could be conquered - and they suggested that, rather than those subconscious land-mines being rather like layers on an onion, that you could just... decide to face it, even if you weren't ready, and fix it all in say, five minutes, and never have to deal with it again.This deck is for Pollyanna personalities who have absolutely NO grasp on reality and no respect for the Tarot, it's history, it's allegorical symbolism, its psychology... I sent it back in disgust.

This is one of the best new tarot decks out there. I have used many different decks over the years. The art work in this deck is awesome. The authors have utilized their intuition and linear knowledge of the inner and outer worlds of ways of knowing how to be in balance and harmony. They have brought the best of the old information of tarot and added the much needed inspirations of new ways to access and use the vibrations and information coming to Earth. Their depth of knowledge is inspiring. This is a deck worth having and using to assist your daily decisions in life.

I recently bought my second copy of this deck for readings the first deck was for personal mediation. Once I read with a tarot, it gathers to much energy - negative or positive, to use for meditation, even after smudging. I wanted to become comfortable with this deck before I offered it for my readings. I must admit, after performing a couple of practice readings I will probably use this deck more for meditation. In all fairness I have not had the reading deck long enough to really be comfortable using it as such. Usually, if I can not become in tune with a deck in this aspect, I will remove it as a choice for reading. For some reason, I just can't read with this deck as easily, which may bring to the point - as a tarot deck it may not quite fit the bill. I would however, highly recommend meditation as it has a very soothing feel. I can definitely feel the passion of the deck in this aspect.

I was able to connect with these cards easily. I often get comments on how pretty they are also. This deck and the Ted Andrews Animal deck are the two I use most frequenty.

What a wonderful discovery to finally uncover the missing "element" for a Tarot to carry you to a "fifth" dimension! It has been tweaked from a standard R-W 72 card deck, needing some extra study, but adding some needed "leverage" for a more "quantum look" at our existence!Well thought out and put together! I love it!Alan

This is my favorite Tarot deck--beautifully composed and I use it all the time. I highly recommend it!

I love these cards, the symbolism is wonderful and the book really well written providing guidelines and deeper meanings to the cards.

Dieser Tarot soll angeblich ein Tarot für das 21. Jahrhundert sein. Dem kann ich nicht so ganz zustimmen. Dafür liegt der Schwerpunkt viel zu sehr auf den mosaischen Wüstenreligionen. Ganz besonders das Judentum taucht in sehr vielen Karten auf. Es wird meiner Ansicht nach auch nicht auf die Unterschiede zwischen Religion und Spiritualität geachtet. Dieser Tarot ist ein Set für Christen oder Juden die sich mit dem Tarot befassen möchten. Wer allerdings eher Wert auf konfessionslose Spiritualität legt sollte hiervon die Fínger lassen. Vom Ansatz her ist dieses Werk gut gemeint. Aber leider ist der Absprung vom Religiösen nicht geschafft worden. Deshalb ist es meiner Ansicht nach eher ein erweiterter Tarot für das 19. oder 20. Jahrhundert.

I have trouble finding tarot decks that I can relate to. This is one of the decks that seems to "speak" to me... I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a change.