Deck Intro: Cardcaptor Sakura
I thought it might be kind of fun to start a new series of blog posts to introduce the Tarot decks in my collection. So, let’s start with my very first deck, The Cardcaptor Sakura Tarot!
A Little Background
I’m often asked where my tarot journey began. I generally site Persona 3 as being the spark that ignited my interest, but I came across something recently that reminded me that it actually happened a bit before then.
I think I mentioned this before, but I collected decks of playing cards when I was growing up. My affinity for cards drew me naturally to collecting trading cards and watching Saturday morning anime like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Cardcaptors on Saturday mornings. I was especially drawn to the way Cardcaptor Sakura depicted cards as a powerful tool for magic and transformation.
At some point between ‘02 and ‘06 (between the ages of 12 and 17 I really can’t pinpoint it.) I stumbled across this bootleg Cardcaptor Sakura Tarot deck in a tiny shop in ChinaTown, Philadelphia. It was one of those weird unique things that I saw and, though I didn’t fully understand it, had to have. To my chagrin, after I purchased and opened the package I realized that the guide book and cards were in a language I couldn’t understand. Regardless, I enjoyed the illustrations and kept the deck as an untouched treasure, until recently when I rediscovered it among the possessions I left in my childhood bedroom.
My Experience
The packaging is a clear plastic box with a seal etched into it that adorably says, “Tarot just for you.” The booklet is surprisingly detailed and I’m sure if I could understand it I would get much more out of the deck. It contains a surprising number of spread layouts and detailed card descriptions. Even though I can’t read it, it does help me to sort of determine the characters that correspond to each suit so I can at least figure out that much.
The cards are uniquely shaped. They are the same height, but thinner, than standard tarot cards, which makes them reminiscent of the Clow cards from the series. All 78 cards are present, as well as three extras. The illustrations on the cards seem arbitrary and unrelated to their meanings, but are lovely nonetheless. I recognize many of them from other Cardcaptor Sakura merchandise and the manga. I actually have a framed poster in my office of one of the illustrations, as well as a rug that matches the seal. It’s amazing the ways in which things that resonate stick with you over the years.
Final Thoughts
I think it would be extremely difficult for me to do a reading with this deck because I’d have to be translating symbols at the same time. It’s difficult to focus on intuition when your thinking mind has to be so active. If the images were related to the meaning of the cards it would be a different story.
It was fun to revisit this deck from my childhood, but I suppose it will continue to be an untouched treasure on the shelf.
More Info
In the future, I’ll give a little background on the creator of the deck and where to buy it, but this is a unique case where I don’t have that information.
