Osho Zen Master Tarot

The traditional tarot is often used to satisfy our longing to understand the past, or to predict
the future.
This OSHO Zen Tarot focuses on gaining an understanding of the here and now. It is a system
based on the wisdom of Zen – a wisdom that says events in the outer world simply reflect our
own thoughts and feelings, even though we ourselves might be unclear about what those
thoughts and feelings are.
This tarot helps us to turn our attention away from outside events so we find a new clarity of
understanding about what is happening in our innermost hearts.

The Osho Zen Tarot focuses on gaining an understanding of the here and now. It is a system
based on the wisdom of Zen, a wisdom that says events in the outer world simply reflect our
own thoughts and feelings, even though we ourselves might be unclear about what those
thoughts and feelings are. So it helps us to turn our attention away from outside events so we
can find a new clarity of understanding about what is happening in our own innermost hearts.

The Osho Zen Tarot is a deck of 79 cards illustrated by artist Ma Deva Padma. These cards
emphasize being in the present moment and making the NOW your point of power.

Card Overview

Below I have matched up the Osho Zen Tarot cards to their Traditional Rider-Waite Major
Arcana counterparts (Osho cards are in bold):

0 Fool – The Fool

1 The Magician – Existence
2 The High Priestess – Inner Voice
3 The Empress – Creativity
4 The Emperor – The Rebel
5 The Heirophant – No-Thingness
6 The Lovers – The Lovers
7 The Chariot – Awareness
8 Strength – Courage
9 The Hermit – Aloneness
10 The Wheel of Fortune – Change
11 Justice – Breakthrough
12 The Hanged Man – New Vision
13 Death – Transformation
14 Temperance – Integration
15 The Devil – Conditioning
16 The Tower – Thunderbolt
17 The Star – Silence
18 The Moon – Past Lives
19 The Sun – Innocence
20 Judgement – Beyond Illusion
21 The World – Completion
The Master (This is just an extra Osho Zen Tarot card that is unique to this deck – there is
no Rider-Waite equivalent)

Minor Arcana
Each Minor Arcana suit in the Osho Zen Tarot is represented by a different element
Pentacles – Rainbows
Swords – Air (grey)
Cups – Water (blue)
Wands – Fire (red)

Court Cards
The different court cards in the Osho Zen Tarot are identified by a triangle on the bottom of
the card.
King – Upright triangle
Queen – Inverted triangle
Knight – Left pointing triangle
Page – Right pointing triangle

I. Structure and meaning of the Osho Zen

Tarot deck
This deck is designed in a liberal style in order to attain enlightenment through
meditation. While traditional Tarot deck, which is Rider-Waite, aims to satisfy the desire
to search for the past and the future and answers questions like “What will happen in
the future?”, “What will my health and children look like?”, or “What if I choose one
option over the other?”, etc, Osho Zen Tarot focuses on the task of helping readers and
querents enhance their perception of the present. The similarity between the Osho Zen
Tarot and the Rider-Waite Tarot is that it is not intended to make predictions. It is a
system based on the enlightenment of Zen, which helps us to examine external events
to clarify what is happening inside us. Additionally, impressive images help you blend in
with your sensitivity, intuition, compassion, creativity, acceptance, and personality.

The Osho Zen Tarot consists of 79 cards: 78 cards as usual and the Master card added,
each containing a picture of the card and an accompanying reading. This section
includes a quotation from Osho’s works and a paraphrase of the author illustrating this
deck.
Overall, it represents the ultimate transcendence of the individual ego in
enlightenment and the illustrated 176-page manual. Besides, each Osho Zen Tarot card
has an explanation of the illustration as well as insight into its meaning. The manual
also provides some spreadsheets and a glossary of symbols.

Somewhat helpful to the Tarot readers, the accompanying manual describes in great
detail the cards as well as their meaning in common sense. These descriptions lead
Tarot readers to immerse in the card and interpret the images in the card with feeling
and reflection. This approach can be found to be a big help when reading cards and
discovering what card images are trying to convey. Usually, in the manual, you will find
a story about Buddha, more perfectly describing the meaning of the card, and leaving
some information about the Zen culture of Osho and the life of Buddha.

MAJOR ARCANA
MINOR ARCANA