When life is spinning out of control, people are more likely to dust off their Tarot cards and look into the future for clarification or reassurance. Tarot is very useful in such stressful times, as it can give some hope for change. But don’t forget to drag those cards off the shelf when life’s going OK too. That’s a perfect opportunity to get to know your cards better — you’re not under pressure to come up with an answer — you’re just looking at them to familiarise yourself with the symbols and imagery.

You might be thinking, I know my cards very well! I don’t need to browse through them just for fun. But do you know them as well as you imagine?

Here’s a question to test your Tarot knowledge: In the Rider-Waite cards (you do have a pack of those don’t you?) how many of those Tarot images feature dogs? Do you think you know the answer without checking the cards? You might be surprised. At the end of this post I’ll give you the answer, but don’t scroll down… don’t cheat yourself! Have a think right now about those dogs and see if you really do know the cards as well as you think you do. Now grab your pack and rummage through them and see if you came up with any other cards featuring dogs.

Secret Symbols: Sometimes the cards seem so familiar to us, yet when we look closer we see objects that we hadn’t noticed before. Apart from obvious (but somehow overlooked) symbols in each card, the designer and artist of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck also included some secret imagery, hidden within the details of the illustrations.

One such piece of hidden code is found in the Four of Swords card. In the top left corner of the stained glass window you will find the Latin word for peace (pax). The artist (Pamela Colman-Smith) and designer of this deck (A. E. Waite) incorporated some hidden symbols to give the cards a deeper level of meaning. (In the image on the right I’ve coloured the word in red to make it easier to see.)

It’s exciting when you find a “hidden” piece of symbolism, but it’s also great when you stumble across part of the image that you never noticed before. That’s why spending time with your Tarot cards is valuable. You can discover interesting parts of the imagery that you overlooked previously, and which may give added meaning to future readings.

Now, you’re still wondering if you found all of the dogs in the pictures aren’t you! I hope you had a proper think about it. The answer is: there are three cards showing dogs. The Fool (of course — I think you all would have known that one!) and The Moon (on one side is a dog and on the other there is a wolf) and the Ten of Pentacles (that one surprised you didn’t it!).