Clarity Tarot

I chose to write about the Clarity Tarot because I felt like a change of pace. Minimalist decks appeal to me for a plethora of reasons. The most obvious reason is that you are not forced to navigate your way through complex imagery. Instead you have to sit quietly with the image and let your mind wander and your thoughts flow. A minimalist deck doesn’t give you, or the creator, any place to hide. Rather, as is the intention of a deck subtitled “a deck for creative visualisation,” you bring the images to life in your mind.

The Clarity Tarot Cards

To read the Clarity Tarot I ask myself what I see and what that means to me. Now whilst that is the same approach I always take, this artwork taps me into different ways of thinking about things. It’s like looking at an ink blot. Take the 5 of Wands above as an example. This is how I unpacked this card on this particular occasion.

What do I see? A fire? So there’s a spark, and what are the dots? Are they embers/firebrands and what does that suggest? energy? potential spot fires? Maybe. What about the solid white lines? smoke? That’s a lot of smoke. Smoke and mirrors maybe? But then if that’s smoke why does that have more substance that what I took to be the wood. Maybe rather than smoke they are flames but now I see them as five claws, or gouges. Five people came together and were more interested in leaving their own mark than working together. Echinacea flower just came to mind – the need to heal.

Even though my mind has moved in random directions, when taken together an overall meaning starts to form fairly quickly. What I see another time will quite likely be different. Just as I’m quite sure that, whilst you may see how I got to the point I did, your mind probably wouldn’t have taken the same path. I love that.

This is not a “keyword” deck. That would limit its scope way too much.

This Star card is one of my favourite cards in the Clarity Tarot. The first thing that came to mind when I saw it was the Joseph Campbell quote:

If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.

It just made sense to me on so many levels.

Deck structure

The suits are Cups, Coins, Wands and Swords with the Court cards elementally-based, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. To ensure the deck remains gender neutral she has renamed them. Using the Swords suit as an example, there’s Apprentice of Air (Page of Swords), Alchemist of Air (Knight of Swords), Essence of Air (Queen of Swords) and Guide of Air (King of Swords). Listed like this, they seem straight forward enough however in readings, while I connect easily with the energy of the Apprentice and Essence cards, sometimes I stumble over the Alchemist and Guide titles.

There are no numbers on the actual Major Arcana cards albeit the numbers are listed in the guidebook. In the book Justice is VIII and Strength is XI but obviously you can allocate whichever number sequence you prefer.

Physical aspects of the cards

Printed on stiff, matte cardstock with a waxy feel, at 8.5cm x 12.5cm the Clarity Tarot cards are large. While borderless, there is a lot of blank space around the image that could have been trimmed to make the cards smaller. However, I like the additional space. As you can see from the images above, (I have edited many of the edges), this deck has chipped badly. That doesn’t overly bother me because I intend to edge it anyway. But, it is something to be aware of.

Something else to be aware of is that the Clarity Tarot, like most black decks, is notoriously hard to photograph even though the cards are matte. To show how black these cards are I have had to heavily edit the images. Below you can see how I captured the images verses the edited version. The edited version is how they actually appear albeit I little cooler in tone. This is such a personal deck for me so even if I was still offering traditional readings, I wouldn’t be using the Clarity Tarot, but it is worth noting for those who might choose to.

As a side note, there was a Spanish edition that came in either white or black but Bel Senlle’s website says it is currently out of stock. The sales from the Watkins version, (which is the one I have), is intended to help fund the Spanish version which is produced in Argentina and comes packaged in a handmade box.

Knowing a white version exists meant my curiosity got the better of me so I decided to inverse the colours to see which I preferred. The black is listed as the shadow, the white the light, but I didn’t expect to see them that way because I don’t get shadow energy from my cards. However, I was quite surprised to see how different the images felt when I looked at the inversions.

My interpretation of some card pairings

The Hermit and 5 of Cups

Strap yourself in. As my breakdown of the 5 of Wands no doubt suggested, these pairings may end up reading quite differently but here goes. 5 of Cups, straight up, “You’re trying to fill your cup with the wrong thing. You need to block out the noise. You don’t have to want to “drink” what every one else chooses to drink. But I have jumped to the second card because it seemed to make sense to re-order them but that isn’t how I drew them so I need to make sense of them in the order they presented.

When I look at this Hermit my first reaction is that the white pile is gold mined from the cave but that interpretation feels shallow and influenced by my knowledge of the card. Since, I don’t collect decks to read them all the same I need to keep looking.

The more I look at the “mountain” the more I start to see it as a cloaked figure sitting with their back to me. But turn my back on what? What other’s see as gold? Maybe.

Nevertheless, the thought that keeps returning is you don’t have to climb every mountain, take every challenge, try and navigate every obstacle. Some are meant to show you what isn’t for you and that is why the 5 of Cups is there. It is influencing, and therefore reinforcing, my interpretation. That’s how I’m taking it for now.

0 The Fool & Ace of Coins

No surprises here. As soon as these came out I saw it as a message linked to the previous cards and the Clarity Tarot cards themselves. This Fool has blocked out the noise so they can tap into their own potential and follow their own path.

6 of Coins & The Emperor

In this deck the 6 of Coins is my stalker card. I’ve lost track of how many times it has appeared. And, with all the lines on this Emperor I get Wild Unknown vibes. But I need to get back to that 6 of Coins. Generally it reminds me of the tree of life diagram. Although I’m now hearing “something’s gotta give” since the bottom half is obviously missing. You don’t have to give to everything and you don’t need to have a hand in everything. Focus on the skills you have to share and let others take some of the load.

It’s nice to see the appearance of The Emperor here. The first thought that came to mind is “From little things, big things grow” which here in Australia was the slogan for a superannuation company co-opted from a song of the same name written about the Gurindji people’s fight for land rights. Their action ultimately became the catalyst for the Aboriginal land rights movement. Thus, this message becomes clear. In sharing your thoughts, your ideas, and your knowledge and, more importantly, taking action on them you can provide a platform for others to build on.

The six cards overall

As I look at these cards laid out like a six card spread before me. I can see a story unfold. (Note: I have since added the entire spread earlier in the post as a comparison of the edited and non-edited photos if you’d like to see it all laid out.)

You need to trust that what you have to contribute is like gold to someone, so quieten the noise that tells you it’s not enough. You might not be able to see the full picture and how it all fits together but that’s okay. The second column says quite clearly, “Shut out the noise, see your potential, own it, and build something of value even if it is only a small portion, like the centre square on The Emperor, of what is to come. Trust that that is enough.”

I just had the random thought that I hope this deck is growing on you as you see more of it. I’m not sure who that’s targeted towards but I get the feeling that if you instinctively answered yes then this deck has something to talk to you about.

The Clarity Tarot Guidebook

The Clarity Tarot is accompanied by a 77-paged, card-sized, guidebook. Actually, I’d more describe it as a perfect bound LWB.

In the Introduction, Bel Senlle shares her aim in creating the deck. She writes,

I hope Clarity — created across different parts of this planet — will help you to see and understand yourself better. I hope it will help you understand the evolutionary beauty in nature and life, and empathize and share moments with beings from this and other realms. I hope it will help you to have clear ideas; feel the immensity of your emotions, strengthen your expressions and manifest your wishes. I hope this deck brings you gifts that are even more beautiful that I could ever imagine for you.

This both forms an impression of her and helps to explain why the Clarity Tarot has such a wonderful energy.

But, back to the guidebook. Before moving on to the card meanings, she spends several pages discussing reading for others which isn’t something generally included. In a short guide it’s an interesting addition.

Card meanings: Major Arcana

The Major Arcana which she labels 21 + 1 is first. As I’ve already mentioned the card number appears here followed by the card title and a paragraph for meaning. Plus you’ll find a thumbnail size image of the card in the left corner. The best word I can come up with to describe these meanings is poetic. I’ll give you two examples, The Hanged Man and The Devil.

The Hanged Man

The loss of meaning — the confusion, fragility and uncertainty that precedes a change in form. How did I get here? The splits, the wrinkles and the gaps within our layers. A chrysalis rising, yet still tied to a few expectations and external dictates. No one should invade the privacy of birth — though some need help. Personal development takes time. The preservation. The anticipation. You can't rush a transformation. Nothing lasts forever. 

The Devil

Hell to our most unconscious drives. Heaven to our most fervent passions. Magnetic attraction toward the dark side's possibilities — no matter what they think about us. Let them talk. I know they are. Oh, do they also want to take a look? I bet they do. Out. Leave now. Out, into the woods, like Clarissa Pinkola Estes said: "if you don't go out in the woods, nothing will every happen and your life will never begin." (Women Who Run With Wolves, 2008) Out, in the woods, now. The cautious go to heaven but we — the outsiders — go everywhere. 

Card meanings: Minor Arcana

The Minor Arcana section is headed Suits and Elements and the entries are briefer than you’d find in most little white books. Each suit opens with a couple of paragraphs on the element itself followed by brief meanings listed in a single extended paragraph. I’ll use Wands as an example.

Passion, desire, action, behaviour and reprogramming, impulses, sex, creativity, ego, consciousness, energy, vibration, intuition, nature and vitality. What we do. Excitement, community, authentic expression, ambition, Spirit.

The power of fire is pure effervescent energy that vibes with expression, desire and action. Tarot Wands connect us to our nature and our capacity to build things. They have instinctive, impulsive, passionate and vital behaviour. They talk about how our doing is a channel to shape what we make of ourselves and how the spirit can express itself through our creation. Our primitive intuition, our natural intelligence and energetic consciousness. Our orientation and sexuality. Our aggressiveness in all its forms, our ambition, our drive. Movement. Fire is a transformation agent essential to life, which makes energy prone to be transformed, but not destroyed: creativity and innovation. 

This is the start of the next paragraph that covers the meanings for the first five wands cards, four of which are pictured above.

Our first revelation of the (I) subtle and organic energy inside everything that exists for and with us and its effect on our internal flame. (II) The acknowledgement of how our desire and impulses are full of life and intention and how they wait for our consciousness and courage to become active. (III) Our first creations and impulse and their consequences, which we can ignore or reprogram. (IIII) Those creations that do not align with our desire and spirit that (V) balance and support the ones that spark our Divine flame and our vital drive.

I read these meanings and I don’t interpret the cards in that way. They speak to me in a much clearer manner than these meanings do. No images accompany the Minor Arcana entries however the Court cards receive their own page and are headed with a picture of the card.

The Apprentice of Fire reads:

Flames lie over our figure, not touching him yet.
Sparks around him, and everything suffers
from the fire's threat.
What he will do, we are not aware
— to play with fire, he is not prepared.

Now I have to admit that if I was diving into the guide book to help me make sense of the card image I might come away feeling quite confused. I just don’t connect the meanings with the cards, but that doesn’t prevent me from working with the cards themselves.

Final thoughts

The simplicity of the artwork on the Clarity Tarot may seem limiting but I find it to be the complete opposite. Rather, my experience has been that seemingly unrelated and random ideas ultimately come together to form a cohesive thought. I feel it helps me to connect with those ideas that seem to float around on the periphery, the ones you sense are there but can’t quite grasp. Would I use this as my everyday deck? Gosh no. But as a deck to inspire creative thinking and to flex my grey matter it excels.

Summaries

Clarity Tarot cards

Artist	Bel Senlle
Card Size	8.5cm x 12.5cm
Card Stock	Matte
Shuffle	I only overhand shuffle this deck
Fan & Flip Through	A bit clumpy to fan and flip through
Suits	Coins, Cups, Swords and Wands
Court	Apprentice, Alchemist, Essence & Guide
Strength / Justice	Justice VIII; Strength XI
Miscellaneous	Chips easily, solid two part box

Clarity Tarot Guidebook

Written by	Bel Senlle
Pages	77 pp
Appearance	B & W card-sized, perfect bound LWB
Spreads	Equinox reading about balancing external change (4 cards) Transmutation reading about transmuting internal states (5 cards) Worth reading about distributing my valuable energy (4 cards)

Publishing Details

Created by:

Bel Senlle

Pictured Version:

Published by Watkins Publishing in 2023

ISBN 13: 978-0-78678-769-9

Websites:

Bel Senlle