Customer Reviews

The Fifth Tarot: Restoring the Fifth Element: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Ether

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A very unique new deck has appeared on the Tarot market, The Fifth Tarot. What makes it unique is the addition of a fifth suit, the element of ether. The extra suit (called Lotus) brings the number of cards to 92. All of the suits are depicted with symbols from nature: fire, shells, feathers, stones, and lotuses. This is very much a deck for the 21st century, attuned as it is to the earth and to our awakening consciousness. It is a strong, yet gentle, spiritual deck, yet can shed insight on more mundane issues in our lives.

Created by Martien and Teressena Bakens, The Fifth Tarot is a beautiful book and deck package, published by Blue Dolphin Publishing. Measuring 3.5 by 5 inches, the cards are laminated and sturdy, with a reversible back, depicting four interlocking squares called a quincunx. Teressena's art is detailed, colorful, soft and inspiring. The illustrations are unique to this deck and its purpose, and it is not a Rider Waite Smith clone. It is an uplifting, forward-looking deck, perfect for meditation as well as divination. The traditional court cards are renamed Seeker, Initiate, Apprentice and Elementor .

The companion book, The Fifth Tarot: Restoring the Fifth Element, is an excellent guide to this wonderful deck. It is fully illustrated with a black and white image of each card. Detailed descriptions and explantions of he symbolism appearing on each card help guide the reader through the imagery. The borders of the Major Arcana include four symbols: a planetry or astrological glyph, a star symbol (representing spirtual and universal laws of the universe) a Mayan glyph and a sacred symbol of MU. All of these are explained in an appendix. All card descriptions include a section on divinatory meanings as well as practical applications to bring the energy of each card into our daily lives.

I recommend this deck for anyone interested in Tarot. It is new, fresh and offers a unique way of seeing and working with the Tarot. It is a deck that will reward study and meditation.

This is a deck that you will want to play and work with!

So much work went into this set and it shows in the quality of the artwork, the deck production, the accompanying book (which is an impressive 352 pages) and the packaging. This is not Rider-Waite like deck in its format and would require some time to get to know the cards and their meanings. The deck has 92 cards, which are all full colour, and bigger than average playing cards.

The deck is described to bring the elements together to help us find true understanding; with this the creators have included an additional suit representing the element of Ether (spirit). In traditional Tarot each suit has an elemental correspondence - Pentacles are Earth - Wands are Fire (most popular allocation) - Swords are Air and Cups are Water. The suits in this deck are - Fire for Fire - Shells for Water - Stones for Earth - Feathers for Air and Lotus for Ether.

The cards also have a very in-depth symbology for the Major Arcana including, astrological symbols, the Mayan Glyph, Star Symbol, Numerology Reference, Elemental borders and Sacred Symbol of MU.

As well as the description of the cards' artwork there is the divination meaning and the application of the card, which is not found in all decks, this gives the reader or Client practical applications of the cards and questions to travel deeper into the meaning of the card and give time for self-reflection.

The art work is simply vibrant, stunning colours and scenes that draw you in make this deck a pure joy to look at and I am sure they would be very well received when being read with. I love, love, love this deck and I think this would be the perfect tool for mediation, self-reflection and personal discovery.

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 deck is for people who wish to participate in the beauties
of transformation on all levels and be part of the healing and highest good for all and purify all elements in humble
moment to moment Efforts and mindful choices that protect true life in balance

When I read the description of The Fifth Tarot, I was very excited at the possibilities restoring the fifth element presented. While I acknowledge there was a tremendous amount of work that went into putting the book that explains this new deck - the artwork and paperstock of the actual cards is just not of the same sophistication or quality.

The Fifth Tarot by Teressena and Martien Bakens is a major contribution to the tarot community.

The Baken's collective efforts have created a profoundly intelligent deck with the addition of the fifth suit of ether. Ether not only completes the elements, but brings the energy of spirit to the deck. Images of the sacred lotus have been used for the fifth suit representing enlightenment and cosmic harmony. Those looking for more spiritual insight will be thrilled with the richness of the fifth suit. It is truly a treasure chest of images to interpret as well as carrying one to the essence of the spirit within.

With extensive knowledge of the ancients, especially the Mayans, the Bakens have woven multidimensional levels of information and insight for interpretation into the deck. These layers unfold beautifully to the reader as no other deck. It is perfectly attuned with today's world and those of us seeking higher levels of consciousness.

This deck is a welcome addition to any tarot collection and a must for the contemporary reader.

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 write as someone who has very little experience with the Tarot. I have bought many other Tarot decks in an attempt to find one that would spark a sense of intuitive recognition so I wouldn't have to read a lot of books, which is something I do anyway and at some point have relied on books over my own innate wisdom. This deck activates an inner knowing that no other deck I've experienced does. The typical symbolism of most Tarot decks uses elements of human life to provide meaning. And maybe those decks work for people who don't look to plant and animal "synchronicities" throughout the day for guidance. But this deck has pictures of plants, animals, rocks, sacred temple sites, sacred geometry, and angels...it's ALL here and allows your mind & heart to come to its own understanding. It blends perfectly into a life this is dedicated to seeing the connection between all things and just the act of looking at the cards activates something; they are very very beautiful pictures. The book itself could be read entirely on its own for the amazing content that covers SO many different subjects.

Hello,
the artwork of this Tarot is beautiful and the idea of this deck is good. B U T there is too much old stuff in it. For example the qabbalah. This is information from the era of pisces and has nothing to do with the New Age of Aquarius. If they wanted to create a Tarot Deck for the New Age, the Age of Aquarius, then they should have left all the destructive religious things behind. This is no Deck for the 21st Century, this is a Deck for religious People who want to say: "Hey, look here I am evolving". But it's nor fish or meat it's a waste of time.