Tarot of Mystical Moments: All 78 Card Meanings Explained

Some tarot decks illustrate the cards. This one inhabits them. The Tarot of Mystical Moments by Catrin Welz-Stein doesn’t depict scenes so much as conjure worlds — surreal digital collages where women drift through impossible skies, animals speak in symbols, and every landscape hovers somewhere between a Victorian photograph and a lucid dream. There is no deck quite like it.

Welz-Stein, a German-born artist celebrated for her surrealist digital collage work, builds each image by layering vintage photography, painterly textures, and fantastical elements into compositions that feel simultaneously ancient and otherworldly. A mermaid perches atop a lighthouse. A spider-woman sits on a poisonous red mushroom. A samurai stands for the sovereignty of intellect. Published by U.S. Games Systems, the deck follows the traditional 78-card structure while reimagining every archetype through this dreamlike visual language.

What makes reading with this deck so distinctive is the emotional texture of the art. These aren’t cards you analyze — they’re cards you feel your way into. The surrealism bypasses your rational mind and speaks directly to intuition, which is exactly where the best tarot readings live.

How the Deck Is Organized

The Tarot of Mystical Moments follows the classic 78-card tarot structure:

• Major Arcana (0–XXI): 22 cards representing life’s great turning points, soul lessons, and archetypal forces. When one of these cards appears, the message carries weight that goes beyond everyday matters.
• Wands: The suit of fire. Passion, creativity, ambition, and the restless drive to make things happen.
• Cups: The suit of water. Emotions, love, relationships, and the currents that flow beneath the surface.
• Swords: The suit of air. Thought, truth, conflict, and the clarity that honest examination demands.
• Pentacles: The suit of earth. Material reality, work, finances, and the patient cultivation of lasting value.

Each suit runs from Ace through Ten, followed by four court cards — Page, Knight, Queen, and King — for 14 cards per suit and 56 Minor Arcana total.

Major Arcana

The Fool

The Fool, depicted as an adventurous young woman, embarks on a journey, symbolizing innocence, spontaneity, and the courage to take risks, unburdened by obligations. Unaware of potential dangers, like the crocodile in her path, she signifies embracing life's surprises. The upright meaning suggests bold beginnings and new horizons, while the reversed meaning portrays fear of the unknown and foolish caution.

The Magician

The Magician card symbolizes creative force, talent, and potential energy. It represents the ability to create a mystical environment through intention and diverse skills, utilizing the four elements (fire, water, earth, air) to direct creative energy and achieve magical outcomes. Upright, it signifies manifestation, focused power, inspired creativity, and confidence. Reversed, it points to a lack of skills, manipulations, carelessness, planning, and misuse of power.

The High Priestess

The High Priestess, standing between two red curtains leading to a mysterious blue sky, is the guardian of the subconscious and holds the key to sacred wisdom. She encourages listening and trusting one’s inner voice, represented by a blue shell near her throat chakra, and exploring the unknown hidden realms. The card signifies sacred wisdom, potential, and intuition in its upright position, and hidden secrets and excess rationality when reversed.

The Empress

The Empress represents an archetype of Mother Earth, surrounded by nature, symbolizing fertility, nature connection, sexual energy, and the protective love of a mother. She stands as a figure of abundance, creativity, and maternal instincts. The reversed meanings suggest disconnection, materialism, barrenness, and suffocating tendencies.

The Emperor

The Emperor tarot card depicts a commanding figure who maintains control over his vast territories with intelligence and lawful power. His crown symbolizes the intellect that has brought him authority, while his official uniform with golden chains suggests his stature as a formidable leader with a strong will. Despite his stern and disciplined demeanor, he also possesses compassion, as indicated by the flowers on his chest. Leaves above his mouth signify that his words carry wisdom and experience. Upright, the card signifies authority, leadership, experience, confidence, and structure. Reversed, it indicates disorder, authoritarian behavior, and excessive strictness.

The Hierophant

The Hierophant, depicted as an owl on a branch of an ancient tree, symbolizes the respect for and adherence to long-standing traditions and societal expectations through the sharing of institutionalized knowledge and wisdom. It suggests a reverence for traditions and rituals, acceptance of the conventions. The reversed position speaks to nonconformity, a focus on individuality, and a rejection of traditional ways.

The Lovers

The Lovers tarot card symbolizes a deep bond and mutual attraction bringing two people together, uniting them in love that knows no bounds. It signifies the freedom of emotions, boundless happiness, and the ability of the lovers to overcome any limitations. The card suggests that one is open to forming a union or partnership based on attachment and shared views, emphasizing strong connections, divine union, and shared values in its upright meaning, whereas its reversed meaning points to personal interests, rejection, and disharmony.

The Chariot

The Chariot symbolizes determination and progress, albeit slow, towards a goal with the help of one's mental and physical energies. It represents embarking on a journey, leaving the past behind, and eventually reaching one's destination through focus and willpower. The upright position indicates control, discipline, and success, while the reversed position suggests opposition, lack of direction, and delays.

Strength

The Strength card depicts a young woman with cat ears and a tail gently holding a lion's head, symbolizing the taming and suppression of inner passions and desires through soft persuasion, emotional restraint, and compassion. It represents inner strength, control, restraint, and determination, while its reversed meaning points to subservience, lack of self-control, and stagnation.

The Hermit

The Hermit is represented as a mermaid who sits atop a lighthouse at night, overseeing vast surroundings and associated with the darkening sky symbolizing knowledge, spirituality, and wisdom. Alone with her thoughts, she lifts a lantern in the darkness, illuminating the path and guiding ships to safety with her bright light. This card emphasizes introspection, solitude, enlightenment, and the sharing of knowledge.

Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune suggests the interconnectedness of actions and events, where each part plays a critical role in the larger scheme of things. No control is held over the life's ups and downs; happiness or sadness is determined by the turn of fate. The card reflects on the eternal cycles of time to which we are all subjected, indicating life's ever-changing nature.

Justice

The Justice card embodies fairness, law, and consequence. It symbolizes power, wisdom, and balance through its depictions of a woman holding scales and a sword. This card is a reminder of the impartiality needed for fair judgment and the inescapable consequences of one's actions.

The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man symbolizes calm acceptance, a fresh perspective, and suspension. Despite being in an upside-down position, the woman in the image appears serene, indicating that patience and seeing things from a new angle can lead to the discovery of new opportunities and insights. Conversely, when reversed, it suggests resistance, impatience, and struggle against one's current circumstances.

Death

The Death card embodies the notion of transformation and the inevitability of endings leading to new beginnings. It showcases a partially skeletal woman amidst a beautiful green garden, brimming with life through the flowers blossoming within her, symbolizing purity, innocence, hope, and the potential for rebirth. The butterfly emerges as a motif of transformation, signifying change and hope. The essence of the card is that death is not merely an end but the precursor to powerful new beginnings.

Temperance

The Temperance card depicts a woman resting in a lush garden under a red umbrella, symbolizing harmony, modesty, and attentiveness. The woman's white dress flows like water, emphasizing the need for a light touch to maintain flow. The red umbrella represents the need to pursue a higher path and stay true to one's life purpose. The presence of two doves underscores her balanced mind and serenity. The card embodies balance, moderation, integration, serenity, and mixed elements, while its reversal suggests discord, imbalance, excess, and extremes.

The Devil

The Devil card depicts a spider-woman enticing you into her web, seated on a red mushroom that signals danger and poison. Her gaze is seductive, offering sweet cherries while preying on your weaknesses and delusions. The web, though seemingly delicate, is inescapable, warning about the trap of submission and indulgence in desires. Upright, it signifies obsessive thoughts, traps, temptations, enchantment, corruption, confusion, and indulgence in desires. Reversed, it represents liberation, autonomy, a healthy outlook, and conscious decisions.

The Tower

The Tower tarot card depicts a dramatic, cataclysmic event as a woman clings to a disintegrating tower situated on an erupting volcano. It signifies crisis, sudden change, and the upheaval of destructive beliefs. The card warns of trauma and chaos, but also suggests the necessity of tearing down falsehoods. When reversed, it indicates a more gradual transition, containment, and the prevention of disaster.

The Star

The Stars tarot card illustrates a male figure with large dragonfly wings sitting on the palace balcony of the Taj Mahal, a symbol of inspiration and eternal love. He holds a wand with a bright shining star and looks up to the sky, having undergone a spiritual transformation after an encounter with the Tower, now filled with hope and faith. His star will guide the way, and his wings will elevate him to a higher level. The card signifies inspiration, vision, hope, recovery, liberation, optimism, and harmony when upright; ongoing conflict, despair, and lack of faith when reversed.

The Moon

The Moon tarot card depicts a full moon in the night sky, symbolizing intuition, dreams, and the unconscious. The bright moonlight creates a eerie atmosphere, revealing a woman sitting on a wall, deep in thought and facing the Moon, representing her dive into her subconscious. The sea of dark water beneath and tentacles woven into her dark dress rising to the surface symbolize her deepest fears and anxieties. A howling wolf beside her acts as her protector but also embodies the wild aspects of our mind.

The Sun

The Sun tarot card symbolizes the fullness of happiness, warmth, and energy that one radiates onto the lives of others. It reflects moments of radiance, breakthrough, and clarity, as well as the nuances of experiencing occasional sadness or depression, symbolized by the dark bird. The energy of The Sun, however, is predominantly about overcoming negative emotions and shining bright once more.

Judgement

The Judgement card depicts an angelic figure blowing into a large golden trumpet, a call to rise and take one's place, amidst a bustling city. It symbolizes judgement upon our actions and choices in life, highlighting that past mistakes can be forgiven if one chooses to change and start anew. The card urges reconciliation and transformation.

The World

The World symbolizes completion, accomplishment, and fulfillment of one's goals and dreams. It represents the end of a major life cycle where the individual has gained wisdom, strength, and wholeness through their experiences. Upright, it signifies self-actualization, success, and achievement. Reversed, it points to withdrawal, surrender, apathy, stagnation, and disharmony.

Wands

Ace of Wands

The Ace of Wands symbolizes imagination, ideas that grow and expand, and the roots of new creative possibilities. It represents creative potential, initiative, enthusiasm, and passion. The card encourages confidence and motivation, but in its reversed position, it indicates a lack of ambition, aimlessness, distractions, and delays.

Two of Wands

The Two of Wands represents a brave young woman contemplating her potential and future possibilities under the moonlight. Holding the Earth, she reflects on her ambitions and the adventures that await. Although still in her comfort zone, she's ready to take risks for her future. Upright, the card signifies potential, initiative, planning, aspirations, and seizing opportunities. Reversed, it indicates a lack of motivation, conformism, and passivity.

Three of Wands

The 3 of Wands symbolizes expanding horizons, progress, and foresight. It represents a woman standing before a harbor, filled with ideas about her future, ready to face adventures with confidence. From her elevated perspective, she can see beyond the horizon, inspired by swallows to move towards new exciting places. The upright meaning suggests progress and confidence, while the reversed meaning warns of failures held back by fears, doubts, and stagnation.

Four of Wands

The Four of Wands represents a time of joy, celebration, and harmony. It symbolizes a milestone or triumph in life, marked by freedom and joyful events. The card suggests stability and harmony, symbolized by the four trees. In contrast, when reversed, it points to oppression, apathy, conflicts, and restrictions.

Five of Wands

The Five of Wands represents conflict, competition, and struggle. It depicts a situation akin to a chess game, where a woman faces five adversaries, each with their own strategy and opinion, trying to find the right move amidst overwhelming opposition and conflicting efforts. The card suggests that while competition can be energizing, it can also be distracting when goals are misaligned. The reversed meaning points towards negotiation, solution development, and cooperation.

Six of Wands

The Six of Wands symbolizes triumph, self-confidence, and acknowledgment of achievements by oneself and others. It reflects a deep sense of pride and fulfillment of duty, portraying success and the ability to move forward to new adventures. However, reversed, it cautions against arrogance, defeat, and receiving or giving undeserved praise.

Seven of Wands

The Seven of Wands symbolizes a powerful individual who, despite facing numerous challenges and conflicts, maintains his position with strength and conviction. This card represents aggression, defiance, and the necessity to stand up for one's beliefs, indicating a situation where one must defend their stance against opposition. The reversed meaning touches on feelings of surrender, exhaustion, and being overwhelmed, suggesting a loss of strength or preparedness.

Eight of Wands

The Eight of Wands signifies a clear path forward after a struggle, indicating a time for action. It symbolizes rapid movement, changes in the air, readiness for action, and being in the flow. When reversed, it represents obstacles, overthinking, and hesitation before taking action.

Nine of Wands

The 9 of Wands represents perseverance, endurance, determination, and focus, illustrating the struggles one might endure whilst remaining resolute to overcome them. It symbolizes the spirit of never giving up despite obstacles and challenges. When reversed, it indicates surrender, loss of faith, and giving up.

Ten of Wands

The 10 of Wands symbolizes carrying a heavy burden and being overwhelmed by responsibilities, highlighting the importance of delegating tasks and setting boundaries to relieve the overload and enjoy personal freedom.

Page of Wands

The Page of Wands symbolizes an adventurous explorer who is creative, confident, and passionate about discovering new things and forging her own path. In the upright position, it represents creativity, a sense of adventure, confidence, passion, discoveries, and exploration. In the reversed position, it signifies introversion, self-doubt, inhibition, and a lack of focus.

Knight of Wands

The Knight of Wands represents a brave rider who leaps through a ring of fire, surrounded by a dark and ominous backdrop illuminated only by the stars, embodying courage, impulsiveness, and a thirst for adventure. It conveys confidence, charisma, and a fearless willingness to take risks, despite the dangers ahead. The inverted meaning highlights fearfulness, caution, hastiness, delays, scattered energy, and disappointment.

Queen of Wands

The Queen of Wands symbolizes charisma, vibrant energy, and warmth. With a radiant sunflower that shines bright even at night, she represents a caring and joyful presence that attracts others with her beauty and enthusiasm. Her ability to reignite positive energy in people is notable. When reversed, the card warns against egocentrism, introversion, and negativity.

King of Wands

The King of Wands symbolizes charismatic leadership, visionary creativity, and unwavering determination. As a natural-born leader and inspirer, his presence ignites a spark of courage in others, compelling them to follow his lead. The card signifies magnetism and authority in its upright position and domination, reluctance, and a lack of inspiration when reversed.

Cups

Ace of Cups

The Ace of Cups symbolizes deep feelings of love and compassion, an overflow of emotions, and a strong connection to one's intuition and subconsciousness. It represents sharing love with the world, being open to emotional experiences, and the importance of close bonds and empathy. When reversed, it indicates a lack of emotional connection, fear of intimacy, and overwhelming emotions.

Two of Cups

The Two of Cups symbolizes a profound emotional connection and mutual affection between partners, marked by the intertwinement of two flowers representing their deep bond. It signifies not just mutual attraction but a deep emotional link, applicable to romantic unions, friendships, or business partnerships. Upright, it indicates emotional connection, attraction, and partnership. Reversed, it suggests detachment, irreconcilable differences, and misunderstanding.

Three of Cups

The Three of Cups symbolizes celebration, community spirit, and friendship. It emphasizes the joy of being part of a united group, sharing goals and mutual respect. The card encourages embracing unity and teamwork, while its reversed meaning warns against disharmony, isolation, and exploiting others.

Four of Cups

The Four of Cups symbolizes a period of self-reflection and introspection, where one is so absorbed in their thoughts that they are indifferent to the opportunities and perspectives around them. It represents a state of apathy, passivity, and withdrawal. The reversed meaning points towards active participation, full engagement, and connection.

Five of Cups

The Five of Cups symbolizes loss, sorrow, and focusing on the negative, akin to a woman mourning the loss of three flowers while neglecting two still thriving. It suggests being so consumed by what is gone that one cannot appreciate what remains or see the potential for new growth. The card urges to overcome grief and pessimism and to find the strength to move forward.

Six of Cups

The 6 of Cups reflects nostalgia, innocent pleasures, and kindness, showing a woman watching children play, evoking memories of her own childhood. The children share balloons, symbolizing goodwill and generosity. Reversed, it suggests cynicism, being stuck in the past, and selfishness.

Seven of Cups

The Seven of Cups symbolizes the realm of illusions and the necessity of making a choice among many options, which may not always lead to the desired outcome. It emphasizes the need to wake up from fantasy and focus on what is truly beneficial. The upright meaning reflects delusions and fantasies that might overwhelm one's decision-making process, while the reversed meaning suggests realignment, adherence to personal values, and the challenges of dealing with too many choices.

Eight of Cups

The 8 of Cups represents a moment of introspection and realization of dissatisfaction and disappointment in one's life. It signifies a need to leave behind the known and embark on a challenging journey in search of what is missing. The water symbolizes an unbalanced emotional state. The card encourages moving on from despair and hopelessness while warning against indecision and clinging to the past when reversed.

Nine of Cups

The 9 of Cups represents emotional fulfillment and the pleasure derived from achieving one's desires. It illustrates a woman who enjoys the beauty and abundance she has fostered, surrounded by symbols of her emotional self-realization. Upright, it signifies contentment, satisfaction, and abundance. Reversed, it warns against greed, dissatisfaction, and the relentless pursuit of more.

Ten of Cups

The Ten of Cups represents a scene of peace and harmony. It symbolizes true, eternal love between a couple that is half-human, half-fish, emerging from the sea to watch a rainbow. It confirms the depth of family bonds and reminds you to count your blessings. The upright meaning includes bliss, family, harmony, satisfaction, protection, and blessings, while the reversed meaning suggests a lack of gratitude, self-centeredness, and family drama.

Page of Cups

The Page of Cups symbolizes a moment of emotional and intuitive connection, embodying the spirit of friendship and joy shared between the figure in the card and a fish. This card signifies intuition, emotional bonds, and admiration in its upright position, while in its reversed position, it represents a fear of intimacy, emotional detachment, and insensitivity.

Knight of Cups

The Knight of Cups symbolizes refinement, sensitivity, and deep emotions, playing a beautiful melody that comes straight from the heart. Being in touch with intuition and emotions, this card suggests skill in charming and attracting others. The card also signifies the beauty of romance and creativity under a starlit sky. However, when reversed, it warns of melodrama, emotional instability, coldness, indulgence, and a temperamental nature.

Queen of Cups

The Queen of Cups is depicted sitting on a seashell at the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by calm seas and bathed in a soft golden light that highlights her warmth and caring spirit. She is in harmony with nature and her emotions, gently cradling and protecting a seahorse. The card signifies gentle feelings, a tender nature, a warm heart, sympathy, and sensitivity. In reverse, it represents emotional entanglement, selfishness, and insensitivity towards others.

King of Cups

The King of Cups symbolizes calm and balance, even in the midst of emotional turmoil. Represented in a bright and sunny landscape, he holds a sailing ship in balance against stormy waves, embodying wisdom, care, and protection. The card signifies soothing behavior, acceptance, stability, diplomacy, and equanimity in its upright meaning, whereas its reversed meaning speaks to reactivity, moodiness, emotional instability, and intolerance.

Swords

Ace of Swords

The Ace of Swords portrays a man holding a large golden key, symbolizing the mind and intellect. He gazes at the viewer with clear, open eyes, his upper body adorned with sparkling stars that symbolize the divine universe. The man wears a spirally shaped hat, resembling a nautilus, with a small keyhole in the center representing a portal to the wisdom of the universe. The card underscores the importance of mental strength, truth, knowledge, perseverance, and success, indicating that mastering these virtues may require overcoming significant challenges.

Two of Swords

The 2 of Swords symbolizes a situation of stagnation and indecision, where the querent is stuck and unable to find a resolution. It highlights a problem depicted by two birds arguing on a woman's hat, which also serves as a birdhouse, signifying the difficulty of making a choice that satisfies all parties involved. The card indicates an inability to see things clearly and a tendency to avoid dealing with emotional uncertainties.

Three of Swords

The 3 of Swords symbolizes deep emotional pain, betrayal, and sorrow, depicted by three arrows striking a man's heart, represented by a large red rose. This signifies the wounding of one's feelings through painful words or actions. The card's upright position is associated with betrayal, heartache, rejection, and abandonment, while its reversed position indicates unity, reconciliation, trust, optimism, and forgiveness.

Four of Swords

The Four of Swords symbolizes the need for rest, contemplation, and recovery. A woman rests in the sky, symbolizing tranquility and protection from disturbances. This card represents a period of meditation and peacefulness, necessary for rejuvenation. Reversed, it suggests exhaustion, overload, and the consequences of taking on too much.

Five of Swords

The 5 of Swords represents a scenario of conflict and defeat, where one party wins at the expense of another, leaving the loser wounded and in the shadows. The winner's triumph, symbolized by a red dress and a large flower, comes through unfair means and manipulation. Upright meanings include conflict, personal interest, dishonest victory, and manipulation, while reversed meanings suggest acting fairly, seeking reconciliation, harmony, and compromise.

Six of Swords

The 6 of Swords symbolizes a journey through hard times towards recovery, marked by change and hope. In its upright position, it denotes transition, recuperation, and moving forward. In its reversed position, it suggests being trapped in adversity, despair, and stagnation.

Seven of Swords

The Seven of Swords symbolizes deceit, dishonesty, and manipulation, depicting a woman stealing eggs and hiding her deceitful nature. It warns of the consequences of dishonest actions and encourages self-reflection. In its reversed position, it advises honesty, facing the consequences of one's actions, revealing the truth, and taking responsibility.

Eight of Swords

The 8 of Swords symbolizes a situation of despair, confinement, and powerlessness, where the individual feels trapped and unable to see a way out despite there being one. It suggests an inability to analyze one's situation due to overwhelming despair. The reversed meaning highlights a shift towards focusing on solutions, liberation, and making clear choices.

Nine of Swords

The 9 of Swords represents a woman who is overwhelmed by fears and worries, often manifesting as nightmares. This card symbolizes anxiety, depression, and the feeling of being watched or judged. Upright, it suggests profound distress and mental suffering. Reversed, it signifies a release from worry, achieving peace of mind, and gaining a more objective perspective.

Ten of Swords

The 10 of Swords symbolizes betrayal, deep wounds, and hitting rock bottom, but also conveys a message of hope and the possibility of overcoming difficulties. The card reflects the darkest moment before dawn, indicating that the worst may have passed and recovery is on the horizon.

Page of Swords

The Page of Swords represents curiosity and the thirst for knowledge. Depicted as a young student, proud of academic achievements yet aiming for higher life goals. The lion in his hand symbolizes broad ideas, inspiring him to face life with intellect, insight, and honesty. The card signifies a pursuit of knowledge, curiosity, personal growth, and noble goals upright, while reversed, it suggests impulsiveness, shallowness, and small-mindedness.

Knight of Swords

The Knight of Swords symbolizes a powerful dedication to one's cause, signified by a swift-thinking warrior woman racing through stormy skies. Her garment depicts her fight for women's equality, using her intellect over physical force, wielding a pen as her weapon to cut through oppositional clouds. The card embodies ambition, confidence, and influential leadership, while its reversal suggests restraint, diplomacy, hesitancy, self-doubt, and passive compliance.

Queen of Swords

The Queen of Swords symbolizes an independent thinker with a sharp mind, symbolized by her position high in the sky and her clear-sighted telescope. Dressed in blue, she represents clarity of thought and truth-seeking in all matters, surrounded by birds reflecting her nurturing nature. The strings that tether her balloon to the Earth signify flexibility and openness to new information, underscoring her impartial judgment based on fact collection. However, when reversed, the card warns of self-righteousness, conceit, pretentiousness, and drama.

King of Swords

The King of Swords, depicted as a Japanese samurai, stands for intellectual power, clear logic, and the capacity to face any problem. This card symbolizes the swift and intuitive ability to oversee and react, supported by a vast range of knowledge. The upright position represents mental agility, ethical problem-solving, and insight, while the reversed position warns of overthinking, power abuse, and confusion.

Pentacles

Ace of Pentacles

The Ace of Pentacles features a woman sitting in a lush, blooming garden, fixating on a newly sprouted fern, symbolizing potential and growth. The narrative suggests the importance of nurturing and guiding this nascent potential to develop into something valuable and sustainable, hinting at the rewards of patience and effort.

Two of Pentacles

The 2 of Pentacles signifies the graceful management of balancing multiple priorities, aspects of life, or problems simultaneously, even under pressure. It reflects adaptability, flexibility, and the ability to juggle various tasks with grace. The reversed position indicates disorganization, feeling overwhelmed, and a lack of enthusiasm.

Three of Pentacles

The Three of Pentacles symbolizes the power of teamwork, cooperation, and the contribution of combined skills towards achieving a common goal. It emphasizes respect, valuation of others' opinions and knowledge, and the success that comes from collaborative effort. Conversely, when reversed, it indicates competition, disagreements, lack of direction, and isolation.

Four of Pentacles

The Four of Pentacles symbolizes a woman who stands protectively over her possessions, isolating herself in her quest to safeguard her wealth. This card represents grasping for security through material wealth, highlighting themes of possessiveness, financial insecurity, and the consequences of isolation from community, family, and friends. Reversed, it speaks to generosity, envy, greed, sensible financial planning, and spendthrift behavior.

Five of Pentacles

The Five of Pentacles signifies hardship, loss, and poverty, mirrored by the image of a weary woman in a desolate snowy landscape. Her tattered state and the single rose sinking into the ground signify her suffering and financial hardship. Despite the windows above her symbolizing hope and spiritual support, her despair prevents her from recognizing any available help. Reversed, this card represents recovery, vitality, endurance, strength, and resilience.

Six of Pentacles

The Six of Pentacles symbolizes the acts of sharing and receiving. It depicts a scene where generosity and fairness in distribution are emphasized, showing a person pouring tea into cups held by two women, ensuring each gets an equal amount. This card represents generosity, charitable actions, mutual support, and the importance of balance in giving and receiving. Reversed, it suggests self-care, abundance, debts, and neglect.

Seven of Pentacles

The Seven of Pentacles represents diligence, progress, endurance, and the fruits of long-term investments. It suggests a period of hard work and the anticipation of reaping its rewards. The card encourages the evaluation of results and planning for the next steps, symbolizing both the literal and metaphorical harvest that comes from persistence.

Eight of Pentacles

The 8 of Pentacles symbolizes dedication, hard work, and attention to detail. It suggests a time of learning, skill development, and concentration on a task. The card emphasizes the joy found in craftsmanship and the importance of discipline and mastering one's craft. When reversed, it warns against impatience, apathy, and the temptation of seeking shortcuts.

Nine of Pentacles

The Nine of Pentacles represents a sophisticated woman who enjoys the beauty of her luxurious garden, symbolizing abundance, financial success, and self-confidence. Her healthy relationship with money grants her independence and the ability to enjoy the fruits of her labor. The card suggests that the path to success is slow and steady, as indicated by the snail. The reversed meaning points towards overindulgence, loss of energy, asceticism, restraint, and dependence on others.

Ten of Pentacles

The 10 of Pentacles signifies a fulfilling and successful life marked by financial stability, family unity, and the passing down of an inheritance. It speaks to the importance of legacy and the culmination of efforts over a lifetime. The card indicates prosperity, the joy of family life, and security. In reverse, it warns of business failures, isolation, financial insecurity, and the loss of inheritance.

Page of Pentacles

The Page of Pentacles symbolizes new beginnings, nurturing those beginnings like tending to a garden, and being open to the opportunities life presents. It highlights the importance of vigilance to potential future challenges, signifying the embodiment of new projects, practical engagements, and tangible results. Reversed, it warns against unrealistic plans, procrastination, impractical approaches, and missed opportunities.

Knight of Pentacles

The Knight of Pentacles symbolizes reliability, constancy, discipline, and diligence, represented by a figure observing a freshly plowed field without any rush, demonstrating attentiveness and steadfastness. Their mount, made of oak leaves, underscores themes of stability and trustworthiness. This card calls attention to the value of dedication, even in the face of tedious and repetitive tasks, and warns against the dangers of negligence, boredom, and shirking responsibilities when reversed.

Queen of Pentacles

The Queen of Pentacles embodies fertility, caregiving, and generosity, positioned within a lush garden as a symbol of the nurturing mother figure. She balances practicality and affection, symbolized by her attire reflecting both nature and a strong work ethic. Conversely, when reversed, this card suggests materialism, overambitious attitudes, or a lack of warmth.

King of Pentacles

The King of Pentacles embodies a successful businessman, symbolizing wealth, business acumen, leadership, and financial literacy. Depicted standing on deer antlers, he is seen as a master problem-solver with a connection to nature, strength, and masculinity. The card emphasizes the value of fiscal wisdom and managerial skills, while its reversed meaning warns against poor financial decisions, status-seeking, and impulsiveness.

Reading Tips for the Tarot of Mystical Moments

Welz-Stein’s surrealist art works differently than traditional tarot imagery, and reading with this deck rewards a particular approach.

Enter the scene before interpreting it. These cards are portals, not illustrations. Before reaching for textbook meanings, let yourself inhabit the image — notice what you feel when you look at the colors, the impossible landscapes, the expressions on the figures’ faces. The surrealism is designed to bypass your analytical mind and speak to your intuition directly.

Pay attention to animals and nature. Welz-Stein populates her cards with crocodiles, owls, wolves, fish, seahorses, butterflies, swallows, and snails. Each animal carries symbolic weight. When an animal catches your eye in a reading, sit with what it represents — instinct, wisdom, transformation, patience — before moving to the card’s standard meaning.

Let the impossible landscapes tell you something. A mermaid on a lighthouse. A woman resting in the sky. A couple emerging from the sea, half fish. These dreamlike settings are not decorative — they communicate emotional truths that realistic imagery cannot reach. The strangeness of the scene is part of the message.

Trust the emotional texture over the intellectual meaning. This deck was made to be felt. If a card strikes you with a particular mood — unease, tenderness, wonder, longing — honor that response. It is often more accurate than any definition you could look up.