The cards of the Tarot Major Arcana used as illustrations in this work are those designed by the renowned occult and magic scholar A. E. Waite, and executed by the artist, Pamela Colman Smith. In the present, revised edition, extensive use has been made of the Universal Waite Tarot Deck, with new coloring by Mary Hanson-Roberts, conceived by Stuart R. Kaplan, but containing the original designs of the Waite, or Rider pack. These cards have the additional advantage of having been designed with the specific objective in mind of embodying the Kabbalistic symbology related to the Tree of Life. The only major difference between this deck and some older packs is that Strength is the VIII-th Arcanum (earlier number XI) and justice is the XI-th Arcanum (earlier number VIII). The attributions of the Arcana to the paths of the Tree of Life are those of the Golden Dawn system, adhered to by most modern authorities, including A. E. Waite and Paul Foster Case.

He who has to start on a journey very early should rise at daybreak and look carefully toward the east. Then he will perceive certain signs resembling letters that pierce through the sky and appear above the horizon. These shining forms are those of the letters wherewith God created heaven and earth.

The Tarot is a truly philosophical machine, which keeps the mind from wandering, while leaving its initiative at liberty; it is mathematics applied to the Absolute, the alliance of the positive and the ideal, a lottery of thoughts as exact as numbers, perhaps the simplest and grandest conception of human genius. . . . An imprisoned person, with no other book than the Tarot, if he knew how to use it, could in a few years acquire universal knowledge and would be able to speak on all subjects with unequalled learning and inexhaustible eloquence.