Part 1, Chapter 2 - Revisions in Progress

Chapter Two
The Structure of the Deck

Relationship with Traditional Tarot

The Eilat Tarot retains the traditional tarot structure of seventy-eight cards (twenty-two Major Arcana and fifty-six Minor Arcana) but attempts to reframe them through the language of Jewish mysticism.

In a traditional deck, the 78 cards fall into familiar groupings. Most obvious are the Major and Minor Arcana. But other patterns emerge: the Majors can be divided between The Fool and the other twenty-one Major Arcana cards; the Minors can be grouped into four suits, or into forty pip cards and sixteen court cards.

In the Eilat Tarot, I’ve preserved this structure while reinterpreting it by drawing from the Sefer Yetzirah. The Major Arcana cards have been renamed Letter Cards, each bearing one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alef-bet. The Letter Cards represent creative forces in the universe and speak in a cosmic or mythic language.

The Minor Arcana have been renamed Number Cards and Image Cards. These reflect the textures of everyday life, the personal stories that form us. They show us tending to ordinary tasks, wrestling with inner questions, and navigating our relationships, losses, or even successes. The Number Cards and Image Cards are no less significant than the Letter Cards. All three groups explore experiences that shape us.

The Number Cards explore the dimension of time in the human journey. Time is intangible, yet it is more than a category of the mind. Years ago, a group of Israeli students, former soldiers studying Torah and Western literature after their military service, challenged me to define time without using the word itself. That question stayed with me, and I wonder if time is what allows us to form a relationship with God. The number of calendars humanity has created—Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Vedic, Hebrew, Mayan, Attic, Zoroastrian, Roman, Enochian, Julian, Chinese, Ethiopian, Islamic, Hindu, Gregorian, and many others—suggests that time is not only measured but also interpreted and ascribed meaning. Time invites change. It makes growth possible.

The Eilat Tarot Number Cards are rooted in sacred time: Jewish festivals, the Hebrew year in the Land of Israel, and the phases of the moon. Time is both abstract and concrete: we cannot touch it, yet we see the moon wax and wane, the seasons turn. It is both linear and cyclical: children grow, friends age, and still the year circles back to its beginning.

We cannot pin down what time is. It frightens us with its limits, and yet those rare moments when time seems to dissolve can feel like touching the face of God. Time also challenges us: a time comes when a woman can no longer bear children; a time comes when each of us must face death. Each Number Card marks such experiences, a fragment of time made visible.

While the Number Cards trace the passage of time, the Image Cards remind us that every human is made in the image of God. Time marks our journey and it is our relationships with one another that give that journey depth and meaning. After offering the priestly blessing, Rabbi Alan Berg concludes each service with the words, “When we look into each other’s eyes, let us remember we are looking into the eyes of God.”

Together, the Number and Image Cards tell personal stories, grounded in spirit, time, and earthly experience.

Soul, Time, and World

The Eilat Tarot is built around three interwoven dimensions of being: Soul, Time, and World. This structure is inspired by the Sefer Yetzirah’s vision of creation. Each of these dimensions finds expression through a distinct group of cards, which together form the three arcana of the Eilat Tarot.

The Sefer Yetzirah describes a triad that shapes all existence: nefesh (נֶפֶשׁ), the living soul; shanah (שָׁנָה), the rhythm of time; and olam (עוֹלָם), the unfolding world. These are the interwoven threads through which creation is spoken into being: the self who lives, the time that moves, and the space that holds it all.

Each dimension corresponds to one of the three arcana:

While every card touches all three dimensions, this structure allows the reader to focus his or her attention through the lens of one arcana at a time.

A Depth of Good and a Depth of Evil

In the Eilat Tarot, the structure of Soul, Time, and World finds a further reflection in the ten amukim, or “depths. described in the Sefer Yetzirah. These five sets of polarities show how creation extends infinitely through space, time, and moral awareness. They are not fixed points but dynamic continua through which being and perception unfold.

Six of these depths are spatial, two are temporal, and two are ethical. The inclusion of moral polarity within the very structure of the cosmos sets Jewish mysticism apart from many other ancient systems, which focused solely on space and time.

The Sefer Yetzirah lists them as follows:

Anyone who has waved a lulav and etrog in six directions during the festival of Sukkot will feel the resonance of this passage since it invests those gestures with cosmic significance.

The second pair, a depth of good, a depth of evil, affirms that good and evil are deeply interwoven into existence. As Isaiah declares:

The preceding verse reminds us that every human being contains both the yetzer ha’tov (inclination toward good) and the yetzer ha’ra (inclination toward evil). Both are necessary, but they must be directed toward righteous ends.

In the Eilat Tarot:

Though each group of cards emphasizes one polarity, all the cards carry moral resonance, for it is we, as conscious beings, who consult them.

Suits and Elemental Directions in the Land

The Number Cards and Image Cards are divided into four suits. Each suit includes ten Number Cards and four Image Cards. In traditional tarot, the suits reflect aspects of human experience. Cups address emotion and relationships, to intuition and connection. Swords illuminate thought, communication, and mental challenges. Wands express the energy of passion, creative work, and the desire to grow. Pentacles relate to the material world: sustenance, shelter, and the miracle of embodiment.

In the Eilat Tarot, each suit carries additional layers of meaning. Each is linked to an element, a direction, a dimension of being, and a type of prayer. These associations are not only symbolic; they are rooted in the Land itself.

These elemental associations are grounded not just in the classical Greek tradition, but in the landscape and geography of Eilat. At the edge of Eilat stands an ancient burial ground, where the circular bases of prehistoric tombs still stand. Skulls, and even an Asherah pole, were excavated there. From this hilltop, the turquoise sea, the red hills of Edom, and the unfolding landscape stretch outward in the blinding sunlight. Trails lead away in all directions, and each month, families gather there to watch the full moon rise.

In moments of solitude, I would stand among those stones and turn toward each direction, blessing what lay beyond. To the west, the hills rise toward Sinai. To the north, the Negev opens in bright silence. To the east, the moon climbs over the hills of Jordan. To the south, the sea shimmers toward the horizon. Above me, I sensed the Divine Presence. Beneath me, the Land held me in stillness.

In those moments, the elements were not symbolic. They were alive.

In traditional tarot, suits are often linked to the classical elements, but not always logically. Wands, made of wood, are tied to fire, which can consume them, while Swords, forged in fire, are linked to air. I wrestled with these pairings for years. In the Eilat Tarot, I allowed direction, geography, and prayer to reshape them:

West / Earth / Pentacles: Torah was given in the wilderness of Sinai, to the west of Eilat. The Hebrew word ma'arav (מַעֲרָב) comes from a root meaning “to mix” or “to promise,” evoking the setting sun, the meeting of opposites, and the promise of renewal. This is the place of grounding, completion, and integration. It is the essence of earth.

North / Fire / Wands: North of Eilat are the ancient sanctuaries, including Shiloh, Dan, Arad, and Jerusalem, where offerings were made in fire. The Hebrew tzafon (צָפוֹן) means “hidden” or “concealed,” evoking mystery and intensity. Fire here is not comforting warmth but transformative danger that must be approached with reverence.

East / Air / Swords: Before sunrise in Eilat, the sun sends a fleeting cool breeze toward the city, even in the height of summer. Mizrach (מִזְרָח) means “shining,” while kedem (קֶדֶם) means both “before” and “origin.” The east is the place of clarity, beginning, and voice. Breath becomes word; thought becomes form.

South / Water / Cups: To the south lies the Gulf of Aqaba, near where tradition says the Israelites crossed the Sea of Reeds. That crossing out of Mitzrayim was both an escape and a spiritual birth. The Hebrew words for ‘south’ include Darom (דָּרוֹם), which connotes radiance, and Negev (נֶגֶב) which connotes dryness. The southern desert has long been considered a “place of purification.” The desert teaches through scarcity; thirst awakens the soul and silence allows us to hear the still small voice. Water there is drawn from rock or remembered in story, like Miriam’s well, hidden like emotion until it rises. Water's presence is felt even when unseen. It shapes everything.

The four directions are aligned with four sefirot, which will be described later in this chapter:

Chesed (South)
Tiferet (East)
Gevurah (North)
Yesod (West)

Up (Netzach) and down (Hod) complete the six spatial directions.

The Sefer Yetzirah teaches that God “sealed” each of these directions with letters of the Divine Name (1:13), marking them as sacred boundaries against chaos and through which divine energy may flow into creation. In this vision, every direction is a gate through which holiness enters and sustains the world. By sealing the six depths, God marked the boundaries of creation and sanctified it.

This set of elemental directions also reflects a dynamic central to Kabbalah: the interplay of masculine and feminine energies. Fire and water, north and south, are paired as Father and Mother. Earth and air, west and east, are paired as Daughter and Son. Masculine and Feminine are generative forces whose tension sustains the world.

The Eilat Tarot invites not only the interpretation of symbols, but movement through them, to physically turn and face each direction, to meet the elements in the Land itself, and to feel how spirit, body, time, and space bind themselves into sacred coherence.