Osho Zen Tarot and the Corresponding Rider-Waite Cards

Q: I have an Osho Zen Tarot card deck that I’m still getting to know and understand. I was trying to match up the Major Arcana cards with the traditional tarot deck (Rider-Waite) and I’m not sure which is which.
~ Carla

A: Even though the Osho Zen Tarot is based on the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, most of the Major Arcana card names differ. Because the Osho Zen Tarot is a creative reinterpretation of the Rider-Waite Tarot, it isn’t always clear which Osho card corresponds to which Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot card. The Osho Zen Tarot usually comes with a book that makes it all quite clear, but if you don’t have the book, its easy to get lost!

Below I have matched up the Osho Zen Tarot cards to their Traditional Rider-Waite Major Arcana counterparts (Osho cards are in bold):

0 Fool – The Fool
1 The Magician – Existence
2 The High Priestess – Inner Voice
3 The Empress – Creativity
4 The Emperor – The Rebel
5 The Heirophant – No-Thingness
6 The Lovers – The Lovers
7 The Chariot – Awareness
8 Strength – Courage
9 The Hermit – Aloneness
10 The Wheel of Fortune – Change
11 Justice – Breakthrough
12 The Hanged Man – New Vision
13 Death – Transformation
14 Temperance – Integration
15 The Devil – Conditioning
16 The Tower – Thunderbolt
17 The Star – Silence
18 The Moon – Past Lives
19 The Sun – Innocence
20 Judgement – Beyond Illusion
21 The World – Completion
The Master
(This is just an extra Osho Zen Tarot card that is unique to this deck – there is no Rider-Waite equivalent)

Minor Arcana
Each Minor Arcana suit in the Osho Zen Tarot is represented by a different element
Pentacles – Rainbows
Swords – Air (grey)
Cups – Water (blue)
Wands – Fire (red)

Court Cards
The different court cards in the Osho Zen Tarot are identified by a triangle on the bottom of the card.
King – Upright triangle
Queen – Inverted triangle
Knight – Left pointing triangle
Page – Right pointing triangle

You may want to print this out and use it as a quick reference while working with your Osho Zen deck. Hope it helps!

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25 thoughts on “Osho Zen Tarot and the Corresponding Rider-Waite Cards”

  1. I would like to learn more about the Osho zen deck with the timing. Which suits would represent the weeks,months, a year of time? I have come across many questions like this and i would like to know if there’s any specific timing that the suits have to guide

    1. Thanks for your question, Pal 🙂 I really don’t have an answer for you. I’m not the best at using the cards to predict timing of things. But generally, the Aces can mean something will happen soon, pay attention to the suits and see if a particular season is depicted in them – for example, I associate the suit of Swords with Winter, Wands with Summer, Cups with Spring and Pentacles with Fall. I know the suits have been renamed in the Osho Zen, but I think this theory still applies to this deck. Hope this helps a bit and gives you some ideas to work with.

  2. Ana del Carmen

    I am new in understanding the significance of the Tarot Cards. What does the Completion Card mean?

  3. I m not sure but may be i lost my connection with my osho zen tarot deck and I m afraid to tell this to my teacher cz the 3rd is not yet done. So what should I do to reconnect with it??

    1. The Hierophant is the High Priest and an elevated Teacher, leading others toward oneness with all, including Source. In oneness, there is no distinction between things. In short, you become comfortable in your state of not being a thing, hence “no-thingness.”

  4. Just bought a deck. I am excited by how loudly they speak to me. Thank you so much for the comparison it is so helpful, I normally read the Goddess deck so on a standard level I was lost.

  5. Hi Kate,
    Why are there 2 different Suppression cards in the Osho Zen Tarot? Why and when did it change? I also notice that the diamond color in the Master card changed from purple to blue. Is there a significance for this change?
    Thanks,
    Bobby

  6. I am very thorough with Osho zen Tarot cards. I just bought RW Deck. Was finding an easy way to understand them. Your article will definitely help to associate the RW cards with those of Osho Zen. Thanks a lot.
    I wanted to know if there is specific meaning if the RW cards open as reversed (upside down)

  7. This is very helpful, thank you.

    I’ve got an Osho card that I can’t identify – Consciousness.
    It’s a grey diamond, no number, no triangles.
    What does this correspond to in a traditional deck?

    Thank you.

  8. Thank you for this! I couldn’t find on your list “lazyness”, “sharing” and “participation”, could you help me please?

    1. These are all minor arcana cards. Look at the diamond at the bottom with the number in it – notice the color. It’s blue, which means it’s water/cups. Fire/wands is red, pentacles/rainbows is rainbow coloured and swords/air is grey. Sorry, I didn’t include that bit in my article and it probably would have been helpful. Since it’s blue and a 9, it corresponds to the 9 of cups.
      Hope that helps 🙂

  9. Thank you for this correspondence chart! Am giving a reading next week online, will be using my decks, she’ll be using hers, and this will help me align us quickly in mirror layouts. Also love the way you approach the cards with warmth and humor on your blog. Tarot blessings!

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