Review Osho Transformation Tarot from Osho, Pujan

The game is delivered in a rigid cardboard box. Inside the box, the game is wedged in a cardboard niche and is easy to remove. The booklet is placed on the cards.

The cards are rather large, difficult to shuffle because of their size. But I don't think this is a problem, because in my opinion the deck is designed for guidance where shuffling the cards is perhaps less important than for divination.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is an Indian guru called Osho. He has lived in India and then in other countries including the United States where he founded a spiritual center in Oregon. He is the creator of a "dynamic meditation" and inspired the movement that took his name: "Osho". His taste for provocation and his liberated point of view on sexuality have earned him a rather controversial reputation.

Illustrator Pujan was asked to create an oracle based on the texts of Osho and his foundation. It seems however that the painting on the back of the cards is the work of the Indian guru himself.

First of all, this deck is not a tarot in the strict sense of the term, i.e. it does not have a 78-card structure consisting of a suit of 22 trumps and 4 suits of 14 cards (10 numerals and 4 honors). It is therefore indeed an oracle. This abuse of language is a pity because it can generate the incomprehension of the beginner on the difference between Oracle and Tarot. Difference however clear and simple.

The booklet contains only a few pages of presentation. It explains that the use of this game is "like a meditation". These cards are tools for self-knowledge. Then 4 spreads are quickly presented.

The first draw is the "meditation of the day" in one card. The second draw "The Relational" in 4 locations is identical to the one present in the Osho Zen Tarot: "Relationships", it proposes a diagnosis of a relationship. The third draw is called "The Simple Cross" in 5 cards, which is very similar to the usual "cross draw". Finally, the last spread is called "The State of Equanimity" in 7 cards, which allows us to choose between 2 alternatives. This spreads seems to me rather successful (photo opposite).

Each card is presented on approximately two pages. The text is not illustrated by the card image, so you must have the deck with you to read the booklet and soak up the cards. A framed text begins the presentation, explaining the name of the card and the philosophical aspect it deals with. The rest of the text talks about the life scene on the card. The vast majority of the cards are evocations of a passage from ancient texts or talking stories from spiritual traditions in both the Judeo-Christian world and Asia, from the story of Jesus to the life of a Zen master.

I could say that I like all the cards and I don't hate any of them because every card carries a truth, a lesson in wisdom that is undoubtedly good to understand and apply. So that the reader can better realize the philosophy that flows through this oracle, and judge for himself, I have reproduced below a part of the explanatory text of a few cards.

Extract : "The ego is a social phenomenon; it's society, it's not you. It gives you a function and a place in society's hierarchy. If this satisfies you, you will miss out on all the possibilities of finding your true identity. Have you noticed that all kinds of suffering arise through the ego? It cannot make you happy; it can only make you suffer. The ego is hell. Every time you suffer, just try to observe, just try to analyze and you will see that it is the ego, which somewhere, is the cause."

Extract : "Society continually reminds you, 'this is right, this is wrong', that is what it calls giving you a moral conscience. This eventually takes root and takes root in you. You just dwell on it and it's worthless ! It doesn't contain the truth. What is true is your own conscience, and it has no ready-made answer about what is right, what is wrong, not at all. But as soon as a situation arises, it enlightens you, and you immediately know what to do."

Extract : "No one else has ever been like you, and no one will ever be like you. You are simply unique, incomparable. Accept it, love it, celebrate it, and through that very celebration, you will become aware of the uniqueness and incomparable beauty of others. Love is only possible in the profound acceptance of oneself, of others and of the world. Acceptance creates the climate in which love grows, the humus in which love blossoms."

Extract : "A thinker is a creator by his thoughts ; understand this fundamental truth : all you feel is your creation. You begin by creating it, then you feel it, then you are caught up in the experience, because you don't know that the source of everything that exists is in us."

Extract : "People come to me and ask : What is right and what is wrong ? I answer that being alert is good and being unconscious is not. These are not the actions that I describe as good or bad ; I don't say that violence is bad, sometimes violence can be right. I am not saying that love is right. Love can go to the wrong person, or love can hide a bad intention. Someone loves his country, and that is terrible because nationalism is a curse. Someone loves his religion, but that love makes him capable of killing, murdering, and burning down temples. Love is not always good, and anger is not always bad."

What I can regret is the name of some cards that seems to me not very explicit. This is the case of the card "17 - A cup of tea" which evokes the fact that the more we develop our consciousness, the more sensitive we must be in our actions, including the most banal ones such as taking tea for example. This card could have been simply called "Sensitivity".

In general, I would have liked to read a key sentence under each card name, recalling the wisdom lesson mentioned. This would have allowed a quicker memorization of the themes covered by the game.