This is a fun little exercise that gives more information and meaning to the cards. Each card has a focal image, but there are myriad other details in the illustrations. You can use these details to get more information in your reading. This exercise looks at the background scenery of the cards, but you can choose any detail to study in the deck.

Some examples:

• Which cards are looking directly at you? Who is looking behind? Who is looking forward?
• Which cards have animals on them?
• Which cards take place during the day vs during the night?

For this experiment you will separate the major arcana from the rest of the deck. Now go through the majors and place them into piles based on their background. Is there water? (lakes, rivers, oceans) Is the ground rocky or sandy, wild or plowed? Are there buildings? Lay each grouping out together and see if they have anything else in common.

Some cards will seem to be one scene together (depending on your deck), for example the star, the moon and the sun all have water flowing or pooling and if you line them up it links them to each other.

Also you can just lay all the majors out in order and look at them by scenery and see if there is a story to be told or enhanced by the changing “sets”.

This is purely creative, there are no right or wrong answers. The goal is to have fun, handle the cards, and get some more insight into the meanings of tarot.

You can also do this with the court cards and pips. It is another source for your intuition when you read the cards.