The Clow cards (later Sakura/Star cards) are from the manga & anime Card Captor Sakura. The series follows a girl called Sakura Kinomoto who finds a book in her father’s study called the Clow book. The book contains Clow cards which were made by Clow Reed before his life ended; sealed away until Sakura accidentally releases them. With the Clow cards gone and only left with The Windy, the story follows her capturing all the escaped cards. When she finally has all of them it becomes clear she is next in line to become the master of them. Thus, the cards ‘evolve’ into the Sakura/Star cards by Sakura signing her name onto them.

Clow Reed and The Clow

Clow Reed was a sorcerer born with both English & Chinese heritage. His parents were from very powerful families of magic users and because of his mixed heritage, Clow Reed came to be the most powerful sorcerer ever known. He created The Clow; cards encompassing both Western (Sun) & Eastern (Moon) magic. Each card has their own personality and tremendous power. With the creation of The Clow he also created two guardians called Cerberus & Yue.

Cerberus

Cerberus (aka Kero) is one of the two guardians of The Clow. He is bossy, confident and overindulgent, but also positive and fun. Clow Reed left Kero with the task to find the next master of the cards when he died. Although Kero chooses Sakura out of consequence, he becomes her guide for The Clow throughout the story and helps her through many ordeals. His power is that of the sun & western magic and the cards under him reflect his personality and domain. Just like the sun he generates his own energy instead of needing his master’s to survive.

Yue

Yue is the other guardian of The Clow. He is cold, serious and aloof but he has a kind heart. He cared very deeply for his old master, so much so that he had a hard time accepting Sakura as the new master. Yue is in charge of judging the person Kero chooses to see if they are worthy of being the new master of the cards. Because of his hard time accepting anyone other than Clow Reed it took a while before Sakura could convince him; not wanting to hurt him. His power is that of the moon & eastern magic and the cards under him reflect his personality and domain. Just like the moon he doesn’t generate his own magic and needs his master’s energy to survive.

System

The Clow cards work under a hierarchy. The attribute cards rule over the elemental cards and the elemental cards rule over every card underneath. When laying cards, if any of the attribute cards or the elemental cards come up they influence the reading greatly with their meanings.

The Suits

The Light Suit

The cards under The Light stand for all that is everyday life, lightheartedness and fun. The exception to this suit is The Shadow, but without light there is no shadow, thus it is included here instead of The Dark suit. I also relate The Light suit with the major arcana in tarot, albeit the positive side more than the negative side. Positive things like having good fortune or good things that we do not have immediate control over.

The Dark Suit

The cards under The Dark stand for all that is mysterious, unknown, and otherworldly. This includes parts of life we might not like, but still have to go through. Just like the Light suit I relate The Dark suit with the major arcana in tarot. It talks about things we thus far had no control over, but notifies us to think about those aspects and invites us to take the necessary steps for positive change. It will be a challenge and we might even fear it, but life is filled with ups and downs. When we get through our down period, we face the better times triumphantly with an experience richer and we might even be better equipped to handle a similar situation in the future.

The Fire Suit

The cards under The Firey stand for action, passion, temper and upheavals. It tells us that one way or another we need to put our all into it. Whether it’s to keep trying, fully take something out of our lives or try our best to hit that mark. Yes, it may be challenging and the road might be bumpy, but the vitality & creativity of the Fire suit tells us that we can do this. Sometimes all we need is willpower & determination!

The Water Suit

The cards under The Watery stand for emotion, relationship and intuition. Although the Watery is an aggressive card of its own, the cards underneath it tend to be more calm, soft and some are even fun! However, the cards underneath the Watery are also related to how we handle situations and react to the world and people around us on an emotional level.

The Earth Suit

The cards under The Earthy stand for stability, security, & strength. They are about the material self or about things related to the self. Whether this is protecting one’s self, finding balance around one’s self or breaking material cycles.

The Wind Suit

The cards under The Windy stand for communication, truth & clarity. It's about taking a step back and thinking it through sometimes. Although the element of air is related to the mental realm not all cards in the wind suit are related to it. Some are about literal movement as well.

Individual Card Meanings

This is a long list with a few words per card. I am working on a more in-depth document regarding The Clow because many people, including myself, don't think the official fortune telling book really fits with its descriptions. The Clow cards each have their own individual & unique personality which shine through in their meanings. Why not add those into the equation? There are also meanings that come from my personal use of the cards. Use what you feel is right!

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The Dark

• unknown, uncomfortable, needs over wants, catastrophic thinking, night, challenge, mystery

The Light

• day, clear, going to be okay, enlightenment, positivity, encouragement

The Firey

• arrogance, passion, rage, explosive, high energy, drive, fire

The Watery

• emotions, co-operation, relations, water

The Earthy

• body, material, earth, stoic, barren, stability

The Windy

• intelligence, mental clarity, bind, mentality, wind, logic, analyzing

The Arrow

• shooting your shot, several chances, scattered, many passions, aiming but not shooting, goal-oriented, inspiration

The Big

• not as scary as it seems, big heart, non-discriminating, means well, friendly, clumsy, oblivious, ditsy

The Bubbles

• clean slate, cleansing, cleaning, make a prototype, there is an idea but nothing concrete, ephemeral

The Change

• empathize, change, camouflage, fitting in, mask, invisibility, hiding, aversion to change, mind games

The Cloud

• brain fog, confusion, emotionally clogged, pretending to be fine, making the best out of a bad situation

The Create

• creation, manifestation, inspiration, writing, paper, art, imagination, creativity

The Dash

• avoidance, speed, quick thinking, shy, scared, skittish, escape

The Dream

• prophecies, dreams, occult, knowledge, clair senses, veiled, obscure

The Erase

• declutter, moving on, lift the veil, revelation

The Fight

• giving it 110%, hard work, disciplined, meticulous, brash, actions speak louder than words, exercise, hidden power, assertive, willpower

The Float

• detached, big picture, head in the clouds, more than it seems, take a step back

The Flower

• friends, fun, longevity, light-hearted, optimistic, joyful, calm, relaxed, party, celebration

The Fly

• moving, flying, soaring, travel, big change, transformation, open-mindedness, support, freedom

The Freeze

• congeal, frozen, stagnation, cold, many pieces to a whole, sharp, splintered

The Glow

• good fortune, kindness, beauty, peace, inspiration

The Hope

• positivity, wish, hope, content, look at the brightside, love, oneness/unity, happiness

The Illusion

• see what you want to see, imagination, longing

The Jump

• leap before you look, reach further heights, pestering, stupidity

The Libra

• balance, truth, weighing options, justice

The Little

• small, bullying, sadism, annoyance, schadenfreude

The Lock

• stability, shut-in, not available right now, familiarity

The Loop

• repeat, habit, link, infinity

The Maze

• self-created, lost, (feeling) stuck, distorted

The Miracle

• divinity, support, family, miracle

The Mirror

• leadership, regret, mirroring, confrontation, image

The Mist

• toxicity, decay, elusive, destructive

The Move

• turning heads, chase, small steps, keeping it small

The Nothing

• nothing, void, negativity, (fear of) abandonment, loneliness

The Power

• Showing-off, pride, trouble maker, friendly challenge

The Rain

• fun, abundance, jokes, free-spirited, chaotic

The Return

• a need for change, regret, living in the past, restore, nostalgia, return, learning (from the past)

The Sand

• multiple options, jack of all trades, adaptability

The Shadow

• two sides, hidden, consequences, the shadow archetype

The Shield

• defensive, jealous, protest, protection, help others, idealism, steadfastness

The Shot

• obsession, events speed up, hectic times, ruthless, stubborn, willpower, lashing out

The Silent

• meditation, contemplation, look within, loud, sensory overload, solitary

The Sleep

• sleep, end, momentary peace, forgetfulness

The Snow

• witty, control, purity, management

The Song

• bliss, happiness, singing, music, song, mimicry, perfectionism

The Storm

• bothered, moody, overthinking, uncertainty

The Sweet

• sweets, self-love, rest, relaxation, take care of yourself

The Sword

• challenge, anger, precision, conflict, cutthroat, confrontation

The Through

• omit, remove, invisible, spirits

The Time

• time, when, exhaustion

The Thunder

• upheaval, sudden, rampage, lightning, tower-moment

The Twin

• two people, equal, entwined, together, stuck, co-depend, pattern, fate, cycles, habit (and breaking of), hurting without meaning to harm, duality

The Voice

• greedy, communication, all talk no action, venting

The Wave

• overwhelmed, tidings, emotionally moving

The Wood

• growth, perseverance, gentleness, nature, patience, sensuality, abundance, altruism, fertility, breaking habits