About Card Captors

Card Captors is a dubbed Japanese cartoon based on a "manga" which began in 1996 (a manga is a Japanese comic book).  The main character in the TV show Card Captors is Sakura Avalon.  She's a fourth grade student who finds a book called "The Clow" and accidentally releases all the cards from inside.  

A small animal also came from the book.  The animal claimed it was the Guardian Beast of the Seal ("Kerberos" or "Kero").  He gave Sakura a sealing wand to use to recapture the Clow Cards.   For more info about Sakura's friends and family --  [family]   [friends]   [guardians]

Sakura is on a journey to collect all the clow cards (see About the Clow Cards section below).

About the Clow Cards 

(thanks for Janice for contributing this info)

There are 52 Clow Cards and they all differ in some way.  Some cards are elements such as water, fire, wind, and earth, while the others hold powers such as strength, speed, time, ability, etc.  The Clow Book was found
centuries after it was made by Aiden Avalon, an archeologist & Sakura's father.  Aiden couldn't open the book because he possessed no magic of his own, so it ended up in his library in the basement. 

The Clow Cards were made by a powerful sorceror named Clow Reed.  He used both eastern and western magic, to create the cards.  He created Kerberos and Yue, who are seals to the Clow Card Book.  When he created it, he was said that he split into two people.  One of them is Yue, who is Julian (he doesn't know) in human form, and the other is Eriols. 

Incantation:

This incantation is used to turn the magic clow key (which Sakura wears around her neck) into the Sealing Wand.  Sakura uses the Sealing Wand to return the clow cards to their contained card states.

Key of Clow!
Power of Magic,
Power of Light,
Surrender the wand
The force ignite!
RELEASE!