Tarot Major Arcana
0-6 (0-VI)
Tarot Major Arcana (also known as the trump cards)
The Major Arcana is that section of a Tarot deck that consists of 22 cards. Major Arcana illustrates the structure of human consciousness and our journey to spiritual self-awareness. It holds the keys to previous life lessons. The symbolism of the Major Arcana Tarot is filled with wisdom from different religions, cultures, and traditions. The more you understand their symbolism, the more you will know what they represent. Indicate our spiritual development and or major events in our lives.
The name of the card implies the current major event or awareness taking place.
0-22 The Fool
This card does not have a number and can, therefore, come at the beginning of the end of the Major Arcana. Major Arcana is often said to symbolize The Fool's journey from start to end. The Fool shows a newcomer to the group. Here are joy and a willingness to try his best and not be afraid of anything. He has all the tools and knowledge he needs, but he does not know how to use them and does not think he needs them. The Fool is a card that shows joy, optimism, and daring. Why be afraid of the unknown, the Fool would ask. Why would anybody want to harm me? An excellent card to have when embarking on new projects.
Meaning
The start of something new and often without thinking first. New experiences. Free spirit. Childish optimism. Innocence. Unexpected or spontaneous, joyous events. A new birth.
Reversed
An inadequate number of choices and events. Hard to say - No! Embarking on things that you should think more about first. Taking risks. Recklessness. Foolishness.
I The Magician
This card shows skill, logic, and intellect. The Magician has all the knowledge and resources he requires and sees the big picture and its link. All options are available to him, and he can do anything and create whatever he believes possible. He may not always understand why or how he does it, but the most important thing is that it works.
Talents to cope with the expected and the unexpected. Want to try out things. Power, skill, resourcefulness, concentration.
You find it hard to get things moving. Procrastination. Delay. Poor- planning. It uses manipulation or trickery rather than do the real something (magic).
II The High Priestess
This card shows wisdom, intuition, awareness, understanding, higher powers, and spirituality, searching for all forms of knowledge in everything—curiosity, anticipation, and a strong community bond. Possible self-development can occur through workshops or organizations—a strong bond with women or a very distinct woman. Some people want to look at the positive and do everything to ignore the negatives in life.
Spending time together with other women or a very distinct woman, seeking knowledge and development. Alert and curious about everything. Wisdom, intuition, awareness, understanding, higher powers, and spirituality.
Problems with other women. You are fooling yourself. You do not want to see all of the opportunities that are ahead of you. Blind to reality. Hidden agendas.
III The Empress
This card shows a role of responsibility within a larger group or community or participation in a larger group of people in the same industry or field of interest. It shows the expansion of assets and growing stability. Here you have the responsibility for nurturing what you already have and for taking care of nurturing everything new that comes your way. You do not have to exert yourself for assets and advantages; they will come to you at a time when you have shown what you are made of and what you are capable of.
Growth or a new beginning. Material security and possible new assets on the way. Creativity. Fertility. Abundance. Pregnancy.
Sterility or unexpected pregnancy. Blocked creativity. Hard to find their role in larger groups or dealings. Difficulty in expressing opinions. Dependent on others.
IV The Emperor
This card shows stability, security, and safety. You know what you have, what you like, and you get things done. Able to see the bigger picture from beginning to end. Totally at ease taking responsibility or command of things. Authoritative energy. This is a case of taking what you have and making it grow even more until it becomes what you expected. It may prove to be decisions, contracts, or agreements, but only when it suits you. Perhaps the purchase of property (i.e., gaining a kingdom).
Big plans. Planning and building for the future. Agreements and contracts. Self-employed or managerial position/responsible for employees. Father figure. Authority.
Conflicts with authorities. Difficulty in taking orders. In conflict with someone who is trying to get the upper hand or decide over you.
V The High Priest /Pope /Hierophant
This card shows the knowledge about life and everything else, from its deeper aspects to the tiniest detail. Here lies expertise and experience that can help others find their path and identity, even their spiritual identity. It can also represent studies or development in all types of areas where shared group identity, i.e., schools, teams, societies, clubs, companies, etc.
Good advice and knowledge. The search for knowledge and wisdom, science, spirituality, religion, etc. Group identity, conformity, tradition, etc. Perhaps a wedding.
Bad advice. Refusing to face the truth and challenging the norm.
VI The Lovers
This card shows relationships—strong couple-relationships and strong bonds of friendship and bonds to siblings or colleagues. There is a lot of giving and take and reciprocation, a strong sense of belonging and unity, joy and love, or strong emotions, to say the very least. The number six (6) also shows a more extensive gathering with relatives or family members and travel. The card also shows the search for wholeness, togetherness, harmony, and joy with others. In love relationships and look at the Court cards in the spread to get a bigger picture and see if and how they affect the outcome.
Harmony. Love-partnerships. Relationships or love affairs. Travel, trips, or get-togethers with family.
Disharmony. Broken partnership. Self-conflict. Deferred travel plans or canceled family gatherings.
VII The Chariot
Cards with the number seven (7) represent your willpower. You want to make your way, steer where you want to go by yourself while other people observe you doing it, partly command respect, strengthen your self-esteem and prove to yourself that you can do it. You have a goal in mind, and that is what you are aiming for. However, by steering straight ahead and not looking to the sides, you may also miss the knowledge you pass on each side. This may stem from a fear of learning or adopting new things on your intended path because that would prove to you, unjustly, that you could not keep to your original plan. The card can also show short trips and, most likely, trips several at once.
Endeavoring to do what feels good and doing it their way. Overcoming opposition. Control. Will-power. Assertion. Striving for success.
You are losing sight of the goal. Lack of direction. Difficulty in advancing. Regrets a decision.
7-14 (VII+XIV)
VIII Strength
This card represents your inner strength and ability to stand firm and endure. You have gathered experience from your surroundings and environments, and you are aware of your inner strength and determination. You know what it's for and how to wield it. You can choose to be satisfied with what you have accomplished or continue in a quest for the rest of whatever it is that you want. Shows a remarkable tenacity of purpose. Know what you want and how you can get it.
Strength and courage. Strong motivation. Control over situations and emotions. Power and balance. Patience and compassion.
Weak and cowardly. Lack of self-discipline. Self-doubt. Unmotivated.
IX The Hermit
This card represents planning and searching for inner knowledge, but there is calmness in his search. Even though he is alone, there is still known to be found through inner guidance and introspection, leading to further development. Assumes or has a teaching role. Seek knowledge for themselves and preferably not in large groups. You can take part in groups but has that little special something or other that makes them stand out because they dare to seek solitude.
Planning and foresight. Seeks knowledge and education. Introspective. Being alone.
Difficulty accepting advice. Trust only themselves and current events—bad food habits. Isolation. Loneliness.
Wheel of Fortune
This card represents that you are heading in the right direction, even though you may have had your ups and downs. Events are underway. There is a flow, and the wheel has picked up enough momentum to allow you to receive more and more. A card showing prosperity and that you have reached your goal. This is the successful culmination of things that you previously focused upon.
A change in life. A turning point. Increased happiness and luck. The beginning of a new life- and a better one. Karma. Destiny. Good luck.
Postponement of events. Things are slowly going in the right direction, but it takes time—bad luck.
XI Justice
This card represents decision-making, safety, security, and realizing that your decisions will decide your future. It indicates a situation of conscious choice, and that the final decision is imminent—perhaps a decision to end something that no longer suits you; A break-up or divorce.
Contracts, agreements, Law, and Order. Justice. Cause and effect. You are planning your 'economic' future. Marriage.
Delayed contracts and agreements. Unfairness. Lack of accountability. Break-up or possibly divorce.
XII The Hanged Man / The Hanged Man
This card indicates that you cannot say no. You are stuck feeling sorry for yourself. You can't do what you want to you, can't find your willpower, and are indecisive. This was caused by not daring to speak up and believe in yourself. You avoid responsibility and cannot be bothered. You would rather fain illness than speak up for yourself. They have lost faith in themselves and their ideals. You let others make the decisions and fail to realize that they are creating an imbalance in relationships. They are playing a role that is not theirs.
Restriction. Playing the martyr. Letting go and taking on too much or something undesirable. Exposed to a situation you did not choose for yourself.
Self-centered - many thoughts about their well-being. Unwilling to try out new things. Stuck in a situation.
XIII Death
This card represents change, leaving something habitual or secure, embarking on new adventures without carrying around old things, concerns, and belief patterns. A card with a name may sometimes cause anxiety or even fear, but it is essential to see what death is: change when things have outgrown their old role, costume, or body. It's about leaving something behind, something that no longer benefits; in that sense, it is a sound card. Yes, it can mean physical death, but the way I teach the Tarot, you will have several "negative aspect" cards simultaneously for the reading to predict death. On the day you finally see physical death in the cards, there will be no doubt whatsoever about what you are looking at. You will know. The card also shows the release of old unnecessary patterns and hindrances to progress, but change can be challenging to accept, as most people know. So, when you get this card, look to see what it is you have to let go of instead of thinking "death."
A change that can be tiresome will lead to something better. Endings. Change. Transformation.
Resistance to change. Unable to move on. Stuck (Perhaps something has been taken away from someone, and they have difficulty accepting it).
XIV Temperance
This is one of the most conscious cards for spirituality and acknowledgment that you are an entirety: heart, body, mind, and spirit. This card shows the search for balance and harmony that becomes through moderation. You have the experience, willpower, and purpose and are aware of your strengths. You can patiently withstand stress and other external influences and now are more interested in how you can adapt these things and emit them outwardly and meaningfully. Also, Temperance represents knowledge and wisdom, serenity, peace, and quiet. A total coherence and inner peace where you feel humility in what you do and see many opportunities ahead. It also brings out the artist in you, and you perhaps create something entirely for your enjoyment, to feel good. Finally, this card shows that you are in touch with the divine, universal guidance you require and reach the goals you want to fulfill.
Good inner balance and harmony. At one with most things. Finds and brings out their inner truth.
Afraid of their development or being too emotionally or spiritually insightful, you become overpowering and creates fear.
15-21 (XV-XXI)
XV The Devil
This card represents people's thoughts and inner cravings. They want it all, and they want it now, and just as they envisioned it. Wishes and plans for the future, strong desires, passions, the addiction to own or bind things to them, materialism, and jealousy. They want something so badly that they cannot see anything else until their desire is quenched. There are many lessons in this card; one is daring to see to your own needs first and then be able to share your excess with others without becoming bitter, petty, or malicious towards them. Apart from the many lessons a person has to learn in life, they also have to learn to avoid many pitfalls before finding proper inner balance and security and realize that we are all dualities; there are darkness and light in us all. This card has nothing to do with "devil-worshiping" or black magic. It is a role, an archetype that we humans must strike a balance with. The card also shows that you believe in yourself and want to achieve something for yourself that will, in extension, later also benefits others. The simple truth is that people find it easier to share with others when they feel good. When they don't, the result is often bitterness, resentment, jealousy, and conflict. Yes, this card has a bit of egoism, but people should sometimes put themselves first.
You want a lot and find it easy to accumulate too much. Greed, many possessions. Strong desire. Money, power, wealth, investment ideas, and economic initiatives.
The exploitation of others for wealth. Fixated on wealth - wants everything. Infatuated.
XVI The Tower
This card represents upheaval. What was built went perhaps a little too fast. The foundation and material were there, but things sped up too quickly, perhaps due to outside influences. Now things are collapsing. We can lose our sense of security, feelings toward a relationship, house, investments or money, etc. However, if the card is upright or exemplary, we still have the foundation and some base material left to start again, and maybe next time, things will work out better. Sometimes in life, you will lose traction. When that happens, you may have to drop something and get a new or better grip or footing before you can move on. This card can cause a lot of agitation. Generally, people tend not to invite change or leave what feels good behind them even though what they had was nothing more than an illusion. Most times, people themselves set the chain of events in motion even if they do not immediately realize that fact.
Upheaval. Unexpected change. Conflict and disruption. Revelation.
Drastic, unexpected changes. Caught up in something that can be difficult to get out of. Not doing what you want to be doing.
XVII The Star
Represents dreams, inner thoughts, hopes, inspiration, and desires. Wishes and expectations of something that is currently perhaps just a little out of reach, but the ambition to reach it is there. Many thoughts and ideas, but not sad thoughts. Inspiration and feelings of fulfillment and inner joy and a strong sense of bond with the environment, not just on the physical level but also on a conscious level. The Star also shows mental and spiritual development, new ideas, hope and faith, and a new healthy attitude toward the future.
Hope, inspiration, serenity, renewal. Expansion of consciousness. Spirituality.
Difficulty accepting the change or new things. Does not want to see or grasp a new development—lack of faith (in themselves).
XVIII The Moon
This card represents emotion, empathy, dreams, and the subconscious, but they are the kind of dreams you can realize, express, and make come true. The subconscious becomes consciousness. At first, things might seem like visions or fantasies, but later, you project them into reality, perhaps in solitude, by yourself, but then with others. The Moon shows that you are in contact with your feelings and intuition and are willing to experience things that yield sensations within your body and mind. In relationships, the Moon can represent many powerful emotions.
Powerful emotions and contemplation about life. Writing and another creative expression.
Difficulty in dealing with reality - fleeing into a dream world.
XIX The Sun
This card shows the happiness, radiance, and abundance that you have achieved what you believed in. A happy card that shows that you receive everything you need. Symbolically, you can see that the Sun is warming the Earth, allowing it to nurture and grow. The Sun shows us the opportunities that we have made for ourselves. Here is everything you could wish for, prosperity, success, happiness, harmony, love, joy, and togetherness. New opportunities keep on coming, with the Sun's rays showing the way.
Material happiness, harmony, joy, and vitality. New, improved options. Praise completed projects. Good health. Harmony with family and close friends.
Failures. Broken contracts. Lack of success. Family problems.
XX Judgement/ Resurrection
This card shows an awakening, an inner calling to see things in the way you should finally. After a period of self-evaluation, it has become clear that you have the energy and motivation to take charge and create the life you want. It may mean added responsibility for your family, but you do it gladly. So there are family bonds and family happiness on the Judgement card. The judgment also shows that you are curious about life and want to learn more, perhaps looking at new angles, different life paths now that you have gained more experience and can see what mistakes you made previously.
Awakening. Rebirth. Inner calling, Decisions, and agreements that must be taken and completed. Joy in the present. Family events, such as baptisms, confirmations, weddings, etc.
Refusal to take the decisions that must be taken. Self-doubt. Afraid of change. Possible fear of death.
XXI The World
This card represents the completion and control of life. At last, your journey is complete, and you feel fulfilled and understand the relationship between life and the journey. You can see life's development in a new light and feel a strong motivation to live in a more balanced way and let go of old values systems and obsolete life patterns. A physical consciousness being realized - "A complete person, at last." Success in an endeavor. You have accomplished it all. Feels powerful, aware, and responsible. They understand how to live and how they want to live.
Success, personal happiness. Accomplishment. Completion of a lifecycle.
Lack of completion. You don't want to take responsibility. Fear of a continuance.
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