The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana are 22 of the traditional 78 tarot cards. They describe the universal karmic lessons we all experience as we move from innocence to experience. The Major Arcana are how we deal with, act upon and react to the outer world and how the outer world effects our inner life. 

The Major Arcana primarily concerns how we think and feel. They represent Spirit and life lessons that are more lasting than the transient lessons of the Minor Arcana.

The cards are numbered from zero to twenty-one. The Fool is numbered as zero because it is omnipresent and it is her/his/their journey.

Famous psychologist Carl Jung described the collective unconsciousness as a shared universal mind we could all access through symbols and imagery. While famous anthropologist Joseph Campbell described the universal myth he called the Hero’s Journey which all cultures use to describe the evolution of the soul. These two concepts are just a different way to describe the Major Arcana.

The Major Arcana is also known as The Fool’s Journey. The Fool is the Hero/Heroine. It is the innocent soul incarnated into the material world who grows and transforms based on the struggles and victories she/he/they experience along the way.

In this way the Tarot is literally the key to Life. It allows you access to this universal wisdom and to your own intuition through pictures which bridge the subconscious to the conscious mind.

After The Fool, the Major Arcana has 3 main sections which describe different phases of life consisting of 7 cards each as the Hero/Heroine journeys forward (as each of us ascends to the best version of ourselves).

Part 1: The Preparation (Separation)

• The Magician and High Priestess are the Fool’s spiritual parents giving the foundation of the journey.
• The Empress and the Emperor are the Fool’s physical parents.
• The Hierophant gives the Fool her/his/their education.
• The Lovers provide motivation to the Fool by embodying a passion the Fool cannot live without.
•  The Chariot moves the Fool forward with a plan for action.

Part 2: The Initiation/Descent

• Strength teaches the Fool self-mastery.
• The Hermit shows the value of self-reflection and warns of conflict ahead.
• The Wheel of Fortune shows the fates have set the cycle of life in motion.
• Justice teaches the Fool law, ethics and truth which cannot be hidden.
• The Hanged Man indicates the trials and sacrifices the Fool will inevitably face.
• Death offers transformation from inexperience to experience.
• Temperance teaches the value of balance, patience and moderation. 

Part 3: Return

• The Devil represents the temptation to give in to the seduction of the material world and to turn away from the righteous path.
• The Tower is the swift and unexpected chaotic change which leads ultimately to the final stage of the Fool’s Journey.
• The Star gives us the hope of success through our faith in ourselves.
• The Moon lights our path helping us bridge between our subconscious and conscious mind.
• The Sun is the moment the Fool rides out towards her/his/their final battle.
• Judgment represents the final reckoning, the final moment of truth.
• The World represents completion and order restored.

Learn the Minor Arcana 

The Fool	The Magician	The High Priestess
The Empress	The Emperor	The Hierophant
The Lovers	The Chariot	Strength
The Hermit	The Wheel of Fortune	Justice
The Hanged	Death	Temperance
The Devil	The Tower	The Star
The Moon	The Sun	Judgement
The World