The Major Arcana is a set of cards in a Tarot deck that represents significant life events, spiritual insights, and overarching themes that influence an individual’s journey. These cards make up 22 of the 78 cards in a standard Tarot deck. Each Major Arcana card stands alone with its own deep meanings and implications.
The Major Arcana starts with the Fool card and ends with the World card. The 22 cards and their basic interpretations are as follows:
- The Fool (0 or sometimes placed at 22): New beginnings, spontaneous action, leaps of faith, innocence, and potential.
- The Magician (1): Skill, creativity, determination, and the power to achieve goals.
- The High Priestess (2): Intuition, the subconscious, mystery, and inner wisdom.
- The Empress (3): Fertility, abundance, nature, femininity, and nurturing.
- The Emperor (4): Authority, structure, control, leadership, and paternal influence.
- The Hierophant (5): Tradition, conformity, morality, ethics, and belief systems.
- The Lovers (6): Love, harmony, relationships, choices, and alignment of values.
- The Chariot (7): Determination, control, overcoming obstacles, and moving forward.
- Strength (8): Courage, inner strength, compassion, and patience.
- The Hermit (9): Solitude, introspection, guidance, and wisdom from within.
- Wheel of Fortune (10): Cycles, destiny, unexpected change, and turning points.
- Justice (11): Fairness, truth, cause and effect, and law.
- The Hanged Man (12): Suspension, sacrifice, letting go, and new perspectives.
- Death (13): Transformation, endings, beginnings, and change.
- Temperance (14): Balance, moderation, patience, and purpose.
- The Devil (15): Bondage, addiction, materialism, and negativity.
- The Tower (16): Unexpected change, upheaval, chaos, and revelation.
- The Star (17): Hope, spirituality, renewal, inspiration, and serenity.
- The Moon (18): Illusion, fear, anxiety, insecurity, and the subconscious.
- The Sun (19): Joy, success, celebration, positivity, and a sense of self.
- Judgment (20): Rebirth, inner calling, absolution, and a fresh start.
- The World (21): Completion, accomplishment, integration, and fulfillment.
The order of the cards (called a journey or path) can be seen as a narrative – starting from the Fool (beginning of a journey) and ending with The World (end of a cycle, achievement of enlightenment).
In a Tarot reading, when a Major Arcana card appears, it’s often taken as a signal to pay special attention to that area of life or aspect of the self. These cards indicate major forces at work and can provide insights into the deeper layers of a situation.
Source: “Explain Tarot Major Arcana”, ChatGPT