Commonly known as The Major Arcanam or Major Trumps meaning, “profound, great secret or mystery” are a set of 22 cards in the tarot deck, with no suit distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana. Representing every experience and underlying influences that man can encounter on this plane as well as hidden things existing already in the subconscience. Images are often heavy with symbolism as opposed to the Minor Arcana which relates to the common everyday affairs and matters of immediate significance. For these posts, I'm using the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, the most commonly used deck for beginners. I omitted different aspects of the cards such as planetary correspondance or reversal meaning in order to give you a quick reference and help you to become visually familiar with each cards general meaning. This posting will include The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Emperor, and The Emperess.
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0 The Fool
The fool in colorful motley clothes, pack tied to a staff, a small dog, on a cliff.
New beginnings, new adventures, new opportunities, unlimited possibilities, pleasure, passion, thoughtlessness, rashness. In the Tarot, cards like The Magician or The Hermit can often stand for the querent or for someone in the querent's life. The Fool, however, usually stands for the querent, himself- the person asking the questions. The Fool ultimately stands for a new beginning often involving a literal move to a new home, job or new relationship; starting a zero base with theenergy, spontaneity and the excitement of youth. However this can be a negative for one who doesn't "look before they leap".
1 The Magician
Red and white coloring, the lemniscate (infinity symbol), a small wand, a table displaying a chalice, a pentacle, a staff (wand) and a sword
Originality, creativity, skill, will-power, self confidence, dexterity, innovative. Displayed with minor "suits"upon his table: the cool, airy Sword of intellect and communication, the fiery Wand of passions and ambition, the overflowing Chalice of love and emotions, the solid Pentacle of work, possessions and body. All the possibilities laid out and directions to take. Like a magician in the traditional sense, the card stands for "revealing" in the form of new ideas. Thus, the card is about getting an idea, verbalizing it and utilizing ones resources available to bring it into manifestation.
3 The High Priestess
Blue, white and black colors, pomegranates, the moon crown of Isis, veil, solar cross, crescent moon. Black & white lotus, pillars (B stands for Boaz, signifying negation, J stands for Jachin, meaning beginning). Scroll with the word Tora on it (either the Jewish Torah or an anagram of "Tarot," where the final letter is left unseen).
Wisdom, knowledge, learning, intuition, purity, virtue, a teacher. Where the Magician is about revealing, the High Priestess is about keeping things hidden behind the curtain. Where he urges the querent to verbalize what he's thinking, the High Priestess urges him to silently reflect on his feelings. Seated between two pillars as between two choices, the High Priestess is not about making a decision so much as holding decision-making at bay while you take time to listen to your inner voice. She wants you to gain knowledge before you act: instinctual knowledge, supernatural knowledge, secret knowledge, self-knowledge.
3 The Empress: Action, development, accomplishment, mother/sister/wife, evolution. The promotion of well-being and security. Creativeness in financial affairs, Maternal care, abundance and material wealth. Fertility, achievement of goals and growth.
The Empress card is one of the easier trumps to read. She's the Great Mother, so much so that she's often viewed as one of those cards that can indicate a "positive" answer if a woman is wondering if she can get pregnant. This is the fertile womb where anything can grows and thrives -life, romance, business, art, (as compared to the protective "incubator" of the High Priestess). Can signify male or female sometimes. The Empress' ability to mother goes beyond the womb, however. The ultimate nurturer. However, this can also mean a smotherer, over-bearing person in the querents life.
4 The Emperor
Competitiveness, forcefulness in development and execution. Authority, structure, governmental and corporate identities. Worldly power, self control gained through experience. Ability to shoulder responsibility. Powerful individuals, ambition together with the possibility of long term achievement.The meaning of the card includes being in control over your environment, your body, your temper, your instincts, your love life. This card gives the querent permission to be aggressive, brave, bold and in command. If the card doesn't seem to indicate the querent, it could be emblematic of their father or a father-figure who was, is or will be in their lives, a leader, employer, teacher or partner. This could be either type of father-figure, the demanding tyrant, hated and feared, or the charismatic leader, respected and admired.
