Major Arcana Tarot Card Meanings
The Major Arcana are the 22 cards at the heart of the tarot deck. Each one represents a significant archetype, a pattern of experience and behaviour that runs deeper than everyday events. Where the Minor Arcana reflect what's happening in your life, the Major Arcana point to the forces shaping it.
THE FOOL
Taking a leap into the unknown
Initiates a new beginning, with huge potential for anything to happen
Leaping into new phase without careful planning
Being in the moment, free from anything that weighs you down
Euphoric, optimistic, free
Looking outwards into the new
Road less travelled, no longer conforms
Listening to our inner self when those around us are too practical
THE MAGICIAN
Inspiration to start something new
Success is derived from consciousness of the power available to everyone
To act is to direct your strength, through the will, to take you to the places you want it to go
Symbolising the idea of manifestation, making something real out of all possibilities in life
Will power unified towards a goal
Large magical vocabulary
Wizard and conjurer
THE HIGH PRIESTESS
Possibility yet to be realised
Passivity allows the unconscious to emerge
Allowing the unconscious mind to communicate
Inner truth
Secretive card, the unknown or veiled
Unknown forces at work
Psychic forces
THE EMPRESS
Motherhood, love, gentleness & mercy
Symbolises the idea of nature
Productivity and growth
Fertility
Harvest, abundance
Sensuality
Pure emotion
Passion rather than ideas
Satisfaction and understanding through the emotions
THE EMPEROR
Fatherhood, a figure of severity
The law must be obeyed to maintain order and the ‘system’
Drive and determination to achieve supportive structure for the greater good of society
Rules and laws of society, both good and bad, and the power that enforces them
Measurement over emotion
Losing touch with our passions, the world becomes cold and barren
Institutionalised power and control for good or for bad
Disciplined thought
THE HIEROPHANT
Initiation into a doctrine
A catalyst for self-enquiry leading to enlightenment and liberation (secret doctrine, self-awareness and enlightenment)
Initiation where the individual becomes united with the universe
Intellectual tradition of a person’s particular society and their education in that tradition
Wisdom in a particular tradition
Education in traditional practices
Initiation into a church, occult or order in society
A code of rules and beliefs accepted on faith
Teaching, teacher, guru, preacher - someone who provides guidance
Conforming to society’s ideas and rules
THE LOVERS
Independent choices
Breaking away from the parental restraints and living life independently from this
Raising our sense through passion and desire
Relationships, often loving and intimate
An important relationship with the potential of marriage or long term union
In unity with someone we are given a glimpse of the greater meaning and deeper significance of life
THE CHARIOT
The will to succeed
Triumphant and Victorious
Harnessing will power
Asserting the ego
Control over direction
Success
STRENGTH
Transforming desire into spiritual energy
Strength from within, experiencing life passionately but peacefully, without being controlled or carried away by passion
Finding strength to begin or continue a difficult project, despite fear and emotional strain
Natural forces that the rationale mind must overcome
Facing life and difficult problems or times of change with hope and eagerness
Confronting feelings and desires long hidden from our conscious thoughts
Balance between animal and human
THE HERMIT
Withdrawal from the outer world
Awakening the inner self
A teacher who will show us how to begin a process and helps us find our way
Inner wisdom and self realization
Therapist, guru, inner spiritual guide or occult teacher
Looking back at what you have, or of your experiences and place in the world
Holding onto thoughts and experiences for reflection
Techniques of meditation, psychic discipline or analysis
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
The wheel of life
Signifies karma and reincarnation, the action you take in one life, you build up a certain destiny for yourself in the next
Buddha ended his desires and got off the wheel
Change of circumstances, unexplainable or out of the blue, the wheel keeps on turning
Fate, destiny
Gamble, chance
A turn for the better
Things do not just happen, they are made to happen
JUSTICE
Understanding the past according to truth
Law not does discriminate
Free will judged by the past
Honesty
Fairness
Just decisions and correct actions
Accepting responsibility for ourselves
THE HANGED MAN
Making a sacrafice
An understanding of the bigger spiritual picture
Yogic and meditative pose channelling energy away to the head
Spiritual awakening
New or different perspective
Represents artists, writers and psychologists with hints of great truths and simple designs
Limbo
The need to make a sacrifice in order for things to change before they can move forward
DEATH
Facing circumstances we wish to deny
Fear of letting go and facing the reality
Extreme steps must be taken to force us to face what we deny
Inevitable change
Ego resists idea of death and keeps us from enjoying life
Giving up rigid old ways
Profound change after a difficult transition in our lives
Rebirth with new maturity and freedom of energy
TEMPERANCE
Moderation & balance
Temperance is a card of behaviour, not concepts
A true and proper response to all situations as they arise
Improved health after a crisis
Air travel and overseas travel
Combining spontaneity with knowledge
Taking life as it comes, moment by moment
THE DEVIL
Stuck in an unhappy situation
Limited or incomplete knowledge
Narrow materialistic view of life
Unhappiness from the limitations in our lives
Inability to see the truth
Denial of spiritual component
A force of illusion and oppression
Desire and lust
THE TOWER
Violent upheaval
Circumstances built on shaky ground
Unsettling dreams, arguments and depression
Release of intolerable pressure
A flash of enlightenment, particularly where it replaces a limited view of life
Inspiration
Brilliance
Clearing away a difficult situation
THE STAR
Wishes, dreams & hopes
Projecting the things you want in life
Wholeness, openness and healing
Calm after the storm
Inner calm and peace
Compares to Temperance, both pour water, both bring healing after a crisis
High degree of sensitivity and vulnerability
THE MOON
A sudden release of unconscious energy
Trusting your instincts
Moon’s eerie half light brings out strange feelings in people and animals
A burst of energy too great for the dream mechanisms to peacefully assimilate
Depression or a dark period (dark night of the soul)
Full moon with a prevalence of disturbed emotions.
Moon excites fear and strangeness, just as the Sun relaxes and consoles
Card of the imagination
THE SUN
Enlightenment
Shedding light onto a situation
Joy and happiness
Success
Often points to children
Warmth
JUDGEMENT
A need for important change
Understanding and recognising the need for change
Important decisions based on past experiences
Responsibility to weigh up everything in order to move forward
Big questions need to be asked and thrashed out
Crossroads in life where a decision is required on whether to make some great change
A call to rise to a more meaningful existence
THE WORLD
Success & fulfillment
Feeling unified and at one with your environment and purpose
Holism
Completion and achievements
Connectedness to your physical and spiritual world
Sense of satisfaction