Cards

Major Arcana and Minor Arcana.  The Fool, the Magician, the Priestess.   Le Roue de Fortune, le Mort.  What do they mean?  Where did the pictures come from? 

The traditional Tarot deck has 78 cards.  They are divided into two groups: The Major Arcana, which is composed of 22 symbolic or archetypal images numbered from 1-22 with one unnumbered card, the Fool.  The Minor or Lesser Arcana cards correspond to an “ordinary” deck of cards with four suits of fourteen cards each.  In each suit there are ten cards numbered 1-10 and four Court cards, the King, Queen, Knight and Page.  Other decks may call these Court cards by other names, and the four suits (Swords, Cups, Scepters and Coins) may also have different names.  I am using a Marseilles Deck; the following pictures will be from this deck and the names used and “classic” interpretations given will be from this deck as well. 

The Major Arcana, beginning from the Fool and ending with The World, represents a journey that can be read as an actual, physical journey, or as the soul’s metaphysical journey, or as mankind’s journey to enlightenment, or all of the above and more.  The pictures can represent people (your dad, a teacher, etc.) or can be seen as states of mind, archetypes of mind or body, or stations along the way.  It’s helpful to begin the Tarot with the Major Arcana and once you feel comfortable with them, move on to the Minor Arcana.

Please click on the links beneath the “Cards” page on the left to see each card (as I get them posted!).