Tarot Tablet

The trumps · 0 to XXI

Major Arcana

The Major Arcana are the 22 trumps of the tarot, numbered from 0 to XXI, from the Fool to the World. Where the Minor Arcana describe the weather of an ordinary week, the Majors are the climate: the big lessons, turning points and forces a person meets a handful of times in a life, not every Tuesday.

Read in order, they tell one story, usually called the Fool's journey. A beginner (0) meets skill and intuition (I, II), the mother and father of the world (III, IV), teaching, love and will (V to VII). Then the road turns inward, through strength, solitude and fortune (VIII to X), justice, surrender and death (XI to XIII), and on through temperance, the Devil and the Tower (XIV to XVI) into the three lights of the Star, the Moon and the Sun (XVII to XIX), a final reckoning (XX) and the World (XXI).

Cards
22, numbered 0 to XXI
Element
No single element: each trump carries its own, shown on its page
Temper
Weighty, slow to change, bigger than the day
Speaks of
Life lessons, turning points, archetypes, fate

Reading the Major Arcana

The card the reading turns on

A Major in a spread outweighs the Minors around it. Read it first and let the others describe how its lesson is playing out in ordinary life.

Counting them

Several Majors in one spread say the matter is larger than the question, and not wholly in your hands. None at all says the opposite: this is everyday business, and yours to settle.

Reversed trumps

A reversed Major is usually a lesson not yet learned, or one being resisted. The energy is the same; it is simply not getting through.

The beginning · 0 to VII

The Fool tarot card0The FoolThe Fool is the beginning before you know what you are beginning.The Magician tarot cardIThe MagicianThe Magician is the moment potential becomes action.The High Priestess tarot cardIIThe High PriestessThe High Priestess is what you already know but have not yet said out loud.The Empress tarot cardIIIThe EmpressThe Empress is abundance in the plain, physical sense: things growing, bodies fed, rooms made beautiful.The Emperor tarot cardIVThe EmperorThe Emperor is structure: the rule, the plan, the boundary, the father who says how it will be.The Hierophant tarot cardVThe HierophantThe Hierophant is the keeper of tradition — the teacher, the institution, the way things have always been done.The Lovers tarot cardVIThe LoversThe Lovers is union — of two people, and of the two halves of a choice.The Chariot tarot cardVIIThe ChariotThe Chariot is victory through will.

The inner turn · VIII to XIV

Strength tarot cardVIIIStrengthStrength is courage as gentleness, not force.The Hermit tarot cardIXThe HermitThe Hermit is the search within.Wheel of Fortune tarot cardXWheel of FortuneThe Wheel of Fortune is the turn you did not plan.Justice tarot cardXIJusticeJustice is cause and effect.The Hanged Man tarot cardXIIThe Hanged ManThe Hanged Man is the pause that changes everything.Death tarot cardXIIIDeathDeath is an ending, and endings are how things change.Temperance tarot cardXIVTemperanceTemperance is the art of the mix.

Shadow and light · XV to XXI

The Devil tarot cardXVThe DevilThe Devil is the chain you could take off.The Tower tarot cardXVIThe TowerThe Tower is the sudden collapse of what was built on a false foundation.The Star tarot cardXVIIThe StarThe Star is hope after the storm.The Moon tarot cardXVIIIThe MoonThe Moon is the night country: dreams, fears, intuition and the things you cannot see clearly but can feel.The Sun tarot cardXIXThe SunThe Sun is joy without conditions.Judgement tarot cardXXJudgementJudgement is the call you cannot un-hear.The World tarot cardXXIThe WorldThe World is completion.

Spreads for the Major Arcana

10 cards

Celtic CrossTen positions leave room for a trump to land where it matters, and the staff shows what it is asking of you.

10 cards

Tree of LifeTen spheres of the Tree of Life, each an archetype in its own right: the Majors are at home here.

1 card

One cardDraw one card from the 22 trumps alone as the theme of a month, and notice where it shows up.