The Fool is the unnumbered Major Arcana in Tarot deck. Its numerical value is Zero. The numbers are important attributes of the cards because they hold hidden meanings about card qualities and values, similar to Hebrew letters which we can also see on the cards. Hidden meanings of the numbers are not literally hidden. They are just not so obvious as colors and card titles.
The Magician is Major Arcana number one. Number One symbolizes unity, the beginning, the will, mastering, the leader, initiator, the one who is in charge, the achiever. Those attributions are quite masculine and solar and represent an active principle.
The Magician is the master of the four elements. He mastered them through the fifth element. The fifth element is called spirit, akasha, ether or other, but in essence, those names all refer to the same thing.
The Empress is third Major Arcana, usually related to planet Venus. The Empress represents everything related to femaleness. This is an archetype figure of women, in both traditional and modern views about womanly, female nature, what is related to women, what is their function in society and in life at all. As an archetype, this is very wide and open fields of associations, because it includes almost everything related to certain concept, so here may be found even some opposite characteristics.
If you have ever wonder is there anything specific and interesting about the Major Arcana The Chariot and found nothing in particular unless moving forward, move, passion, victory, force, strength and similar attributes, you are the right place. Today, we have The Chariot on the road. As others Majors Arcanas I will observe The Chariot as an archetype, its astrological correspondences and divination meaning.
Major Arcana The Hermit is one of those whose name refer to the person of certain qualities, features, title or even vocation. I am not sure are vocations such The High Priestess, The Hierophant or The Hermit still appropriate nowadays, but they surely were in the past, in the ages when Tarot originated. The Empress and The Emperor also were titles and vocation in the same time, together with The Hierophant and The High Priestess. All of them incorporate certain features which go beyond the titles.
The Hermit, concretely, include features such the sage, the wise man, ascetic, the enlightened one, the one who left comfort of society in order to find the higher truth trough contemplation and meditation. The Medicine men (healers and spiritualists, among North American Indians, a persons who possess powers of healing and of seeing, somewhere called shamans) and sorcerer who use to live far from society, unavailable for masses, hence their rituals and knowledge don't have just ceremonial purposes, also fit the image of The Hermit. They are appreciated, glorified and often seen as outcasts from the society in the same time. Wide range of mystics and truth seekers who left earthly pleasures and choose ascetic life are Hermits of their kind.
Toward this you may notice that The Hermit, The Hanged Man, The Mage and The Hieorophant have some features in common. The difference between The Hanged Man and The Hermit is that The hanged man type is more mystical and ecstasy oriented while type of Hermit is rather philosophically oriented. In comparison with The Mage and The Hierophant, The hermit doesn't seek and doesn't need attention nor ceremonies. He doesn't deal with morality and the terms of "good" and "evil" as The Hieorophant does. As his knowledge is based on life experience and transcending the same, he knows that the truth is beyond the notions of good and evil. He doesn't affect the nature and reality as The Mage does, he rather observes and seeks for the clues.
The Justice unequivocally refers to justice in a broader sense of the term. The word justice by itself implies to something positive, but what is just for the doesn't need to be just for another. Very often in the act of justice, one side finds itself damaged. Regardless is it about the legal issues, karma, dispute, it doesn't matter, there are always two sides involved in the game. This is also one of the archetypes which are deeply rooted in humans perception of reality trough duality. In that way, the meaning of Justice is very universal, but at the individual level, everyone has it's own perception of what is right and what is wrong, what is just and unjust. So the justice, even in its positive meaning isn't necessarily positive at the individual level.
The Hanged Man is usually seen as a card of sacrifice, peaceful acceptance of undesired circumstances and lack of influence on situation. Lack of influence may come as inability or willing decision to stay aside and accept what you were given. No matter how much this card seems to be hard with such attributes as accepting and sacrifice, accepting often comes as blessing. Sometimes, being wise and wisely dealing with unwanted situation simply means staying inactive, accepting and waiting for the favorable winds. Dealing with it in the wrong moment could be just wasting of time, energy and precious resources. Thus inability to influence may really make an impression of acting like victim, it isn't necessary like that. Accepting what cannot be changed sometimes requires more strength than any actions. The Hanged Man also speaks of forgiving and letting go. If we talk of forgiving and letting go then the sacrificing is getting different meaning. Not rare, it is the real sacrifice of ego. And The Hanged Man is related to ego's inversion, when the one willingly or not experience the state when the ego lost its support in social position, material matters, title or profession, or anything else with which was made strong personal identification. It's painful, I know, but it's not deadly. As sooner we accept, less resistance we give the crisis passes away faster and leaves less scars. This is the wisdom of The Hanged Man.
Does Major Arcana Death mean literally death itself of querent or object of reading in readings? - The answer is No. This is the first thing that should be demystified. But as the name suggests, it certainly refers to some kind of the end. So, if there are more significators that point to physical death, it may suggest someone's death. But, honestly, from my experience, I can tell that Death very very rearly means physical death of a person. Actually, the personal death is more often represented by Minor Arcanas which at the first sight wouldn't be related to such big event as human death. It farther may mean that human death actually isn't such a big deal for the Universe and forces that are so much stronger than plain human life. Those forces are not only stronger, they are unreachable to small human life. There are forces which are known, unknown and unknowable. Human being, from his narrow perspective usually deals with the known, if it could be defineed as known and certain because of relativity of perception. Still, one has a chance to scratch under the surface of known and discern and perceive something from the area of unknown. The ironic fact is that the field of unknown is so wide that one single life isn't enough to scratch all layers of unknown. This is the field of The High Priestess and she has serious work at her hands deciphering Death.
Major Arcana Temperance is the middle ground of qualitatively opposite virtues. They may not be directly conflicted - they are just different, such fire and water, sky and earth. The one of the alternative names for this card is The Art. This is the Art of balancing and handling the opposite streams and energy qualities. For this reason this card refers to the Art of Alchemy, the ability to solve and combine, to turn something plain and common into something precious and noble.
Temperance, like art or any other skill, should be practiced to rich its perfection. Whereas the perfection and beauty is in movement and spontaneity, not passivity and tenseness. This is the fine balance between extremes - overactivity, rawness and force on the one hand and inactivity, fragility, numbness and surrendering on the other hand. Solve et coagula - dissolve and combine is the motto of Temperance.
You may choose to use this card for meditation to connect to your inner guide or your guardian angel. Considering that Temperance has a lot to do with healing you can meditate on this card, conditionally speaking, to "heal" yourself - liberate yourself from complexes, traumatic experiences, to rise awareness of your sexuality, gain freedom of expression, even to ease temporary physical pain. At the end, visualizing this image may improve your natural healing and psychic abilities.
Surprise! We have a Tower on menu for today! Not so pleasant but it's still surprise. The Tower has bad reputation and that is certainly for reason, thus after all disruptions it may appear as positive. It is 16th Major Arcana which is usually related to destruction, sudden and unpleasant changes, unsafety and crisis of all kinds.
The seventeenth Major Arcana, The Star, is one of most positive cards. Its influences are clear, pure, soft and gentle. It signals positive influences and uplifting energy but in very gentle way. It's not like shaking energy rise but rather like renewing and rebirth. It brings optimism and strong beliefs, the quiet assurance and confidence that we are on the right path.
The Moon is 18th Major Arcana in tarot deck and as Major it represents the certain archetype. The archetype of mythological and astrological Moon is complex and is divided between Major Arcanas The High Priestess, The Empress and The Moon. Specifically The Moon, represents it's dark, misty and hazy side. Not only declining, waning Moon phase, when she reflects less light and is going to become dark but also the literally dark side of the Moon. The other side which she never turns to us and we can not perceive by our eyes, which is the secret trough the Ages and Aeons. Isn't is amazing how the universe plays it's game in a perfect and intelligent order which is still unknown to human race beside all modern technology and progress? It always has another ace up his sleeve. Peel off the surface layer is just face to the next. What a trick!
The Sun is 19th Major Arcana, Arcana means secret so it's the group of Major-Higher secrets/keys/principles. It is not called Major because it's hard to be understood but because it refers to mundane rather than personal stuff. And, in the case of the Sun, The Sun is very and primary mundane card. It doesn't refer to title or "vocation" such we had with The Empress, The High Priestess, The Hermit. Not so similar with The Moon too, thus The Moon is both personal/subjective and mundane. Actually the Moon is acting like a filter between mundane and personal. So The Sun might be put in same group with The Star, The World, and maybe Judgment. Thus, The Sun is still one of 22 archetypes, but there is quite difference between archetypes among themselves. The Sun is very collective archetype, yet still personal. Why that, it will be explained.
