Major Arcana in Tarot
The Major Arcana is 22 cards that show up when something significant is happening. Not “what should I have for lunch” or “is my boss being weird today” – more like “I’m questioning everything about my life” or “something fundamental just shifted and I don’t know what the fuck is going on.”
These cards traditionally point to identity, transformation, and big turning points. When they appear in a reading, pay attention. They’re showing you themes that matter beyond the day-to-day stuff.
What are the Major Arcana?
Twenty-two cards, numbered from 0 (The Fool) to 21 (The World). Each one represents an archetype – patterns of human experience that show up across cultures and time. Beginnings, loss, control, surrender, hope, destruction, completion.
Take The Fool, for example. It’s about stepping into the unknown, taking that leap before you can see where you’ll land. I always think of that scene in Indiana Jones where he steps off the cliff – it’s only when he takes the leap that the path appears in front of him. Or it’s just about living in the present moment, smelling the fucking flowers, not worrying about what’s already happened or what might come next.
These cards work whether you see them as spiritual symbols, psychological archetypes, or just helpful metaphors. The point isn’t what you believe about them – it’s whether they help you see what’s actually going on in your life right now.
The Fool
The Magician
The High Priestess
The Empress
The Emperor
The Hierophant
The Lovers
The Chariot
Strength
The Hermit
The Wheel of Fortune
Justice
The Hanged One
Death
The Devil
Temperance
The Tower
The Star
The Moon
The Sun
Judgement
The World
Major Arcana vs Minor Arcana
Scope
Majors deal with the big stuff – identity shifts, turning points, patterns that shape your whole approach to life. Minors deal with the everyday – your choices, your tasks, the situations you’re actually navigating right now.
Think of it this way: Majors show you the landscape you’re moving through. Minors show you the path you’re walking and what’s directly in front of you. You need both to make sense of where you are.
Themes
Major Arcana themes are transformation, growth, archetypal patterns. The universal human experiences that don’t really change across time or culture – power, surrender, hope, destruction, rebirth.
Minor Arcana themes are practical. Your job, your relationships, your resources, your feelings. The stuff that changes week to week and requires actual decisions.
Together they give you depth and direction. Majors tell you what this moment means in the bigger picture. Minors tell you what to actually do about it.
Frequency
Majors don’t show up in every reading. When they do, pay attention – something significant is happening or about to happen.
A spread full of Majors? You’re in a pivotal chapter. Things are shifting at a fundamental level.
Mostly Minors? You’re in the middle of ongoing situations that need your attention, but the foundations aren’t crumbling. You’re working with what you’ve got, making adjustments, handling daily life.
How to Read the Major Arcana
When a Major shows up in a reading, it sets the tone for everything else. It’s pointing to the core issue – the identity question, the deeper meaning, the bigger pattern underneath whatever surface situation brought you to the reading.
Look at where the Major lands in your spread. If it’s in a “past” or “foundation” position, this theme has been building for a while. If it’s in “advice” or “outcome,” this is where things are heading or what you need to embody.
Then look at the Minor Arcana cards around it. The Minors fill in the details – timing, specific actions, resources, obstacles. The Major tells you what this is really about. The Minors tell you how it’s playing out day-to-day.
Read the Major as the lesson or the shift that’s happening. Let the Minors show you the practical steps, the emotional landscape, and what’s actually needed from you right now.
Don’t get so caught up in the symbolic weight of a Major that you miss what the Minors are saying. They work together. For example, if The Devil shows up in the ‘advice’ position, you’re not being told you’re evil – you’re being shown where you’re stuck in a loop. The Minors around it will tell you what that loop looks like in your actual day-to-day life.
The Fool’s Journey
The Fool’s Journey treats the 22 Major Arcana cards as a story – a map of growth from beginning to end. It starts with openness and curiosity (The Fool), moves through challenge and surrender (all the messy middle bits), and ends with integration and completion (The World).
I break it into three realms: conscious, unconscious, and superconscious. Not because it’s mystical, but because it tracks the psychological journey most people go through when facing big life changes.
You start by building yourself and making conscious choices. Then life forces you to confront what you’ve been avoiding – the unconscious stuff. Then, if you do the work, you come out the other side with clarity and integration.
This framework helps you see how the cards connect to each other, not just what each one means on its own. You don’t have to go through every card in order, but when you spot the pattern, it makes sense of what’s happening.
Conscious
Realm
The first part of the journey is about your personality and your ego. Self-definition, learning, building skills, making intentional choices. You’re figuring out who you are and what you’re capable of.
The work here is taking action on what you know and shaping your life with intention. You’re still in control, still building, still defining yourself.
Unconscious
Realm
This is where you deal with the stuff you’ve been pushing down. Your emotions, your triggers, your shadow. The things you can’t control or force. Shadow work, loss, surrender, transformation that happens whether you’re ready or not.
The work here is letting go of control where it’s not serving you, telling the truth even when it’s uncomfortable, and letting healing happen at its own pace. You can’t rush this bit.
Superconscious
Realm
The third part is about coming back into the world and engaging spiritually. Integration, clarity, alignment. You’ve done the work – built yourself up, faced your shadow – and now things click into place.
Think of it as having an on-stage life and a backstage life. Who you are in public versus behind closed doors. The superconscious asks: do you have integrity? Are you the same person wherever you go, or wearing different hats?
The work here is embodying what you’ve learned, honouring your growth, and stepping into whatever’s next with actual grounded confidence.
When Major Arcana Cards Appear
One Major in a spread? That’s pointing to the heart of what’s actually going on.
Multiple Majors? You’re in a pivotal chapter. Something fundamental is shifting, not just surface-level stuff.
Look for themes that repeat across the spread – control, honesty, healing, surrender, whatever keeps showing up. Then read the story in plain language. What’s the invitation here? What needs to end? What wants to begin?
Keep it practical. Majors might be symbolic, but they still need to translate into something you can actually do.
Common Myths
Majors are always more important
Majors carry weight, yeah, but they don’t erase the Minors. Majors frame the lesson – the big theme, the underlying pattern. Minors show you how it’s actually playing out day-to-day.
Read them together and you get meaning AND method. Ignore the Minors and you miss the clarity, the timing, and the everyday steps that actually move things forward.
Majors predict fixed outcomes
Majors show patterns, values, turning points. They don’t lock you into fate.
Treat them as a mirror for what’s present and possible right now. Ask what the card invites, what it challenges, what it clarifies. Then choose actions that align with your priorities and what you can actually handle.
Your choices still matter. The cards show likely paths if you keep doing what you’re doing – they don’t dictate what must happen.
Tower and Death mean disaster
These cards name change that’s already in motion.
Tower clears what’s unstable. Death marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of renewal. Read them with care and honesty, not panic.
What’s falling away? What’s being protected? What needs space to begin? Answer those questions and you’ll know what to do next.
The Devil means evil
The Devil highlights loops – shame, fear, fixation, the patterns you’re stuck in even though they’re not serving you.
It asks where you can reclaim agency and where honesty will set you free. Identify the hook. Name the payoff (because there’s always a payoff, even in destructive patterns). Choose one smaller, honest action that breaks the pattern.
Freedom doesn’t come from one dramatic gesture. It comes from simple, repeatable choices that add up over time.
Study Tips
Pull one Major and live with it for seven days. Each day, write one sentence about what it’s asking you to practise. Keep the language simple and real. By the end of the week, you’ll have a clear personal understanding that sticks – not a memorised phrase that disappears when life gets messy.
Group three Majors that feel linked. Write a short line connecting them in sequence. For example: Chariot to Strength to Hermit reads as action, integration, reflection. This shows you how the Majors speak to each other and helps you read clusters with clarity instead of getting overwhelmed.
Create a one-page map of the Fool’s Journey. Add three bullet points under each realm. Keep it visible when you read. This grounds you in the bigger arc while you’re interpreting the Minors. You’ll spot patterns faster and land on clearer next steps for real life.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I memorise all the Major Arcana cards?
Don't memorise them like you're cramming for an exam. Learn them in groups by theme instead of trying to go in order. Connect each card to real-life examples – either from your own experience or people you know. Pull one card daily and write one sentence about it. By the end of a few weeks, the meanings will stick naturally instead of feeling like you're reciting a textbook.
Do I need to read the Major Arcana differently from the Minors?
Not really. They work within the same spread structure – you're not doing something completely different just because a Major showed up. But Majors set the tone. They're the bigger narrative beats, the core themes. Use the Minors to fill in the details, context, and timing that make it practical and grounded.
Can I do a reading using only the Major Arcana?
Yeah, some readers use Majors-only for big picture stuff – life path readings, major transitions, that kind of thing. Just be aware you'll get less detail about day-to-day influences or specific actions to take. It's all theme, no texture. Works for some questions, but not all.
Are the Major Arcana the same in every tarot deck?
Mostly. The structure – 22 cards, same sequence – stays consistent across most decks. But names and imagery can change. The Hanged Man might be The Hanged One. Strength and Justice sometimes swap numbers (8 and 11). Some decks rename cards completely. Always read in the context of your chosen deck. Don't assume every deck is identical to Rider-Waite-Smith.
