What is the Major Arcana?

The Major Arcana consists of 22 powerful tarot cards that represent life's biggest themes, spiritual lessons, and universal archetypes. Unlike the Minor Arcana's 56 cards that deal with everyday situations and practical matters, the Major Arcana cards symbolize profound spiritual journeys, major life transitions, and the deep psychological forces that shape our existence. In the traditional Rider-Waite deck, these cards are numbered from 0 (The Fool) to 21 (The World), each featuring rich symbolic imagery that has remained largely unchanged for over a century.

When a Major Arcana card appears in a reading, it carries significantly more weight than Minor Arcana cards, often indicating that the situation involves karmic lessons, soul growth, or life-changing events beyond your immediate control. These cards represent the archetypal experiences that all humans encounter, from the innocent beginnings of The Fool to the cosmic completion of The World. The Major Arcana serves as a roadmap of spiritual evolution, showing how we grow from naive seekers into wise, integrated beings who understand our place in the universe.

The World tarot card depicting a woman with a snake wrapped around her body, holding a wand in each hand, standing between a lion's head at the bottom left and a lion's head at the bottom right, with clouds and a face in the upper left corner, and an eagle in the upper right corner.

The Fool's Journey: A Story of Spiritual Evolution

The Major Arcana tells the story known as "The Fool's Journey", a metaphorical path of spiritual development that every soul travels. This journey begins with The Fool (0), representing pure potential and innocent curiosity, and progresses through various archetypal encounters that teach essential life lessons. Each card represents a different stage of growth, from learning worldly skills and facing inner shadows to achieving spiritual mastery and cosmic understanding.

The Fool's Journey isn't linear; life rarely unfolds in perfect order. Instead, these cards represent universal experiences and archetypes that we encounter repeatedly throughout our lives at different levels of understanding. The Magician teaches us about willpower and manifestation, The High Priestess reveals intuitive wisdom, Death transforms us through necessary endings, and The World celebrates the completion of major life cycles. Together, these 22 cards create a comprehensive map of human consciousness and spiritual development.

Key Major Arcana Cards and Their Themes

To understand the scope and power of the Major Arcana, consider these foundational cards:

The Star (XVII). Hope, inspiration, and divine guidance. Represents renewed faith after hardship and the belief that your dreams can manifest through spiritual connection.

Temperance (XIV). Balance, moderation, and integration. Shows the art of blending opposing forces to create harmony and achieve your highest potential through patience.

Wheel of Fortune (X). Destiny, cycles, and changing luck. Embodies the universal law that life moves in cycles, bringing both challenges and opportunities beyond our control.

The Fool (0). New beginnings, innocent curiosity, and unlimited potential. Represents the pure spirit embarking on life's adventure with trust and openness.

These examples demonstrate how Major Arcana cards address fundamental human experiences—creativity, intuition, transformation, and completion—rather than specific day-to-day concerns.

A traditional tarot card titled 'The Fool' showing a person in colorful clothing standing on a rocky ledge next to a mountain range, holding a small white dog, with a flower in one hand, and a bag over their shoulder, under a bright sun in a clear sky.
The Temperance tarot card features an angel with large red and purple wings, holding a chalice and a sword. The angel stands on a path with mountains and the sun rising in the background, symbolizing balance and moderation.
The Wheel of Fortune tarot card showing a wheel with various symbols, surrounded by four winged creatures: an angel, an eagle, a lion, and a serpent, representing the four evangelists. The sky has clouds, and the card is labeled at the bottom as "Wheel of Fortune."
The Star tarot card depicts a naked woman kneeling by a pool of water, pouring water from two containers onto the land and into the water. Above her is a large, radiant star surrounded by smaller stars in the sky. The background includes hills and an ibis bird perched on a tree.

From left to right, top to bottom: The Fool (0), Wheel of Fortune (X), Temperance (XIV) and The Star (XVII)

Explore the Major Arcana

Discover the meaning and symbolism of each Major Arcana card by exploring the complete collection below:

Each card page includes detailed upright and reversed meanings, explanations of symbolism, and guidance for love, career, and spiritual questions. Whether you're a beginner learning your first cards or an experienced reader deepening your understanding, these guides will help you unlock the profound wisdom contained within each archetype.

  • XIII - Death

  • XIV - Temperance

  • XV - The Devil

  • XVI - The Tower

  • XVII - The Star

  • XVIII - The Moon

  • XIX - The Sun

  • XX - Judgement

  • XXI - The World

The Major Arcana forms the spiritual backbone of any tarot deck, offering profound insights into life's most significant moments and transitions.

While we'll be adding comprehensive guides to the Minor Arcana suits and popular tarot spreads in the future, these 22 powerful archetypes provide everything you need to begin understanding tarot's most transformative messages.

Start exploring the cards above to begin your own journey through the archetypal wisdom that has guided seekers for centuries.