The Major Arcana 22 cards showing archtypical forces, usualy depicted as people drawn from mythology or religious traditions.

The Minor Arcana 40 cards consisting of four suits each numbered 1 through 10.

The Court Cards 16 cards depicting a King, Queen, Prince and Princess of each of the four suits.

Lillian Owl is my sacred persona, which I have called upon for over 20 years, and is the conduit between me and the Other World, which includes the reading of the Tarot.

Over the next year, this page will post several cards at a time, so that you can learn more about the Tarot at a leisurely pace.

You will be able to tap into not just what you could've gotten out of a book, but also what my experience has taught me about each card.

The Tarot is not a game, even though our modern playing cards were derived from the Tarot itself. It is not a toy, and younger children should not have access to the cards. It is not a parlour trick; it is a serious tool for divination.

Respect Is Necessary

Which is not to say that we will not have some fun with it, but the Tarot needs to be approached with a healthy respect for its power. No one knows exactly where the Tarot originated. Some say it originated in Egypt. The oldest deck in existence is in a European museum, and it is dated around 1390 A.D.

As Christianity came to dominate Europe, divination became an offense punishable by burningat the stake. Divination tools had to be made more and more elusive and secretive. Books of witchcraft and the arcane arts were burned as well.
(So were the practitioners.)

Survival of the Ancient Arts

The modern Tarot consists of 78 cards, divided into two sections, the Major Arcana or Trumps, as some like to call them, and the Minor Arcana. I will explain the Minor Arcana at a later date; the first several lessons will deal exclusively with the Major Arcana.

Rider-Waite Deck

We will be using the Rider-Waite version. I may bring in other decks in later lessons to demonstrate the flexibility of interpretation and shades of meaning in these wonderful cards.

Please bear in mind that the final authority is the person reading the cards. If you get a sense that the deck is offering a message that differs from the standard interpretation, then read with your heart.

I am deeply indebted to Eden Gray, who gave me my first look at the Tarot in his book, The Tarot Revealed, and to whom I turn for standard interpretation.

MAJOR ARCANA

There are 22 Major Arcana cards. Some people use only the Major Arcana for divination, but I consider this too limited for accuracy's sake. These cards are rich in symbols and concentrated meaning. The Major Arcana cards carry a bit more weight than the Minors do in any spread, but every card is important.

Please bear in mind that this deck was crafted in a time of sexist thinking, and racism and elitism were second nature to Europe. Therefore, the depictions and some of the standard interpretations of the cards will reflect sexism, racism, and the elitist notion that some people are better than others. Democracy was several hundred years away, and equality for women and people of color was even further distant. I will try to offer explanations that endorse a healthier world view. Each card is numbered, and knowledge of numerology, will be helpful. too.

One of the first things you need to notice about this card is the "Figure 8" (Infinity symbol)above the head of the character on the face of this card.

The symbol implies an ultimate balance, an ability to harmonize between spirit and matter, or to see the continuum, the continual interplay, between matter and spirit.

Next Step in Enlightenment

This person represents the next step in enlightenment from the previous card, The Fool.

The Magician is not a destination, although we on earth tend to see this attainment as a destination, but it is only a beginning.

The Magician is equipped for the journey, but he/she has barely begun. Notice the position the Magician is standing in: one hand raised to the heavens, and one pointing deliberately to earth.

Garden of Desires

The Magician draws down power from above or beyond, in order to manifest something on earth. It is also important to notice where the Magician is doing this: in a garden full of lilies and roses, which represent the Magician's desires. This card is chiefly about the Will, and the manifestation of the Will.

Reading the Card

In a reading, this card tends to represent a particular person in the life of the person who is the subject of the reading or the person asking the question. It doesn't necessarily have to be a person, but it most often is. It can appear as a representation of the questioner.

Upright Position

If the cards is drawn in the upright position, it represents a person with good motives who may have a positive effect on the questioner, or indicate that the questioner is in a good position for manifesting positive things in his or her life.

Reversed Position

If it is reversed, it is exactly the opposite: a person who has a destructive or manipulative hold on the questioner or the subject of the reading. It can also indicate that the questioner uses his or her power in destructive ways, or is manipulating others

The mindset that created the Rider-Waite deck recognized only black and white, and not shades of gray. So on the surface, this card is rendered in terms of dark and light, female and male, with nothing in between. Nothing except the figure of the High Priestess.

This is one of the more cryptic cards of the deck; many Pagan symbols are mixed in with Biblical symbols.

Mary/Isis

Here we see strong allusions to Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ: the moon under her feet, the temple pillars, the color blue, the Torah scroll, and the cross on the Priestess' chest.

However, we also see her crowned with the symbol of Isis, her robes turn into ocean waves at her feet, and the cross on her chest is a solar cross, a symbol occuring in Pagan religions all over the world.

The message here is not what it would seem at first. The High Priestess does not create the divisions of light and dark, male and female; rather, she is the joining point, the creative drive that is the next step after the manifesting power of the Magician.

She is the embodiment of the unconscious, brought up out of the depths of mystery and made manifest. She is mystery revealed, illumination, the wellspring of art.

Upright Position

In the upright position in a reading, she often represents a woman who is extremely beneficial to the questioner. If she is in a position representing the questioner, then the questioner is at this point in her spiritual journey where she is able to discern and manifest deep insights and truths. She has great intuition, creativity, and insight.

Reversed Position

Reversed, she is a person incapable of seeing deeply, someone who lives only on a superficial level, is self-deceived and/or deceives others. Reversed, she abuses her power, just as the Magician reversed does.

The Empress is the embodiment of the Lady of the Manor. She is married to a wealthy landowner, or is a wealthy (and very merry) widow. She is a mother and almost certainly a mother-to-be. As such, she embodies the aspect of the Goddess as Mother. Contrast with the High Priestess, who embodies the Maiden aspect.

She is closely associated with the Goddess (and the Planet) Venus. Notice that she is #3 in the Major Arcana. If this does not hint at the Triple Goddess, I do not know what does.

Christianized

In the Ryder-Waite tarot deck, you can also see that she has been Christianized to resemble Mary, Mother of Jesus.

12 Stars

Observe the 12 stars in her crown (Mary, Queen of Heaven), and the pearls around her neck (pearl of great price). The sceptre she holds up is phallic-shaped, and the trees in the background are probably cedars, associated with masculine energy.

The tree in the middle ground is very phallic-looking; she is a powerful Lady, but she is seen upholding the Masculine Principle.

Card's Essence

If we look beyond the way this card has been influenced by patriarchal / Christian society, we can get deeper into the card's essence. Remembering that Venus is the Roman name for the original Greek Goddess Aphrodite, her name means "foam-born," as in the foam of the waves at the shore.

Pearls

T he pearls remind us of her true origin. Also notice just below the stars in her diadem there is a slender ring of myrtle, which is associated with femininity, not masculinity.

Gnostic Trinity

Also, the creators of this deck must have taken quite a chance with their very lives, for putting a female in Card #3, since the Trinity in Christianity is entirely male. There is a hint of gnosticism in this card, as the first Trinity in early gnostic Christianity was God the Father, Mary the Mother, and Jesus the Son.

Fertility

Fertility can take many forms, not just pregnancy. Creativity, productivity, green growing things, baby animals, and good old fashioned earning power through sales are also associated with fertility.

On Her own Terms

The Empress is, on one level, a woman thriving in a male-dominated society,
but thriving on her own terms. She has learned to be generative without
compromising herself. She is no one to be trifled with; notice the heart-shaped shield resting at the base of her thrown.

Shield

Love is her shield, and Love is the Law of the Goddess. This is a woman well-connected to Divinity, but also well-grounded on earth. All her needs are supplied, and she experiences perfect abundance.

Upright Position

The various meanings of this card in the upright position are marriage, wealth, conception, fertility, success for those engaged in horticulture, farming, animal husbandry, or the creative arts.

Reversed Position

Reversed, The Empress is the direct opposite of that, misuse of feminine power, misuse of resource, squandering energy and time, and lovelessness

Remember to keep thinking about numerology, especially with the Ryder-Waite deck. Notice that this strong, male authority figure is not #3; he is not a spiritual ruler, but a physical one. He represents dominance, power, leadership, and, most importantly, hierarchy. The Piscean Age, the one that we're now leaving to enter the Aquarian Age, was overly concerned with hierarchy.

Everything of value to the Pisceans, namely, science, government, and religion, had a strict sense of order. The planets and all the visible universe was layered, according to its rightful position between God and Satan; the earth and man were somewhere around the mid point between heaven and hell. Man was considered to be "A little lower than the angels," but even the angels themselves were said to have ranks and chains of command, as did the fallen angels, demons, and other such folk.

Aries, the Ram

The Emperor is associated with the sign Aries, the Ram. This card supposedly represents a person who is ruled by thought and not by feeling....but just get in the way of his expression of authority, and you would see plenty of emotion. The point is that emotions, in the Emperor's scheme of things, are dominated by rules.

Four is an even number, which means it is divisible by 2; Pisceans, and Emperors, tend to see things as either black or white. There is no in-between.

Upright position

In my experience, this card, in the upright position, usually stands for a person in the life of the Questioner, a male authority figure, who has a strong influence on the Questioner's life, whether as a father, boss, husband, drill sergeant, or a police officer. The card sometimes represents the rule of law, as in the penalty for crimes committed by the Questioner; most often, though, it is a man, living or dead. It can also symbolize a political situation, or a tendency on the part of the Questioner to be emotionally sterile, at the expense of other people.

Reversed Position

Reversed, this card still usually means a man in the Questioner's life, but it can represent the Questioner's desire or actions to throw off the authority of The Emperor in the Questioner's life. It can also represent male domination that is abusive; a control-freak rather than an orderly ruler. It can also represent the loss of inheritance, especially by fraudulent means. I have also seen it mean the disruption of a household by ruination of the male head of household, possibly by illness, by criminal activity, infidelity, or insanity, on the part of the Man of the House.

Although considered to be the very presence of God on earth, this triple-crowned figure in rich robes is associated with the outer trappings of religion, and not with the inner understanding of faith.

Symetrical

Although the number 5 is an odd number, not divisible by 2, observe how the entire card is almost perfectly symetrical. Two pillars, two keys, two priests kneeling at the feet of the Pontiff. This is another patriarchal figure who sees things only as black or white, right or wrong, no gray areas, no exceptions. Except, maybe, for a Papal indulgence or two.

This is the only card in the Major Arcana where nothing is growing. There are no natural features in the background, no water, no plants, no animals. Notice that while the Hierophant is sterile and self-contained, the priests kneeling before him are wearing robes with roses on the left, and lillies to the right. Lillies represent dedication to purity; roses are associated with desire.

Key to true meaning

This is the key to the entire meaning of the card: it doesn't matter that one priest is spiritual and the other worldly: what's important is that they are both kneeling before the Hierophant; they are going through the right motions, and so the Hierophant makes no distinction between them.

Authority figure

In a reading, this card often represents an authority figure, usually male, in the Questioner's life. Sometimes it represents a female; once, it represented a female who was nicknamed "The Pope," for her loud pronouncements.

Upright Position

In the upright position, it means the outer forms of religion, devoid of the inner meaning. It also means the concepts of conformity, of the need for approval at any price. I consider this card to be negative in its upright position; it often represents a cruel and unyielding influence in the past that is holding back the Questioner in the present time.

Reversed Position

In the reversed position, it often stands for the Questioner managing to throw off this negative influence. It may mean an event in the past, or it can mean the need to do it in the present, before one is able to truly move on and become a whole person. In a less serious vein, it can represent unconventionality, a lack of strictness, a willingness to push life to its limits.

They may be as different as fire and water...but they are as inseparable as the morning dew and the sun that evaporates that dew and sends it back up to the clouds.

The angel is androgynous, that is to say, neither obviously male nor obviously female, which is in keeping with the Biblical accounts of angelic beings., but this is no Biblical angel! First of all, what's on its head is no ordinary mop of hair. This has been drawn ambiguously...it could be fire crowning its head...it could be leaves, as a nod to the Green Man of western Paganism...and it could be both fire and new, leafy growth.

Its skin is the same color as the rays of the sun. Its wings are red, not spotless white, as is usually depicted for Biblical angels; similarly, the robes on this angel are gray, not spotless white. This is a creature of experience, not innocence. Gray symbolizes knowledge, experience. And note that the angel is positioned smack in between the sun and the clouds...signifying the union of these two opposites, producing something very different from either fire or moisture.

This is the first hint that The Lovers does not necessarily signify heterosexual marriage,family, 2.5 kids. When a heterosexual couple has children, they are reproducing themselves, both in flesh and spirit. They are creating something that is like them in kind. The angel is unlike either the fire or the moisture that it comes from.

This is the first inkling we get from this card that it speaking of "soulmates," the kind of relationship where the partners feel that together, they are more, better,
different, than either one is alone.

Notice that the man is staring at the woman. Notice that the woman is gazing
heavenward...possibly at the new creation of the angelic fire/water hybrid...possibly at the sun...possibly at the Deity who created the sun in the first place.

I believe that this is another example of how the Tarot had to be outwardly couched in enough Christian symbolism so that it would not be destroyed on sight...but the clever crafters of these cards knew what they were doing, and have not destroyed the Pagan meanings of this card.

In medieval and renaissance terms, to be sure, the woman represents spirit,
and the man represents physical matter. In Pagan terms, this doesn't make
the woman "pure" and the man "profane." It is very much in keeping with
Goddess-centered beliefs of the origins of the universe...that the One desired sensation, experience, companionship, and so She divided herself into Lady and Lord, Spirit and Matter, and kept dividing into all that exists and all the manifestations of Deity that are the many Goddesses and Gods of the many pantheons.

The fact that the woman stands with a representation of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (in other words, "experience") and the man stands with a representation of the Tree of Life (matter, eternally existent, indestructable), is very much in keeping with age-old Pagan beliefs. So if you thought this card was the most Christian, sexist, and repressive card in the Major Arcana...think again! It may be the most overtly Pagan!

UPRIGHT
When The Lovers shows up in a reading, needing interpretation, it
represents union, a very strong bond, between potential sex partners, potential marriage partners, potential life-mates. If there is a question such as, "Will I marry this person?" this card does not guarantee the sought-after marriage...the other cards must be taken into consideration. All this card guarantees is that there is a strong bond, most likely between soulmates, and that the feeling is mutual. This is not the card of the fling, the one-night stand, the teenage crush, or the abusive relationship. It is not solely for male-female couples, either; love comes in all sexual orientations! And please note that it is not a guarantee of future
parenthood, either! This is the card of what might be thought of as "true love." But it does not guarantee that the couple will get along perfectly.
Often, opposites attract! But it does mean that the possibility for lasting happiness exists; if partners will strive to be united, will open themselves up to being a union of opposites, to becoming more as a couple than they ever were alone, then here is the chance of a lifetime!

REVERSED
In reverse position, the card has a somewhat more general and broad meaning
than upright. It does mean the breaking up of a relationship...in the reversed position, it CAN mean the break-up of a fling, crush, illicit or abusive relationship.it can mean the break-up of any romantic involvement. It signifies unhappiness in a relationship that leads to separation...the one becoming two again. Because soulmates are extremely unlikely to separate voluntarily, the reversed Lovers rarely means the separation of soulmates! The bond may have been strong...but the relationship was not meant to last. What is called for is a clean break and a moving forward.

This is the card of the journey. It could be spiritual, it could be educational, but in the upright position, it means that the person to whom it refers is on an upward path.

The Chariot usually signifies a process within the Questioner, the person who is the subject of the reading. Once in a while, this card will signify legal help, as in a helpful lawyer, but usually only when all the other lawyer cards are already used. This card often stands for continuing one's education, especially higher education, and often shows up as a positive sign for going back to college or pursuing other educational goals when a person's studies have been interrupted. It also means a favorable start or outcome, depending on the position of the card, when a person is trying to make a new start in life, trying to move to a better place, or get a better job. If it shows up in a reading where the question pertains to a new job, there is likely to be a need to relocate and/or retrain. It is always a change for the better.