Major Arcana - The Lovers

Our beloved Fool is growing up and as such he's placed at a crossroads. It's a physical as well as a metaphorical one. The two women beckon him to come closer, whom shall he chose? Which one is better? Cupid isn't about to make it any easier as he hovers above the Fool, he's aiming at him, not the women. The Lovers is all about decisions, which road should you take? Body or soul? Virtue or sin? There's internal conflict and the only way to chose what's right is through utilising what you've already learnt...

The message of the Lovers is that you always have to choose. As people we have free will and we can choose the right or wrong course of action. What that means to you as an individual is of course based on your own internal moral compass. However, if you live a fulfilled and positive life, guided by Love and Truth, there is only ever one choice. And by choosing it you can feel whole and satisfied at the same time. The Lovers are trying to teach the Fool to take responsibility for his actions and to enforce decisiveness. 

In the Kabbalah the number six stands for harmony, systems, stability and the balance of powers. The Star of David is made up of overlapping triangles which symbolise the connection between the spiritual and physical world. It's therefore apparent that none should ever exist without the other or it becomes destructive. 

The Lovers will help you when you seek the companionship or friendship of a partner. Two people should always come together in trust, opening your Heart to Love and Truth will invite the infinite possibilities of Love into your life. There is only ever one choice and that's to listen to your Inner Voice and act with Love in your Heart.

Major Arcana - The High Priest

After having found his Father figure the Fool journeys on to meet Faith and reveal the power of spirituality. Here he finds The High Priest, he sits between two pillars and wears a headdress called a mitre as a sign of his connection to a higher power. The sceptre he holds stands for spiritual power on three levels, the physical, intellectual and divine. He's holding it in his left hand symbolising that he reigns with his heart. The High Priest is the spiritual bridge that gives meaning to the physical, he allows us to cross borders. 

This is where the Fool finds meaning to his physical existence on this plane. The High Priest teaches us traditional wisdom, moral values and reveals sacred truths already known to the Soul. Through the High Priest we learn to act with sympathy and how faith can actually go hand in hand with knowledge. In order to live a fulfilled life we all need faith, whatever that means to the individual attaining it. In relationships the High Priest stands for trust and affection, the connection between two souls. 

In the Kabbalah number five symbolises the Universal soul of man. It stands for love and feeling. A five pointed star, a pentagram stands for earth, air, water, fire and spirit. All of them needed to make a whole. Substance gives meaning to all things.

The High Priest or the Hierophant will support you when you are asking yourself deep questions about spirituality and who you are. He can provide traditional answers of wisdom or help you probe further to seek your own answers to the meaning of your very existence. Meditate, when your mind is still, you'll hear your Inner Voice. When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear. 

Major Arcana - The Emperor

Moving swiftly on, the Fool is eager to meet his father, the Emperor. The Emperor is a man sitting on a stone throne, providing stability and protection. His finger on the stone cube with the eagle represents awareness in all things and stability on the physical plane. His sceptre indicates his supreme ruling power. He's the masculine principle, he reigns through sound judgement and lawfulness. He can seem stiff and unapproachable but he's straightforward and strong. Analytical and rational thinking are his strong points! 

This is where the Fool finds his desire to break free of nature's limitations, change the world around him and build something for posterity. He also learns how to rule his own life, that decision making and planning is essential to moving forward. The Emperor teaches us that we're our own seats of authority. 

The Emperor is number 4 on the Fool's journey and in the Kabbalah this stands for procreation and death. It's a sign of masculinity and time, four seasons divide the year and four cardinal directions differentiate space. Four is also a number of stability and materialism, order and organisation. 

The Emperor energy will be there to guide you when you need to organise, structure and administer something in your life. He's very helpful in the workplace when you need to be authoritative, hold boundaries and achieve specific goals. Meditate upon his energy by sitting on the throne of your life and survey the kingdom of your being! 

Major Arcana - The Empress

It's time to meet your mother, the Fool has now grown quite a bit already and the next person he meets on his journey is his mother. The Empress. She symbolises Mother Earth, she's warm, loving and nurturing. She's the world of nature and sensation, her sceptre and shield represents power and spiritual strength coupled with intuition. She's fruitful and personifies Venus, temptation and truth. Venus was the Roman Goddess responsible for grain and crops among other things.

She's number 3 in the Major Arcana and that's a number of fertility and procreation. It's also a number of memory and represents past, present and future. 

This card of the Arcana reminds us of our collective relationship to and responsibility for Mother Earth. It asks us to look at ourselves and our needs, our attitudes and demands. Maybe it's time we stop ransacking the Earth out of greed and profit. 

So when is The Empress there to help you? When you're trying to live a more earth-centred life, that's when she'll be there, connect with her energy by going back to basics, spend time in nature, watch the night sky, do some gardening, become attuned to the seasons and spend time around animals. Let these activities become your meditation....

Major Arcana - The High Priestess

The second Arcana that the Fool meets on his journey is The High Priestess, she's the guardian of the inner Temple. She sits between the pillars of Jachin and Boaz, the gateway to duality. She's holding a tome that represents wisdom in one hand, and in her other hand the keys to guidance and recognition. The Ankh around her neck shows her closeness to the goddess Isis. She represents physical existence, integrity and chastity. 

As card number 2 she represents the female principle, the number of duality and discord. A number of intuition, sensitivity and feeling, but also one of opposites. The High Priestess is closely related to our unconscious and is the fertile ground where creative events can blossom. 

This card used to be called The Papess but is commonly renamed The High Priestess to signify her closeness to Isis of the Egyptian culture. The High Priestess will assist you when you're trying to reach beyond the realm of the rational mind. All of us trying to develop our psychic, healing, mediumship and meditation abilities will benefit greatly from her help. 

Whenever you feel like you have to follow a personal feeling, even if it's non-rational, The High Priestess is there to guide you. Trust your intuition and she'll give you the wisdom you deserve...

Major Arcana - The Magician

So the Fool's Journey has begun and the first character he meets is the Magician. The Magician embodies the positive, active, side of the physical world. He's the masculine power of creative impulse and he represents our conscious awareness. By meeting the Magician you could say the Fool materialises into the physical world. The Magician represents the force that allows us to make a difference in the world through concentrating our individual will and power. He's the conscious beginning of our spiritual journey and his number is 1.

The Magician will support you when you discover a deep and powerful urge to know yourself and make use of your own natural powers. Whatever it is you want to accomplish, meditate on the Magician and the tools of your trade and he'll actively share in your adventure. He might come to you in a dream as a teacher, sage, wizard or shaman.

The Magician embodies the quest for self-realisation and stands for initiative and action. He indicates organisation, decision-making and managerial qualities. If you see him in a reading it's time to take control of a situation, maybe forcefully, definitely positively. He's the authority who acts for the common good.

Seek yourself with a belief in magic and the Magician shall appear to sharpen your will and focus your intent! 

The Major Arcana

Hello there fellow Fool!

If you've found your way here you might just be starting out on your journey with the Tarot towards knowing yourself. I hope my posts will help and guide you on your journey towards enlightenment. 

I thought it might be a good idea to start this blog by taking you through the Major Arcana of the Tarot. It depicts the trials and tribulations of the Fool's Journey through life on this Plane of Existence. The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards and constitutes the heart of the Tarot.

We start the Journey by befriending Card number 0, The Fool.

The Fool is who we all are at the beginning of life, start of a new project or in terms of starting a new cycle of personal development. Number 0 indicates he's neither positive nor negative, he's malleable and pliable, open minded and spontaneous. The dog indicates he is driven by instinct and trusts his gut feeling. He's strangely unaware of the hardships of the world as he approaches the cliff edge on his journey of acquiring knowledge...

The Fool will support you when you are faced with taking a big step or when you've lost the sense of joy in your life. He's never afraid of new beginnings and looks at life as a playful adventure. If you need a simpler approach to a problem in your life, meditate on the Fool, employ the spontaneity of a child and put your adult mind to the side for a while. 

New beginnings are always good, embrace them and always trust in the fact that the Universe provides.