An overview of the Major and Minor Arcanas
The four suits of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles contain 56 cards and together they constitute the so-called Minor Arcana (the word ‘arcanum’ means secret or mystery, and arcana is the plural). The fifth group comprises the 22 cards of the Major Arcana—the great mysteries—also known as the major stations of the tarot. Characteristic of the Major Arcana cards in the Rider / Waite deck is that they are the only ones headed with a number and having subtitles at the bottom.
Key terms related to the 22 Major Arcana cards
I - The Magician: One’s own existence. Skills and potential.
II - The High Priestess: The inner voice, one’s own opinion, the sense of one’s own.
III - The Empress: Nature (and: naturalness, obviousness, spontaneity), fruitfulness, experience as a woman / with women.
IV - The Emperor: Self-determination, pioneer, experience as a man / with men.
V - The Hierophant: That which is holy in everyday matters.
VI - The Lovers: Paradise—lost and rediscovered.
VII - The Chariot: To tread one’s own path—the way is the goal.
VIII - Strength: Wildness and wisdom. To accept oneself fully.
IX - The Hermit: To achieve order in one’s life, to get things sorted out.
X - The Wheel of Fortune: Control of inner and outer change.
XI - Justice: Recognition of the other / others. One’s true needs.
XII - The Hanged Man: Passion. Intense feelings.
XIII - Death: Letting go and reaping the harvest.
XIV - Temperance: The aims and plan for one’s life. Solutions.
XV - The Devil: Establishing necessary taboos, breaking false ones.
XVI - The Tower: Liberation, fireworks, softening up calloused areas.
XVII - The Star: Soul star.
XVIII - The Moon: Return of what has been suppressed, release.
XIX - The Sun: A sunny spot, a state of consciousness.
XX - Judgement: The Day of Judgement is today.
XXI - The World: Old world and new world, outbreak, realization.
0 / XXII - The Fool: Naivety or completion, the absolute.
The 10 most important interpretations of the Wands
Element: Fire.
Basic meaning: Drives and deeds.
Concrete message: “Something has to happen!”
Practical realization: Move and be moved.
Key term: The will.
Psychological function (according to C. G. Jung): Intuition: instantaneous, holistic understanding.
The way of the Wands: purification, purgatory, the phoenix arising from the ashes.
The goal of the Wands: To burn! With passion and intensity a whole life long, to seek and find the true will, to surrender completely and in that way to recoup used-up energies.
Associations: The symbol of the phallus, the witch’s broom, the root (and: the forebear), the offshoot (and: the descendant), twig, hiking stick, walking stick, cudgel.
Mottos: In the beginning was the deed. A man (woman) of action. How can I know what I want before I see what I do?
The 10 most important interpretations of the Cups
Element: Water.
Basic meaning: Feelings, longings, belief.
Concrete message: “It all depends on the inner convictions!”
Practical realization: Let it flow; to receive something or to let others receive.
Key term: The soul.
Psychological function (according to C. G. Jung): Feeling.
The way of the Cups: baptism, death and rebirth on a psychological level.
The goal of the Cups: To flow! To give water a set form, to give feelings their expression! The channel or the riverbank are constraints which cause the water within them to flow.
Associations: The female lap, the grail, chalices, the cup of cheer, bathtub, swimming pool; the ocean, showering, drinking etc.
Mottos: Water is the wellspring of all life. Everything is in a state of flow. Go with the flow.
The 10 most important interpretations of the Swords
Element: Air.
Basic meaning: The weapons of the intellect.
Concrete message: “This needs to be sorted out!”
Practical realization: Obtaining an intellectual grasp of an issue, ascertainment, assessment.
Key term: The mind.
Psychological function (according to C. G. Jung): Thought.
The way of the Swords: learning by experience.
The goal of the Swords: To make the burden lighter!
Associations: knightliness, gentility, maturity, swords to
plowshares.
Mottos: Thinking is one of mankind’s greatest pleasures. Knowledge without conscience is a sorry thing. He who has grasped his situation cannot readily be restrained.
The 10 most important interpretations of the Pentacles
Element: Earth.
Basic meaning: Talents (both coins and aptitudes / faculties).
Concrete message: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating!”
Practical realization: Either a given result is accepted—or it is rejected and a new one is sought.
Key term: The body, matter.
Psychological function (according to C. G. Jung): (sensory) perception.
The way of the Pentacles: multiplication of one’s talents and harvesting the results.
The goal of the Pentacles: wealth and well-being!
Associations: thaler, dollar, the two sides of the coin, the impressions which we ourselves have experienced and which we make on others. The traces which we find and those which we make.
Mottos: The truth is what bears fruit. To have a talent and not to use it means to misuse it. We have inherited the earth from our parents and borrowed it from our children!
