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Symbology in Tarot – Major Arcana part IX

Today we will be discussing “The Tower” and “The Star.”

XVI – The Tower

When this card appears, we should experience illumination and a release of our trapped energies. The card shows a tall tower perched at the top of a mountain right at the moment when lighting strikes the top of it, displacing the crown of chakra. Two persons leap, heads first and arms outstretched, from it in a clear sign of utter desperation. This destruction occurs when our ambitions and goals are built on false promises and the Energy form the Universe puts things in their rightful place. The twelve flames represent the combination of the Twelve signs of the Zodiac and the Ten points of the Tree of Life. In her great book Tarot for Beginners, Meg Hayertz said: “When something in your life isn’t working – a habit, a job or relationship—but we refuse to acknowledge the issues, we build an increasingly precarious tower held together by temporary solutions, wishful thinking or denial, if we neither take the initiative to dismantle nor restore the shoddy tower, it will inevitably come crashing down.” In Numerology, the number 16 means the release of stocked energies within us and the outflow of creative and loving instincts; when the two digits are added together, we get 7, which is the symbol of Spirituality.

Upright Tower

In her great webpage, Biddy Tarot said: “expect the unexpected—massive change, upheaval, destruction, and chaos. It may be a divorce, death of a loved one, financial failure, health problems, natural disaster, job loss or any event that shakes you to your core, affecting you spiritually, mentally, and physically. There’s no escaping it.” What can you do? Get out of the way, do not interfere with the self-destruction. The positive attitude is to re-focus on your priorities and re-build what is needed. After this traumatic experience, you will grow much stronger, wiser, and resilient.

Reversed Tower

When this card appears, you are undergoing a significant personal transformation and upheaval. While in the Upright Tower, the catalyst for transformation process is external, in the Reversed Tower that catalyst is internal. You are instigating this radical change because you want to make a full aggiornamento of your perceptions, opinions, stands, etc. Sometimes it might mean that you are putting up an active resistance tot that change, which will be totally futile as it is inevitable, unstoppable. The fiercer that resistance, the bigger the upheaval will turn out to be. A lost cause. Consider this similar to the tolling of the bells, announcing some great radical news.

Philosophical significance

Ever since Antiquity, almost any human culture has had a figure of Destruction and Transformation. In Hinduism ,the Goddess Kali, also known as Dakshina Kalika, is considered to be the master of death, time, and change. She emerged from Lord Shiva himself and is considered as the ultimate manifestation of Shakti—the primordial cosmic energy that moves through our whole Universe. She destroys the Evil in order to protect the Innocent. She is also considered as the mother of all living beings. In a very well researched Wikipedia article, they said: “ her most well-known appearance is on the battlefield in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam. The deity of the first chapter of the Devi Mahatmyan is Mahakali, who appears from the body of sleeping Vishnu as goddess Yoga Nidra to wake him up to protect Brahma and the World from two demons, Madu and Kaithabha. When Vishnu woke up, he started a war against the tow demons. After a long battle with Lord Vishnu, the two demons were still undefeated; Mahakali took the form of Mahamaya to enchant the two asuras, When Maidu and Kaithabha were enchanted by Mahakali, Vishnu killed them.”

XVII – The Star

This card shows a naked woman, symbol of Vulnerability and Purity, kneeling at the end of a small pool, with a container in her Left hand (the Subconscious) and another one in her Right hand (the Conscious) to pour water one hand to the Earth in order to maintain the Fertility Cycle and on the other one to the Flowing River to prod creativity and dreams. Water falls in five rivulets to the dry earth, symbolizing the five seasons. The foot standing on ground symbolizes her Practical Sense and the one standing on the water symbolizes her Feminine Intuition. Above the girl there is a large bright star , which symbolizes Our Core Values, and seven smaller ones representing the Chakras—spinning bodily disks of energy that should stay open. Meg Hayertz said: “it helps u believe in miracles and allows us to connect with the magic of every day. The ibis in this card represents the Egyptian God Thoh. As the God of thought, language, and magic, Thoh reminds us of the power of our thoughts and words. The things we name are potent. Naming our ideals can breathe life into them. Our experience is rich with beauty and meaning.” Open yourself to other people around you. YOU ARE INSPIRATIONAL. In Numerology the number 17 represents quiet, certainty and subtle strength. The combination of those two digits gives 8, which is the symbol of strength. This card is associated with Aquarius, the Zodiac sign that inspires other with its Idealism.

Upright Star

After the destructive upheaval represented by the Tower, you are now back to your basic core beliefs and feelings, that innermost part of you that makes you truly unique amongst other human beings. Biddy Tarot said: “The Star brings renewed hope and faith, and a sense that you are truly blessed by the Universe. You are entering a peaceful, loving phase in your life, filled with calm energy, mental stability and more-in-depth understanding of yourself and those around you.” It is time to revisit your old beliefs, values, acquaintances and at the same time take the opportunity to thank all those who have helped along the tortuous roads of Life.

Reversed Star

You have lost faith and hope in the Universe. You are overwhelmed by the sensory input and noise from the maddening crowds; as a result you cannot move or act. Biddy Tarot said: “Where is the Divine in you now? Look harder and you’ll see it. The Divine is always there” She asserts that we are vessels for the Divine and sometimes that conduit might falter, but it always remains physically in our spirits. Let us unclog our spiritual hose and continue sprinkling the gardens of the Universe. It might also mean that you are being a little bit naïve about the power of your beliefs in the real world. Are you relying too much on your ideals and not take action to make them a Reality?

Philosophical significance

It is not a casual occurrence that this card has an ibis atop a tree on its right-hand side. In Ancient Egypt, the Thoh deity was represented as a man with the head of an ibis (and sometimes even a baboon) It was the god of the moon, wisdom, writing, hieroglyphics, science, music, art; sometimes he sat in judgment of the Dead. It maintained the harmony of the Universe as one of two deities (the other being Ma’at) that stood at the side of the Sun god Rah. It was a respected arbitrator of the fights between the gods and it protected the arts of magic plus the skills of writing.

Stay distant. Stay safe. Stay beautiful.

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Don’t leave me alone.

Supernatural, Superstition and She

Symbology in Tarot – Major Arcana Part VII

Today we will be discussing “The Hanged Man” and “Death.”

XII – The Hanged Man

In this card there is a man suspended from a T-shaped cross made of living wood (the Tree of Life) He is hanging upside down with a serene face because it is his choice. In this awkward position he can have a completely distinct perspective than the rest of us have of the same reality; precisely the halo around his head symbolizes the acquisition of new knowledge and wisdom. He wears red pants, the color of Passion and a blue shirt, the color of Wisdom. This is the ultimate card of surrender. When it appears, it means that there must be an obligatory pause in our activities.

Upright Hanged Man

When this card appears, there must be an obligatory pause in our lives to reflect about the course of events, what we have been doing and what we have not. If we do not take that pause voluntarily, the Universe will certainly oblige us to do so. As Biddy Tarot sagely said: “Something new is emerging, and you won’t be able to see it unless you allow the time and space to allow for it to come through.” There are times in our lives that we might feel impossibly stuck with a bad job, a bad home, a troubled relationship. etc, By stopping to “push forward like a raging bull” and taking a pause, you might be able to engage a new perspective to “free your spirit.”

Reversed Hanged Man

Reversed, this card means that you should definitely pause for your own good. Biddy Tarot said: “…you need to hit the pause button, but you are resisting it. Instead, you fill your days with tasks and projects, keeping busy and distracting yourself from the real issue that needs your attention. Your spirit and body are asking you to slow down, but your mind keeps racing. Stop and rest before it’s too late.” Occasionally it might mean that you are stuck because you encountered a lot of resistance to your plans or intentions. Even though you might not like it, loosen a little bit up and try another tactic. If you consider that the obstacles seem insurmountable at present, why not try the old tactic of “go with the flow”? Sometimes it is our only real option.

Note. This image titled Verdadero Gaucho Argentino was taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Philosophical significance

Desensillar hasta que aclare. This is a famous slogan used by the gauchos of Argentina and Uruguay in their long rides across the vast plains to herd cattle or to perform farm duties in distant outposts. It means “to dismount form the horse, take down the saddle and rest, until the weather clears up. It is not unusual to be riding in excellent weather in those plains without horizon when all of a sudden, the sky turns menacingly, ominously dark. Seasoned riders will immediately prepare the horses and people to weather the storm. By taking safe refuge under a tree? Wrong. Trees attract lightning and you might end up grilled. No, they set up camp away from the trees and they use their big ponchos to shield themselves form the pouring rain. And the horses? They do not mind the spontaneous shower to clean their big frames, but you have to tie their reins to your saddle. They need the re-assurance that their riders will go through the storm right next to them. Symbiosis horse and rider.

XIII – Death

This is the card that provokes the greatest consternation when it is pulled, including the OHHS and AHHs from the impressionable ladies, and a few men as well. The arrival of the armored skeleton in a white horse does not mean that you are having a sudden heart attack and noisily drop to the floor. It means that it is the moment of endings, mourning period and finally letting go of it. Before engaging in a new lifestyle, starting a new job or project, commence a new romance, we must let go of the past, usually in a rather traumatic way. It is the essence of Life. For all of us, medical practitioners, who have had the blessing of assisting and/or directing a childbirth in an Obstetrics Suite, we know that it is a violent and painful process that taxes the mother’s energies and the patience of all those present. But finally a new Life pushes through into the World to marvel us. The card shows the death of a powerful figure, the King, and how everybody reacts. In her guide, Meg Hayertz said: “Death has many meanings. Child faces it with wild-eyed curiosity. Maiden turns away from Death. Bishop greets death solemnly.” The same author also says that the sign of Scorpio loves it (sic) because we are fascinated with transformation; she says that we Scorpians always maintain a calm face in the face of change (true) In the background we can see the River Styx flowing towards the reign of Hades.

Death Upright

This widely misunderstood card is widely feared because we tend to react negatively to some symbols, especially those that remind us of our own Mortality. Yes, we will all die. There is no escape from it. But what really makes the difference in our lives is how we wisely utilize the time allotted to each one of us in this Valley of Tears. In certain moments of our lives we must pause and reflect (epitomized by the Hanged Man) and then consider how to terminate a certain period of our lives in order to then access another one. This Death pertains to a certain period of ours, not our whole being. There will be some upheaval, even some surprises but it is worth it.

Death Reversed

Change is certainly upon you BUT you are resisting it. What for? You know that your spirit is loaded with expired paradigms, decaying statements, misinformation, something all too common in our Post Pandemic times. Oftentimes, we feel stuck, and we are unable to move forward. Before we can make any meaningful movement, we have to get rid of “some dead weight ” that we carry in our knapsacks. Inertia can paralyze our bodies, but we have to take that little big step in the right direction. A personal transformation occurs only a few times in Life. Let us get ready for it.

Note. This picture of the Buddha in Andar Pradesh, India, was taken from Wikimedia Images.

Philosophical significance

In the book compendium “Becoming Someone New, Essays on Transformative Experiences, Choice and Change” Evan Thompson wrote a chapter titled “Death/ The ultimate Transformative experience” where he claims that Death is the ultimate transformative experience because in general, we do not know how it will affect us before we experience it in our family or circle of friends. It is both:

Epistemically transformative: you cannot fully grasp the significance of Death before it occurs to you or a person profoundly close to you.
Personally transformative: such a brutal experience will surely change you.

We all reluctantly learn how to accept Death as an indissoluble part of the Life cycle that brought us in this Valley of Tears. A famous anecdote of Buddhism involves a grieving young woman named Kisa Gotami that went from house to house pleading for a medicine that would bring her dead infant son back to Life. Unable to help her but deeply moved by her desperation, one of the neighbors urged her to consult Siddharta Gautama (the Buddha) who was meditating under his famous tree. Siddaharta told her that there was a cure, but she would have to bring him mustard seeds from a household that had never experienced Death before. The poor woman knocked on many doors, but the answer was always the same. Death was there already. She finally accepted that it is an inevitable phenomenon for all of us, which should make us enjoy even more our time here.

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Supernatural, Superstition and She

Symbology in Tarot—Major Arcana Part VI

Today we will be discussing the “Wheel of Fortune” and “Justice.”

XI – Wheel of Fortune

In this card there is a Giant Wheel with four Hebrew Letters YHVH that mean “the one that cannot be mentioned” referring to Yaveh (God) In the middle level we can see the symbols for the four basic chemical elements: Mercury, Sulphur, Water and Salt. On the left side of the outer circle there is a snake representing Typhon, the Egyptian God of Malfeasance, and on its right side stands Anubis, the God of the Departed. On top of the wheel the Sphynx, symbol of Wisdom and Strength stands guard. In the four corners we have four winged creatures that give the needed stability to the whole ensemble during the continuous movements of Life itself. The four corners are buttressed by the four fixed signs of the Zodiac. The angel represents Aquarius, the eagle is Scorpio, the lion is Leo, and the bull is Taurus.

Upright Wheel of Fortune – It represents the Cycles of positive and negative developments, the pleasant and painful emotions, and the good and bad outcomes. As Life is in continuous flux, with bright and dark sides, we must learn how to manage our expectations and emotions, considering that there are always cycles of opposing interests. However, change is never totally random as it might seem at first sight; we can study the changes and identify patterns that can predict outcomes.

Our dearest mentor Biddy Tarot has magisterially defined this card: “the wheel is always turning, and life is in a state of constant change. If you are going through a difficult time, remember that it will get better from here. Good luck and good fortune will make their return in time…it is also known as the wheel of karma, and it reminds you that ‘what goes around comes around’ Be a kind and loving person to others and they’ll be kind and loving to you.”

The wheel reminds us that oftentimes we face situations in our lives that are partially or totally out of our control, for which we have to accept our inevitable helplessness. We may have to follow that too often used but still wise advice; Go with the flow.

Moreover the presence of the wheel in our lives may signal your arrival at a critical juncture in your life, even a crossroads that will take your path to divergent ends.

Reverse Wheel of Fortune – This represents the absence of movement, of change, your life is at a standstill now. It could mean that there are strong negative forces that seem to be beyond your control; usually that is the case, but you have to ask yourself if you could not have done something differently for a different outcome. You can do nothing and accept that situation or you can try to improve it little by little; even small improvements might be better than nothing, especially in couples.

Note. This image of Joseph Schumpeter was taken from Wikimedia Commons.

By Image available for free publishing from the Volkswirtschaftliches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Copyrighted free use. – http://commons.wikimedia.org

Philosophical significance – One of the most provocative and still questioned precepts of XX Economics thinking is Schumpeter’s Gale, designed by Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist, based on his profound study of Das Kapital by Karl Marx. In his 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Schumpeter proposed that: “the gale of creative destruction is the process of industrial mutation that continuously revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one.” Schumpeter studied Marx writings where he affirmed that Capitalism must keep destroying the old productive processes and invent new ones, in order to stay functioning in industrial societies. Marx and Engels predicted that the Capitalist agents , like apprentis de sorcier, would eventually lose control of their creation; that system of wealth accumulation in the hands of a few in detriment of the rest of the population would eventually be destroyed by its own contradictions. History proved that this tenet of Marxist theory was wrong and, on the contrary, it keeps our societies so vibrantly beneficial for all of us.

XII – Justice

This card represents a System of Truth, Fairness and Law. The lady has the Scales in her left hand, balancing intuition with logic; in her right hand, she is holding a double-edged sword representing Impartiality. The little square in her crown means that there is clarity in her thoughts and decisions. Beneath her red cloak appears the tip of her white shoe, meaning that she is dispensing justice for human deeds.

Upright Justice – There will be a time when each and every one of us will be judged. So be very careful how you judge other people because it can backfire into you. If you have been wronged, be certain that there will be a just comeuppance. But if you wronged other people, expect a retribution, sooner or later. Moreover, try to learn the truth about other people before passing summary judgement on them, which is often wrong. Pay attention to a missed detail in your life that can have consequences if you keep ignoring it. The Buddhist concept of Karma is of paramount significance. In your loving relationships, treat your partner fairly and you will receive tenderness galore. If you try harder, you will find that partner that you always wanted for you.

Reversed Justice – It means that you are in a State of Denial, running away from the difficult problems you should be solving, or tying your best at least. You must act in order to enact meaningful change. It also means that you are unfairly blaming your partner for a misdeed, you are acting dishonestly in your work or career, or you engage in shady financial dealings that will eventually destroy your family life.

Note. This image of the Themis of Ramnous in Attica, sculpted by Chairestratos circa 300 BC, was taken from Wikipedia.

Philosophical significance – In Ancient Greece, the birthplace of all Western Modern Societies, the deme was the country district or village, as opposed to the polis, the big city, the city-state. It was there that the concept of democracy was born as all the men 18 years and older had to register in the local council for civic duty, including military service. It was also extended to mean “the commoners.” For the deme to work there had to be fair justice for all its members, without discrimination. In Greek Mythology the goddess Themis represented Justice; she was one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She was the physical representation of Justice, Divine Order, Fairness, and the Law of the Land. She was represented blindfolded with a scale in her hands. But she also represented the Social Order, without which no community could prosper. When Themis was ignored, then Nemesis, the winged deity holding a dagger, would set things right.

Stay distant. Stay safe. Stay beautiful.

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Don’t leave me alone.

Supernatural, Superstition and She

Symbology in Tarot – Movement, Subconscious and Collective Memory

As we have already discussed in our previous article titled Introduction to Tarot, the traditional deck is divided into two types of cards, which are basically different:

Major Arcana: these special cards represent the major milestones and critical junctions of our life cycle: birth, education, work, love, death, etc.
Minor Arcana: these cards represent the multiple vicissitudes in our lives.

In this article, before we address the significance of the combinations, we would like to discuss some basic concepts, which are of critical importance for novices like us. Let us first recommend the excellent book Truly Easy Tarot by Mantis, which has clarified many concepts and turned out to be a springboard in our Mystical Quest. The Major Arcana are the trump cards of a tarot pack and they were initially used in the 17^th century as a special deck for gambling. There are 22 of these in a traditional 78-card pack; they are numbered with Roman numerals from 0 to 21. Each one depicts a scene with one or more individuals, with a clearly defined symbology.

According to the experts, each trump card has a divine interpretation, which appears to the sensitive individual when it is laid on the table in a straightforward manner. However, when the cards show up inverted, it means that the particular feature alluded by the symbology is, at the present time, “blocked” or “restrained” in that life. Some experts never read in the reverse mode, but others consider that reading to be highly complementary in our lives, similar to the Ying and Yang of the I Ching. The concept of matching of the opposites is fundamental to our understanding of it.

The flourishing of esoteric endeavors and secret societies in 19^th century Europe did propel Tarot to a greater diffusion in the popular classes and its use as a divination tool. But there was a pioneer in Psychology that valued it as a good tool to explore the tenebrous depths of our Subconscious and Collective Memory. According to Mary K. Greer, Karl Jung said in a 1933 lecture that the Tarot deck was “really the origin of our pack of cards, in which the red and black symbolize the opposites, and the division of the four—clubs, spades, diamonds and hearts—also belongs to the individual symbolism.” He believed that the different combinations of scenes are in fact archetypal ideas related to “the playful development of mankind.” He daringly claimed that if we understand how we evolved from our past (collective and personal) into our present coordinates, we might be able to “grasp the flow of life” and, hopefully, predict part of our future. He instructed his pupils to study esoteric disciplines but warned them to approach them, not with the arrogance of the Cartesian discourse, but with the raw intuition that our ancestors used to great advantage in those dangerous times in dark caves.

We would like to humbly recommend two tactics that have eased our learning process of Tarot. They are:

The importance of Movement in the interpretation of the combinations.
We should tap into our Subconscious and Collective Memory.

Movement

For many, many years we have cavalierly disdained Tarot in general because, as a physician long trained in scientific certainty and aversion to quackery, we suspected that, besides any intrinsic values, it had been used by charlatans to reap easy money. Indeed it has, and still is, manipulated by callous individuals that prey on innocents. However, the preparation of this blogging series—the necessary scaffolding for a book—prodded us to seriously tackle all these esoteric activities with an open mind.

The various combinations of the deck can be considered as a snapshot of an ongoing motion in the life of an individual (or a group of them) that started in the past, arrives at our present and will project into the future. The Major Arcana cards depict a scene where someone is doing something or being the subject of somebody else’s actions. Let’s look at the example of Card Number 0 The Fool. What is he doing? Find the meaning of movement.

He is a young man that, holding a walking stick with a small knapsack in his right hand and a white rose symbolizing innocence in his left one, is perilously standing at the edge of the precipice, with the company of a loyal little dog. Is it warning him of great danger if he makes another move forward? Or is it perhaps pushing him to quickly grab the big opportunity he has been waiting for? The answer is that both interpretations can be valid at some time.

The Upright Wisdom interprets the appearance of this card as a signal of a new start, in the labor, professional, financial, family or love realms; it also implies that the individual must take a leap of faith if he/she/ihr wants to have a radical change.

The Wisdom in Reverse interprets it as warning to pause in a specific endeavor or relationship. Danger lies eerily ahead, and the individual must re-evaluate options. If the individual stubbornly insists on moving forward, dire consequences will come.

Are you slowly getting the drift of what we are, perhaps rather clumsily, trying to convey in our words?

Subconscious and Collective Memory

Since we sought refuge in those dark caves in the beginning of Mankind’s presence on Planet Earth, we have cozied up to our loved ones besides a crackling fire and fallen asleep to give a necessary pause to our Conscious minds. That is precisely when the Subconscious takes over center stage in the theater of our lives to act upon. Slowly, we play past experiences, our present fears, our hidden traumas, our hopes. The Subconscious is the reservoir of all the experiences that are deemed to be part of the hidden human experience— good ones, bad ones, and the ones in between. Moreover, ever since we start our life in the depths of our dear mothers’ wombs, we are already receiving their filtrations. Every minute of our lives, we are hoarding many souvenirs and interpretations that we will readily re-transmit to our kindred, for better or worse. It is never a choice. We get them, like it or not…Can’t escape it.

In order to shut off the tremendous bombardment of noise and unsolicited messages that our excessively digitalized society throws at our senses, we must take a pause. After carefully looking at the cards laid on the table, we should close our eyes for a few seconds and seek the help of our Subconscious mind. Toc. Toc. Toc. Need help.

Take the necessary time to sit down at the majestic library of our accumulated Human Knowledge and calmly pore over the dusty manuscripts and manuals of the ones that preceded us. They are still talking to us through them. Then you may find some critical clues of what is happening today and, hopefully, what will happen tomorrow.

In the next installment of this series, we will start to analyze those scenes together. Do not panic. We can do this.

Note. The featured image is the painting Fortune teller by Albert Anker, 1880. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortune_teller,_Albert_Anker,_1880.png

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Don’t leave me alone.

Supernatural, Superstition and She

Symbology in Tarot – Introduction

During their long hours of boredom between their skirmishes with many foes , the Christian Knights of the Crusades—spared by their high social standing from the menial tasks for survival—liked to play cards with each other and with guests from different nationalities in their fortified redoubts, including the Mamluk Egyptians. The Mamluk Sultanate, based in Cairo, was a Sultanate with strong trading ties to their neighboring nations, including the contested Palestine of the Middle Ages. They inherited many cultural assets form Antiquity, including the Tarot card game.

Surreptitiously introduced in their baggage on their way back home—the European Continent was in the grip of the ultra-reactionary Inquisition that frowned upon almost any vehicle for having “a little fun”—the illustrated cards made their way to the polite nobility gatherings in Bologna, Vicenza, Milano, etc. Eventually some ingenious operators assigned values to some symbols—the divinatory Tarot cards. The earliest patterns of the cards represented Batons, Coins, Swords and Cups; the first documented set of cards appeared between 1440 and 1450 in Milano, Ferrara, Firenze, and Bologna; the Italian Wars disseminated the game all over the continent.

The Visconti-Sforza nobles of Milano—the very same ones that barbarically ate with their hands, which prodded a shocked Leonardo to invent the fork—commissioned the design of a tarot-like 60-card pack with 16 card sporting images of the Roman gods and suits depicting four kinds of birds. The 16 cards were labelled as “trumps” in allusion to the “triumphs” of the generous duke—a little deference for his gesture. Soon there were several Italian regional variants—like the Piemontese, Bolognese or Sicilian Tarocco—the French Tarot of Marseilles, the Swiss 1JJTarot, etc.

The 78-card Tarot deck used by experts has two separate line-ups:

The Major Arcana: seat of the big secrets or trump cards. It consist of 22 cards without suits that represent The Magician, The High priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Lovers, The Chariot, The wheel of Fortune, The devil, the Hanged Man, The Tower, the Sun, the Fool, etc. There are 21 numbered cards using Roman numerals; the Fool is the only one without one.
The Minor Arcana: seat of the lesser secrets. It consists of 56 cards, divided into four suits of 14 cards each.

The Major Arcana cards represent the major stations of human life as we go on living; they represent all the archetypical situations encountered by The Fool (our proxy traveler) along the Roads of Life, starting at number 0 (himself) up to number 21. When one of these cards appear, something is afoot and we must pay extreme attention to it.

The Minor Arcana is divided into four suits: wands, pentacles, swords, and cups. They are supposed to complement the information provided by the trump cards and focus our attention into possible opportunities and/or avoiding harmful situations.

Aleister Crowley—inventor of the Troth deck—said: “The origin of the pack is very obscure…The only theory of ultimate interest about the Tarot is that it is an admirable symbolic picture of the Universe, based on the data of the Holy Qabalah.”

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Don’t leave me alone.