The 22 Major Arcana of Tarot — The Journey of Life Read Through Symbols
The 22 cards that hold the strongest symbols among tarot's 78 are called the 'Major Arcana.' These 22 are not randomly scattered pictures but a single story of growth running from card 0, The Fool, to card 21, The World — a miniature of life often called 'the Fool's Journey.'
The difference between Major and Minor
Tarot divides broadly into the 22 Major Arcana and the 56 Minor Arcana. If the Minor deals in fine detail with the concrete events and emotions of daily life, the Major symbolizes life's great turning points and fundamental themes. When many Major cards appear in a reading, it's read as a sign that a fateful, weighty current is at work. That's why, when first learning tarot, it's best to start with the story of these 22.
The Fool's Journey — beginning and learning
Card 0, The Fool, is a pure starting point where nothing is yet decided. It continues into 1 The Magician (will and creation), 2 The High Priestess (intuition and secrets), 3 The Empress (abundance and love), 4 The Emperor (order and authority), and 5 The Hierophant (teaching and tradition), learning the world's rules and one's own power one step at a time. This opening stretch is read as the stage in which the self forms and learns the frameworks of society.
Trials and turning points — the middle of the journey
From 6 The Lovers (choice and relationship), the journey turns toward ordeal and resolve. Passing through 7 The Chariot (breaking through by will), 8 Strength (inner courage), 9 The Hermit (solitary reflection), 10 The Wheel of Fortune (turning), and 11 Justice (balance and responsibility), a person passes the tests. In particular, 12 The Hanged Man (pause and a shift of perspective), 13 Death (ending and new beginning), and 16 The Tower (sudden collapse) are easy to be startled by from their names alone, but they should be read as the language of growth: the old must be emptied for the new to come.
The path to completion
The latter half of the journey is the stage of recovery and completion. Passing 17 The Star (hope), 18 The Moon (anxiety and the unconscious), 19 The Sun (achievement and joy), and 20 Judgement (awakening and the call), one cycle finally completes at 21 The World. The World card means the fruit of effort and wholeness, and at the same time is the threshold of a new journey. In this way the 22 cards draw a single circle from beginning (The Fool) to completion (The World).
Upright and reversed
A tarot card's orientation changes as it's drawn. A card coming out upright is read as the state in which its energy is expressed smoothly, while one coming out reversed is read as the state in which that energy is blocked, excessive, or turned inward. For example, if an upright Sun is bright achievement, a reversed one may be confidence momentarily clouded. There's no need to see reversed as unconditionally bad; the key is to understand it as another face of the same symbol.
Once you know the story of the 22 Major Arcana, a single card speaks to you far more richly. Bring to mind the question in your heart, draw today's card yourself, and read the message the symbol offers you.