Toadstool Tarot | The Arcana - A Major or Minor Concern @toadstooltarot | Uploaded November 2022 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
The Arcana - A Major Or Minor Concern?
I’ve been thinking lately about why I’m drawn to Major Arcana decks. So here are some stray thoughts.
Is it because I’m basically a minimalist? I write short, short stories, I create art with just a few lines or simple patterns, I make music with few instruments or a small group of notes repeated in simple phrases, cycles, and layers. I’m drawn to appreciate simple things. And there’s a simplicity and perfection in those 22 archetypes.
Looking at numbers in the Tarot, a Major Arcana deck consists of 22 cards, whereas the average tarot including the Minor Arcana, consists of 78 cards.
22 is reduced to the number 4 by adding both digits together. 4 in the tarot majors sequence represents The Emperor.
I identify with the Emperor, sometimes stubborn, but generally, he finds comfort and security by remaining seated on his 4-legged throne, yet ready for action when called upon. Making certain he has complete control over his kingdom, keeping watch that all runs in an orderly fashion consistent with a world of stability.
78 on the other hand is the 7 card, the chariot, moving towards, 8, the strength card. Movement towards Strength is an admirable goal. However, you add that 7 to the 8 and you get 15, the Devil. In moving towards strength, do you find yourself with too many temptations along the way? Are you finding yourself wanting, needing, desiring more? I wonder if this is why sometimes the tarot, with its 78 cards is called the Devil’s picture book.
15 is 1, the Magician plus 5, the Hierophant. As magicians, we make things happen, usually by following the orders or directions of Hierophants or leaders: plans set down for us in rules and regulations.
And 1 plus 5 is 6, or the Lovers where we find ourselves making a choice or a bargain in partnership, a compromise, to achieve what is desired.
So, do you identify more with 4, the Emperor, or 15, the Devil? Do you reside more from a place of satisfaction, or a place of dissatisfaction and temptation?
Consider numbers among other points of reference that the tarot brings to you. Tarot, is, after all, and arguably, a game. One in which we shouldn’t take things too seriously.
The Arcana - A Major Or Minor Concern?
I’ve been thinking lately about why I’m drawn to Major Arcana decks. So here are some stray thoughts.
Is it because I’m basically a minimalist? I write short, short stories, I create art with just a few lines or simple patterns, I make music with few instruments or a small group of notes repeated in simple phrases, cycles, and layers. I’m drawn to appreciate simple things. And there’s a simplicity and perfection in those 22 archetypes.
Looking at numbers in the Tarot, a Major Arcana deck consists of 22 cards, whereas the average tarot including the Minor Arcana, consists of 78 cards.
22 is reduced to the number 4 by adding both digits together. 4 in the tarot majors sequence represents The Emperor.
I identify with the Emperor, sometimes stubborn, but generally, he finds comfort and security by remaining seated on his 4-legged throne, yet ready for action when called upon. Making certain he has complete control over his kingdom, keeping watch that all runs in an orderly fashion consistent with a world of stability.
78 on the other hand is the 7 card, the chariot, moving towards, 8, the strength card. Movement towards Strength is an admirable goal. However, you add that 7 to the 8 and you get 15, the Devil. In moving towards strength, do you find yourself with too many temptations along the way? Are you finding yourself wanting, needing, desiring more? I wonder if this is why sometimes the tarot, with its 78 cards is called the Devil’s picture book.
15 is 1, the Magician plus 5, the Hierophant. As magicians, we make things happen, usually by following the orders or directions of Hierophants or leaders: plans set down for us in rules and regulations.
And 1 plus 5 is 6, or the Lovers where we find ourselves making a choice or a bargain in partnership, a compromise, to achieve what is desired.
So, do you identify more with 4, the Emperor, or 15, the Devil? Do you reside more from a place of satisfaction, or a place of dissatisfaction and temptation?
Consider numbers among other points of reference that the tarot brings to you. Tarot, is, after all, and arguably, a game. One in which we shouldn’t take things too seriously.
