It is the Major Arcana that is considered the heart of the tarot deck. They are also known as the Trump Cards. There are 22 Cards that make up this part of the tarot deck. The Major Arcana is not associated with suits or court cards like the rest of the Tarot Deck.
The Major Arcana represents life and its cycles from birth to death. It symbolizes the physical, spiritual, intellectual and emotional aspects of humankind and its relationship to the universe. In the Major Arcana, the 22 cards represent different archetypes. The archetypes include a nurturing mother, a strong, commanding authoritative type, a traditional religious figure, a mystic spiritual figure and so on. These archetypes can represent either real or spiritual figures in one's life as well as the different experiences you will encounter throughout different stages of your life.
If you look at the artwork on a Major Arcana card, you will see a scene that has symbolic elements. Also, on many decks, the cards feature the card’s title and the number of the Major Arcana card in Roman Numerals from 0 to 22. There are some decks, however, where the major arcana only have pictures. This is the same way the earlier first decks were.
If one looks closely at the pictures on the Major Arcana portion of the deck, you will find that the pictures are indeed steeped with symbolism. The Major Arcana also relates to those things regarding one's higher purpose for being on the planet. It tells of one's journey in life, especially in relation to their personal character development. The numbers on the card ranging from 0 to 22 depict the fool's journey from birth to death and from innocence to wisdom to hopefully enlightenment.
The Major Arcana tells of the journey one has to take to reach enlightenment in their lifetime. In addition to focusing on our spiritual selves, the Major Arcana also gives us answers in relation to major life events. It addresses such things as a family, social relationships, jobs and other major milestones we face in our life. It must be noted that the symbolic experiences that are depicted in the cards don't necessarily manifest themselves in chronological order.
The Major Arcana represents aspects of the human experience that we all go through in our lives. It looks at our spiritual selves, our hopes, our fears, our joys and sadness. It is recommended that when one starts to learn to read tarot cards, they familiarize themselves with the Major Arcana first. Once you get used to them, they help unlock your intuition so you can interpret the rest of the cards in relation to them in a tarot spread.
There are tons of really good books, techniques and methods for learning Tarot. When you are ready to learn how to interpret cards, be sure to choose a deck that you resonate with but also features artwork that is easy to dissect. Tarot relies primarily on the language of symbols, and if the deck you choose doesn't have the symbols in the card image, it can make learning to read Tarot traditionally harder and your learning curve longer.
I hope that helps you a little bit!
If you are ready to learn to read the cards, check out some of the classes I teach here
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