Your Guide to Tarot + Oracle Cards: The Major Arcana Journey
A Part of The Alignment Archive
A sacred spiral of self-discovery, mapped in 22 cards.
The Major Arcana is the soul of the tarot. These 22 cards don’t just tell a story—they become one. A myth you live through in fragments, in full circles, in flashes of recognition. They hold archetypes older than language and more personal than we sometimes want to admit.
The journey begins with The Fool, and in many ways, it never ends.
The Fool’s First Step
The Fool is not foolish. The Fool is free. Untethered, unknowing, and completely alive. This card doesn’t mark the beginning because it’s first—it marks the beginning because it’s open. A threshold. A leap. A choice to say yes to life, even when you don’t know where it’s leading.
The rest of the Major Arcana follows The Fool’s path through growth, loss, awakening, and return.
Chapter One: Learning the World (I–VII)
This is the dance of identity—meeting self, meeting other, discovering power, seeking truth. Each card in this sequence is an invitation to become more you.
The Magician gathers tools and says: I can.
The High Priestess holds silence and asks: What do you know without proof?
The Empress teaches nourishment—of body, beauty, and becoming.
The Emperor sets boundaries and builds foundations.
The Hierophant reminds you that lineage matters—and that you get to choose yours.
The Lovers call you into intimacy—with others, with choice, with your own reflection.
The Chariot says: Move. You’re ready. Just hold the reins.
These are the early initiations. The visible ones. The kind that show up in job titles, partnerships, and public decisions. But soon, the terrain turns inward.
Chapter Two: Losing and Becoming (VIII–XIV)
Here, the masks begin to fall away. Strength is no longer about effort—it’s about tenderness. Growth starts to look like stillness. You begin to realize that control was never the point.
Strength is found in gentleness.
The Hermit lights the way from within.
The Wheel of Fortune turns with or without your permission.
Justice asks for truth—your own, not the world’s.
The Hanged One teaches sacred pause.
Death doesn’t ask. It arrives, and something ends.
Temperance reminds you that healing isn’t fixing—it’s blending, balancing, trusting.
This is the underworld. The soul’s compost pile. It’s uncomfortable, necessary, and holy.
Chapter Three: Waking Up Different (XV–XXI)
The final stretch is less about ascent and more about integration. You don’t “complete” the Major Arcana—you return to yourself, changed.
The Devil reveals your cages—and the keys you’ve always held.
The Tower falls so that something true can stand.
The Star hums softly: you are not broken.
The Moon is mystery, memory, and magic all at once.
The Sun says: Be seen. Shine anyway.
Judgment is not punishment—it’s a call to wake up.
The World is a spiral, not a finish line. A reentry. A new Fool, standing on a new edge.
How to Work With the Major Arcana
You don’t have to memorize meanings. You’re already living them.
Start by pulling one card. Ask: Where am I in the story right now? What am I being asked to see, hold, release, or reclaim?
You might notice certain cards repeat through seasons of your life. You might move through them out of order. That’s the beauty of it—this isn’t a straight line. It’s a spiral path through your own becoming.
Journal Prompt
Which Major Arcana card feels like a companion right now?
Which one do you resist? Which one do you long for?
Keep Exploring
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