Major Arcana

What Is the Major Arcana?

The Major Arcana are the 22 numbered cards at the heart of the tarot deck, from The Fool (0) to The World (XXI). Where the 56 cards of the Minor Arcana describe the day-to-day, the Majors describe the big, capital-M moments: identity shifts, turning points, endings, awakenings and the lessons that shape a life.

If the whole tarot deck were a TV series, the Major Arcana would be the season finales: the episodes where everything clicks or falls apart. And they reflect patterns that show up in real life. The “what am I doing with my life?” moment is The Hanged Man. Realising that a relationship felt more like a trap than a love story is The Devil. It’s all in there.

This page covers all 22 cards: a quick-reference list with their meanings, the Fool’s Journey that links them, what it means when Majors crowd into a reading, and how they read in love, at work, reversed and as a yes or no answer. For every card in the deck on one page, see tarot card meanings.

• All 22 Major Arcana cards at a glance
• The Fool’s Journey in three stages
• Major Arcana in a reading
• In love, career and money and yes or no
• Reversed Major Arcana, your birth and zodiac cards and FAQ

Major Arcana Cards List and Meanings

All 22 cards in order, with each card’s number, upright and reversed keywords and yes or no answer, taken from the card’s own page. Tap a name for the full meaning, including love, career, feelings and advice.

Card and yes or no	Upright keywords	Reversed keywords
0 · The Fool Yes	new beginnings, innocence, adventure, a leap of faith, unlimited potential	recklessness, naivety, fear of the unknown, hesitation, lack of direction
I · The Magician Yes	manifestation, willpower, resourcefulness, skill, inspired action	manipulation, wasted potential, scattered energy, self-doubt, trickery
II · The High Priestess Maybe	intuition, mystery, inner wisdom, the subconscious, stillness	ignored intuition, disconnection, secrets, hidden agendas, overwhelm
III · The Empress Yes	abundance, creativity, nurturing, fertility, sensuality, nature	creative block, burnout, over-giving, smothering, self-neglect
IV · The Emperor Yes	authority, structure, stability, leadership, discipline, protection	control, rigidity, abuse of power, lack of discipline, insecurity
V · The Hierophant Yes	tradition, spiritual wisdom, mentorship, institutions, shared values	rebellion, unconventional paths, dogma, questioning authority, lack of guidance
VI · The Lovers Yes	love and union, meaningful choices, harmony, values alignment, honest connection	disharmony, misalignment, temptation, avoided decisions, imbalance
VII · The Chariot Yes	determination, willpower, victory, self-control, forward momentum	loss of direction, scattered energy, self-doubt, aggression, stalled progress
VIII · Strength Yes	inner strength, courage, compassion, self-control, resilience	self-doubt, fear, emotional overwhelm, impulsiveness, low energy
IX · The Hermit Maybe	solitude, introspection, inner wisdom, soul-searching, guidance	isolation, loneliness, avoidance, feeling lost, withdrawal
X · Wheel of Fortune Yes	change, cycles, luck, turning points, destiny, good timing	bad timing, setbacks, resisting change, repeating patterns, loss of control
XI · Justice Yes	fairness, truth, accountability, cause and effect, balance, legal matters	injustice, dishonesty, avoiding responsibility, bias, imbalance
XII · The Hanged Man Maybe	surrender, pause, new perspective, letting go, sacrifice, waiting	stalling, resistance, impatience, indecision, pointless sacrifice
XIII · Death No	transformation, endings, letting go, closure, rebirth, renewal	resisting change, fear of endings, stagnation, clinging to the past, delayed transition
XIV · Temperance Yes	balance, moderation, patience, harmony, healing, finding the middle way	imbalance, excess, impatience, burnout, discord
XV · The Devil No	temptation, unhealthy attachment, control, the shadow self, materialism, feeling trapped	breaking free, release, reclaiming power, facing the shadow, denial
XVI · The Tower No	sudden change, upheaval, revelation, collapse, awakening, breaking free	avoiding change, delayed upheaval, slow collapse, inner shift, rebuilding
XVII · The Star Yes	hope, healing, renewal, inspiration, faith, calm after the storm	discouragement, loss of faith, disconnection, burnout, self-doubt
XVIII · The Moon Maybe	illusion, intuition, uncertainty, dreams, the subconscious, hidden fears	clarity returning, truth revealed, releasing fear, confusion, ignoring intuition
XIX · The Sun Yes	joy, success, clarity, vitality, optimism, warmth	delayed success, self-doubt, clouded joy, overconfidence, feeling overlooked
XX · Judgement Yes	awakening, renewal, inner calling, reckoning, second chances, honest reflection	self-doubt, harsh self-judgement, ignoring the call, regret, fear of change
XXI · The World Yes	completion, fulfilment, achievement, wholeness, travel, coming full circle	unfinished business, delays, lack of closure, falling at the last hurdle, fear of moving on

The Fool’s Journey

The Fool is card 0, which might look like nothing, but zero is where everything starts. He stands for you, and for anyone at the edge of something new: wide-eyed, a little naive, ready to step off the cliff just to see what’s on the other side.

The other 21 cards are often read as the Fool’s Journey: the people, tests and lessons he meets on the way. A popular way to see it is to lay the cards out in three rows of seven, with The Fool as the traveller who walks through all of them. Each row is a stage of life.

Stage one, The Magician to The Chariot: finding your place in the world

• The Magician (I): realising you have the tools. You just need to pick them up.
• The High Priestess (II): gut feelings. Intuition speaking louder than logic.
• The Empress (III): creation, nurture and the feeling of being safe and cared for.
• The Emperor (IV): structure and authority, and the tension between safety and control.
• The Hierophant (V): tradition and teachers, sometimes comforting, sometimes suffocating.
• The Lovers (VI): love and the first choice that truly defines you.
• The Chariot (VII): willpower and a hard-won victory.

The first row is about growing up in the outer world. The Fool meets his own skill and intuition, then the parent figures of the Empress and Emperor, then school and tradition in the Hierophant. He makes his first real choice in The Lovers and rides out in The Chariot with a sense of who he is. It ends in success, but success on the world’s terms.

Stage two, Strength to Temperance: the inner journey

• Strength (VIII): grit, but gentle. Standing your ground without raising your voice.
• The Hermit (IX): stepping back to find your own light.
• Wheel of Fortune (X): change that’s out of your hands. Good or bad, it spins.
• Justice (XI): facing the consequences, and demanding fairness.
• The Hanged Man (XII): everything pauses. A moment that feels like a mistake but isn’t.
• Death (XIII): the ending that had to happen. Painful, but freeing.
• Temperance (XIV): healing and balance. Learning to blend opposites at the right pace.

The second row turns inward. The Chariot’s outer victory isn’t enough, so the Fool learns inner strength, solitude and acceptance of what he can’t control. He gives something up in The Hanged Man and lets an old self go in Death. By Temperance he is no longer stumbling but navigating, with a little emotional scar tissue.

Stage three, The Devil to The World: the big picture

• The Devil (XV): attachments and patterns. Feeling chained, and forgetting you hold the key.
• The Tower (XVI): it all crumbles and the truth comes out. Ugly, but necessary.
• The Star (XVII): hope returns after the storm, gentle and almost shy.
• The Moon (XVIII): illusions and doubt. Trusting yourself when the map disappears.
• The Sun (XIX): clarity, joy and the feeling of being enough.
• Judgement (XX): an awakening. Not guilt, but honest awareness and a second chance.
• The World (XXI): completion and wholeness.

The last row is the deep work. The Fool faces his shadow in The Devil, watches false structures fall in The Tower, and finds hope, then uncertainty, then real joy. Judgement calls him to become who he is meant to be, and The World completes the circle. But it isn’t an ending: The World leads straight back to The Fool, a little wiser, ready to begin again.

The journey isn’t a fixed road map, though. Life isn’t that tidy. These cards show up in any order, at any age, and you can pull The Tower again even though you swore you’d already learned that lesson. (You probably did. Learning is layered.) Read the stages as a way to understand where a card sits in the bigger story, not as a timetable.

Major Arcana in a Reading

The Majors are 22 of the 78 cards, a little over a quarter of the deck, so almost every reading has one or two. What matters is when they crowd in:

• In a three-card reading, two or more Majors turn up about one time in five, and all three only about once in 50 draws.
• In a ten-card Celtic Cross, you would expect two or three. Five or more happens about one reading in ten, and six or more about one in 40. A Celtic Cross with no Majors at all is rarer still, about one in 35.

A Major-heavy reading suggests the situation is bigger than it looks. It may be a turning point, a lesson you keep meeting, or forces that are partly out of your hands. It is a moment to pay attention rather than to panic. A mostly Minor reading suggests the opposite: everyday matters, where your own choices carry the most weight.

It also helps to notice which Majors appear. Several cards from the first stage point to identity, relationships and making your way; the second stage to inner change and acceptance; the third to upheaval, healing and the big picture. And look at what sits next to each Major. A Minor card beside it often shows where the big theme is playing out in daily life: The Tower next to Pentacles lands in money or work, next to Cups in a relationship. Tarot card combinations has more on reading pairs.

The Major Arcana in Love

A Major in a love reading says the relationship, or the lesson inside it, matters. Some of the strongest love cards in the deck are here:

• The warmest: The Lovers (a deep bond and a conscious choice), The Sun (easy, honest happiness), The Empress (affection and wholehearted support), The Star (hope and healing) and The World (milestones and a relationship that feels complete).
• Commitment: The Hierophant for traditional commitment and shared values, and The Emperor for loyalty and concrete plans.
• Turning points: Wheel of Fortune (a chance meeting or a new phase), Judgement (second chances and honest reflection) and Death, which often means the end of one phase of a relationship rather than of the relationship itself.
• The hard ones: The Tower (a shock or a breakup), The Devil (intense attraction, jealousy or an unhealthy pattern) and The Moon (mixed signals and things unsaid). The Hermit and The Hanged Man ask for space or a pause.

For every card’s love meaning side by side, see Major Arcana love meanings, or ask a question with the free love tarot reading.

The Major Arcana in Career and Money

At work, a Major Arcana card usually marks a bigger shift than a single task or week: a new direction, a promotion, a change of role or a lesson about how you work. The Magician is one of the best cards for work (skill and a new project), with The Emperor for leadership, The Chariot for ambition, Wheel of Fortune for lucky timing, and The Sun and The World for success and completion. The Hierophant favours institutions and qualifications, and Justice brings contracts and legal matters into focus.

The warnings are big ones too: The Tower for a sudden restructure or redundancy, The Devil for feeling trapped by money or a toxic culture, The Moon for vague promises (get it in writing), and The Hanged Man for a period in limbo. Death and Judgement often appear around a career change. The Major Arcana career and money meanings give every card’s reading side by side.

The Major Arcana as Yes or No

Of the 22 Major Arcana cards, 15 lean yes, 4 are a maybe (The High Priestess, The Hermit, The Hanged Man and The Moon) and 3 lean no (Death, The Devil and The Tower).

The Sun and The World are among the strongest yeses in the whole deck. The maybes have something in common: each asks you to wait, reflect or look for what is hidden before an answer can form. The three no cards say no in different ways. Death says no to things staying as they are, The Devil warns of strings attached, and The Tower says the situation isn’t built on solid ground. The free yes or no tarot reading draws a single card for your question, and its Major Arcana yes or no table gives the reasoning card by card.

Reversed Major Arcana Cards

A reversed Major usually shows its lesson resisted, delayed, turned inward or overdone. It is rarely the simple opposite. Four patterns help:

• The hard cards often bring release. A reversed Devil can mean breaking free, and a reversed Moon clarity returning. Death and The Tower reversed are more double-edged: the change is still coming, but it is being resisted or delayed.
• The bright cards dim. The Sun, The Star and The World reversed are still hopeful, just slower or cloudier: delays, discouragement, a last piece missing.
• The power cards misfire. The Magician, The Emperor and The Hierophant reversed point to skill or authority misused, or to rules that need questioning.
• The inner cards lose touch. The High Priestess, Strength and The Hermit reversed show ignored intuition, self-doubt or solitude that has become isolation.

Reversals are optional. If you don’t use them, read the reversed keywords in the table above as the shadow side a card can show upright in a difficult position.

Your Own Major Arcana Cards

Some of these cards may be yours for life. Three free tools help you find them:

• Birth cards: the tarot birth card calculator works out your personality and soul cards from your date of birth. They are always Major Arcana cards.
• Zodiac cards: each sign has its own Major. Aries is The Emperor, Taurus The Hierophant, Gemini The Lovers, Cancer The Chariot, Leo Strength, Virgo The Hermit, Libra Justice, Scorpio Death, Sagittarius Temperance, Capricorn The Devil, Aquarius The Star and Pisces The Moon. Zodiac tarot cards explains each one.
• Personality: the Which Tarot Card Are You? quiz matches you to one of the 22 Majors through a few questions about how you think and live.

You can also make a Major your card for the day: draw one with the card of the day and read its page to see how its lesson fits what’s in front of you.

Major Arcana: Frequently Asked Questions

The Cards Don’t Predict, They Reflect

Tarot isn’t about knowing the future. It’s about naming the moment, and once something has a name, it’s a lot less scary. The Major Arcana give you language for what you’re living through, and that can be more useful than certainty. Some days you’re The Empress, nurturing and grounded; other days you’re deep in The Moon. What matters is the awareness. Once you see the story, you can choose how to live it.

Next, explore the four suits of the Minor Arcana: Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles.