Tarot Cards and Their Meaning
Written by Steph Shurtlef
Do you ever wonder what the images in the tarot cards mean? There are fortune tellers that use tarot cards to predict the future. They use a combination of these cards to tell us a certain message.
Today, there are various types of tarot cards used. But one of the most common kinds of cards in used is the following:
Major Arcana (trumps) is made up of 22 cards in the Tarot deck. On the other hand, Minor Arcana (Lesser Arcana) has 56 cards. All in all, the whole tarot card deck is composed of 78 cards.
Let’s enumerate some of the most common cards in both Major Arcana, together with its meanings:
The Magician
This is the card number one of the Major Arcana cards. It is also called The Magus or The Juggler. In the image, the man wears a white cloth and red robe with his right hand raised. He holds a wand while pointing his left hand on the earth. On the table, there’s a pentagram, a chalice, a sword and a wooden stick together with flowers in the foreground.
Some of the meanings of this card are action, practicality, precision and being objective.
The Strength
Historically known as Fortitude, this card shows a woman cuddling the fierce lion to its gentle state. This card, depending on the deck, is either numbered eleven or eight. This card symbolizes self-control, composure, kindness and serenity. This is also one of the traits that can be read in a Horoscopo diario (English: Daily Horoscope).
Justice
This card depicts a man sitting on a throne. The man wears a red robe, a crown, holding an upright sword on his right hand and holds a balanced weighing scale on his left hand. This card emphasizes values such as impartiality, objective mind, decision and responsibility.
A noticeable confusion might rise; this card is either numbered eight or eleven, and it depends on the deck.
The Star
The seventeenth card on the deck, it shows a naked lady pouring water on both the river and the ground. The background shows seven smaller, white stars and a large, single yellow star.
The card’s interpretations are calmness, tranquility, hope, optimism and good will.
The Sun
In this card, a baby holds a red flag while riding a white horse. The background has sunflowers and a personified face of a man in the sun looking at the baby. This card, which is the nineteenth on the deck, symbolizes optimism, enlightenment, assurance and splendor.
The World
This is the last card in the deck of Major Arcana. This final card has imagery with different meanings according from its origins.
The image shows a woman floats in midair holding two wands in her both hands. Surrounding the woman is a dragon-like creature circling her while biting its own tail. In the four sides of the card, there are heads of a human, an eagle, a lion and an ox.
Explanations about these heads vary. First is the heads represents the four Evangelists named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Second is it represents the zodiac; Aquarius for the human head, Scorpio for the eagle, Leo for the lion and Taurus for the ox.
Additionally, the four zodiacs also represent the four elements.
On the interpretation side, the last La Tarot card symbolizes fulfillment, involvement and contentment.
