Major Arcana
The Major Arcana (Trumps Major, Minor Trumps) of the Tarot deck consists of 22 cards. Each depicts a scene, mostly featuring a person or several people, with many symbolic elements. In many decks, each has a number (usually in Roman numerals) and a name, though not all decks have both, and some have only a picture. The earliest decks bore unnamed and unnumbered pictures on the Majors (probably because a great many of the people using them at the time were illiterate), and the order of cards is not standardised. However, one of the most common set of names and numbers is as follows:
(The most common variation in the order is the exchange of VIII and XI: the Rider-Waite-Smith deck uses VIII for Strength and XI for Justice, whereas the Marseilles deck uses VIII for Justice and XI for Strength.)
The images on the Major Arcana are often very heavy with symbolism; in more occult decks, there is far more to the illustration than a mere depiction of the card title. The Major Arcana are usually regarded as relating to matters of higher purpose or deep significance, as opposed to the Minor Arcana which relate to the everyday world and matters of immediate significance.
Referenced By
Death (Tarot card) | Death card | Deck | Joker (Playing card) | Rider-Waite-Smith deck | Tarot | Tarot card | Tarot cards | Tarot deck | The Death card | The Emperor | The Empress | The Fool | The Hierophant | The High Priestess | The Magician (Tarot card) | The Magician card
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