Major Arcana

Major Arcana (Italian Arcani Maggiori, Latin Arcana Major — "the great secrets"; also: Trumps, Triumphs — Italian Trionfi) are the 22 cards of the Tarot (#20), representing the archetypal stages of the "Fool's Journey" (Italian Il Viaggio del Matto).

The 22 Major Arcana (Rider-Waite numbering)

• 0 — The Fool — the beginning, innocence, the leap into the unknown
• I — The Magician — will, mastery, resources
• II — The High Priestess — intuition, mystery, the unconscious
• III — The Empress — fertility, nature, motherhood
• IV — The Emperor — structure, authority, order
• V — The Hierophant — tradition, teacher, ritual
• VI — The Lovers — choice, union, values
• VII — The Chariot — movement, victory, control
• VIII — Strength — inner strength, patience, taming
• IX — The Hermit — solitude, wisdom, search
• X — Wheel of Fortune — cycle, fate, change
• XI — Justice — balance, law, consequence
• XII — The Hanged Man — sacrifice, change of perspective
• XIII — Death — transformation, end and beginning
• XIV — Temperance — balance, alchemy, the middle way
• XV — The Devil — attachment, illusion, shadow patterns
• XVI — The Tower — destruction, revelation, liberation
• XVII — The Star — hope, inspiration, healing
• XVIII — The Moon — illusions, fears, the subconscious
• XIX — The Sun — clarity, joy, vitality
• XX — Judgement — awakening, calling, renewal
• XXI — The World — completion, integration, wholeness

The Kabbalistic Interpretation

22 letters — 22 paths. In the Kabbalistic interpretation, the 22 Major Arcana correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (Otiyot, אוֹתִיּוֹת) and to the 22 paths on the Tree of Life (עץ החיים).