The purpose of the Major Arcana is to tell a story about the Path to Enlightenment. The cards are numbered in sequence to show the important parts of the Path. These are the opportunities and difficulties (hard opportunities) that will present themselves on the Path. This story will be personified in a gender-neutral person I will call, “The Wanderer”.

The Path of Enlightenment

The Wanderer starts (and ends) as The Fool, innocent and ready to travel the Path. The Fool comes from the Shadow into the light for the first time. As They walk their Path, They discover the power of Magick. They become The Magician.

It is a new discovery! The beginning of a new paradigm that will change Them forever.

As their connection to Magick and the Source grows, They become the High Priestess. The beginning in Magick is very fruitful! The Wanderer learns so many things they didn’t think were possible. They find this connection transforms Their vision of the world. They see themselves as unique and powerful. As their vision transforms, They become The Empress, nurturing, accomplished, wise, and growing

Something The Wanderer doesn’t know is that the Shadow that The Wanderer thinks they left behind is following them.

The Empress’ practice and ability turns into The Emperor. They find focus and discipline with Their daily exercises. They become an authority. However, They come to ask the same question everyone else does: is this all there is to power? The Emperor finds traditions, rules, and conformity to lean into their practice. They found their groove. This is a needed step. They may feel powerful and chosen, yet they are nowhere near the end of the Path.

As The Wanderer’s heart space opens, they may discover Love (The Lovers). When falling in Love, The Wanderer feels that they believe they found the REAL power of the Universe. They have left the previous states of being and are living in the beautiful ever presence of being in love. They have so much energy! This is the first crisis.

They discover that the love of another cannot save them. The love of another is no substitute for the love of self. Putting all Their love in another person feels amazing. It also takes them off the Path. They have not yet learned to Love without sacrificing who they are. Many stop here and forget the Path until a long time passes.

Many lose their way here. Love is wonderful and fulfilling, and grants the best feeling one can experience. It is transcendent at times that it can feel like Enlightenment. But it isn’t. They are drawing from the soul of another and not doing the work.

Once accepting their lesson, They measure their journey. They drive themselves as fast and as hard as they can. Their passions, once used on The Lovers, is now focused on the path. The Wanderer needs to grow their power and knowledge. In doing this they become The Chariot. The Chariot drives itself towards Enlightenment (sometimes mercilessly) and it feels like progress. But remember, the Shadow is approaching.

After time, the new energy fades, and The Wanderer starts again on their journey. Seeing that pouring all of themselves into another is not sustainable, They begin to lean on traditions or institutions. They seek to codify their Path to Magick, to become “serious” about it. This can be an embrace of a Magick lineage, a sect, or a coven. They are very knowledgeable about the practice of Magick. They have become The Hierophant, and they feel like they are back on track.

The Chariot, having surged forward in their path, has a unique sense of Their Strength. They feel Strength through Their whole being. But the strength gets a little frightening. One price about self-knowledge is it is not limited to the self. They begin to see everyone else too clearly. The Wanderer hurts people accidentally, and in their focus they draw within again until they become The Hermit.

The Hermit was frightened by their own power. The Hermit isolates their soul for truth and wisdom. This is another crisis.

People become trapped here in their isolation, becoming used to loneliness and losing their will to leave. It is the danger of too much navel-gazing and not engaging with the world. The Wanderer loses Themselves in theory and abstractions and leaves the world.

It is a soft and quiet death by drowning, while voices seem to whisper to Them, “this isn’t so bad. Why not sink?” This is a crucial part of the journey. It involves learning how to exist independently and yet connectively. One must learn to be content with Their own mind as company and yet accept the presence of others. This is necessary for any kind of growth and health. Those who escape learn self-love.

The Wanderer eventually remembers that they are in and of the world and they rejoin society. This new insight brings them new vision on how existence works. The Wheel of Fortune turns and lifts The Hermit out of their isolation. It is a small re-birth back into the light with a new perspective. They now have a new appreciation of Justice. They have seen the bleakness of loneliness. They realize how many people are stuck in it. They learn that perhaps They judged others and themselves too harshly.

In this new facet of the journey, The Wanderer learns Temperance. Their studies, practice, and belief have led them far from their beginning as The Fool. A balance has achieved. But it is not the end.

Contemplating themselves and Their experience, The Wanderer is transformed into The Hanged Man. They are now far wiser. They have attained new perspectives on their path. They understood what they had to release to get there. They know that although they can leave their isolation, they are not the warden of other people’s loneliness. They take the lesson in their loneliness and watch themselves closer. In this state, The Wanderer’s awareness expands and They see the wheel of Karma mercilessly and mercifully turn. Yet, they are also in a very calm stasis.

At this point, The Wanderer’s heart wonders, “is this enlightenment? Did I make it?” It feels enlightened. They can now understand mysteries and aspects of themselves they could only guess at. Everything is wonderfully still. Yet…

Upon glimpsing the workings of the Universe, one encounters Death in the middle of the path. This is not the Death that most people think of. This indicates an end of one part of the Path and the start of the other. This is a metamorphosis into a new being that incorporated the old. Death is transformation into something new; something They never thought They could be. The Wanderer has completely changed. They will never unlearn what they used. They cannot go back.

This is when the Shadow catches up. As The Devil, it calls to all of Their old behaviors. All the things they miss from when They started as The Fool. Isn’t it time to finally get what THEY want? Isn’t it better to live in ease? If Magick works, why can’t they have riches, lust, or anything they want? What is stopping Them? They are special and chosen! They have studied Magick for years and years, so why not use it? They are obviously above morals! They have power. Why not use it? No one else is as powerful, so give in!

Listening to this voice only has one outcome.

The Tower

This is card most querents fear. The Tower is the destruction of all. The Devil inspired the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” wherein the abuse of Magick lead to the devastation of all they built. Everything has ended for them, and all of their intricate weaving and building is leveled.

The Tower is often misunderstood. It is by turns the most pessimistic and most optimistic of the cards in the Major Arcana. It depicts the ruin after the battle, but also the field of flowers it will one day become.

This is the path’s equivalent of the Permian/Triassic extinction, aka The Great Dying. Yet The Wanderer is still alive at the end. They survived the crash of all of their old supports. Too many people stay stuck here in this morass, mourning the ends of their plans and hopes. Too many people think that this is the end of the path. This is the TRUE dark night of the Soul, and some experience it again and again and again. This is the true existential crisis writ large and repeated forever.

But…

They absorb their pain and made sense of it using their wisdom. Their mind clears in their sorrow. They see the opportunity to build afresh with all of the wisdom They have learned. They can rise from the ruin as The Star. Hope, calm, faith, and renewal is the next part of the path. Like Robert the Bruce’s spider, The Wanderer decides to start weaving again, but better.

This is where the real Magick begins. The first thing to take a back seat is the Ego. The goal is NOT to destroy the Ego. It is merely to see that the Ego is not THEMSELVES. The Ego is but another tool, another piece of Them that is not really controlling the path. The Wanderer had veto power all along. They form like a new Star forms in the desolation of a dust cloud.

As The Star rises, it encounters The Moon. This is where The Wanderer connects with the Deep Magick. It encompasses dreams, the subconscious, and the unified divine. It involves meeting the collective unconsciousness, Universal Love, the Subconscious, or the Akashic records. They can think of it as a connection with God, or choose Their own metaphor.

Along with this comes fear, because the lessons of The Tower are too near to forget. The Wanderer was shaken to Their core, and to a small extent they always will be. Rebirth is traumatic. There is a fear of going back to the desolation, and yet… a temptation?

But as They practice their connection, They begin to see that “power” was never the point. It was a means to get where They are. It is still important, like a new beating heart within them. But they now see that the whole of the Magick they sought was a connection to Themselves. It was a connection to the divine and the shadow. It was also a connection to everyone around Them.

The Wanderer rises. As they rise, they meet The Sun. The light there is purifying, warm, and joyous. It is a triumph. Not the false triumph as before The Devil and The Tower, but real release and freedom.

There’s no longer an end goal, but understanding upon understanding, The path IS the goal. At last with the power of The Sun, they see what the end goal was all along.

With this new perspective, working towards true Enlightenment, comes true Judgement. This is The Wanderer’s true rebirth and assumption of who they truly are. Their new calling is towards Universal Love. The Judgement is not a Christian final judgement with wailing and gnashing of teeth. The Judgement is not punishment. The Wanderer has come too far to judge anyone but themselves, but in so doing they also judge all. The Judgement is of the unified self on the unified self, and the only result is forgiveness. In this state, The Wanderer has true compassion, empathy, and love for all. Their only Judgement IS Mercy.

Practicing this, The Wanderer gains The World. Completion, accomplishment, wholeness, a celebration, travel, and arriving.

Arriving where?

Back to the beginning. Back to The Fool.

This is *A* path to Enlightenment.

The Purpose Of The Major Arcana In Tarot

This is the purpose of the Major Arcana cards in any Tarot deck. Together the cards tell the story of Enlightenment. Taken individually, they represent warnings about the status of their querent’s path. They emphasize the Minor Arcana cards. They often underline a point the cards may be obscure on. Sometimes, they act like a sudden twist in the narrative the future is assembling.

Of course, there are Magick systems for every mind that practices this. So the story I assembled may not be the story someone else has heard. But the important thing is this: it represents as a whole the Path of Enlightenment. This is individual for every soul. There may be points in common, but your Path is your Path alone. When you learn the Major Arcana, make your own story about what happens.

If you are starting with your first Tarot deck, look closely at your Major Arcana cards. They are the key to understanding your deck, which is a part of you.

The thing about Enlightenment is that it is an upwards spiral. You don’t achieve it, spike the self-knowledge football, then think, “well, I have achieved full and total enlightenment… now what?” Again, the Path IS the goal.

Walk it.

And please… Love yourselves!