The Major Arcana for Writers
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| The Major Arcana of my deck, the Dalí Tarot |
Background
AKA trump cards
Amount: 22 cards (0 Fool – 21 The World)
Focus: archetypes, big picture, long-term, general
For writers, the figures of the Major Arcana pose as great character models and personal muses. If you’re looking for character help or writing inspiration, seek these cards. Pretend you’re the character in question and do a reading for them.
0. The Fool
Characters: hero / antihero
The Major Arcana cards are organized by a loose narrative structure, sometimes called “The Fool’s Journey,” which follows common cycles of life and encounters with recurrent figures and lessons. This fictional arc can lend writers inspiration for characters, plot archetypes, and literary devices.
The Major Arcana are considered the foundational part of the deck. They give general descriptions of a situation or problem and often describe important life events or changes. Some people believe that whatever happens during a tarot reading contributes to the cards's meaning.
When a card appears upside-down in a spread, this is called a reversal, and indicates the opposite of all its normal meanings. Some people prefer to ignore reversals, while others feel that it holds significance. As a beginner, you may find it easier to ignore reversals for the time being, but I've included them below in case you find them useful.
When a card appears upside-down in a spread, this is called a reversal, and indicates the opposite of all its normal meanings. Some people prefer to ignore reversals, while others feel that it holds significance. As a beginner, you may find it easier to ignore reversals for the time being, but I've included them below in case you find them useful.
I recommend using only the Major Arcana if you’re new to tarot and waiting to incorporate the Minor Arcana until you're ready to advance. With 78 cards total, an entire tarot deck can seem daunting to beginners. Becoming familiar with the essential 22 can help build a solid foundation to draw from once you graduate to more advanced spreads. Read more about using the Minor Arcana for writing here.
For writers, the figures of the Major Arcana pose as great character models and personal muses. If you’re looking for character help or writing inspiration, seek these cards. Pretend you’re the character in question and do a reading for them.
Questions to ask:
- What is this character’s motivation?
- How would this character react to this plot point?
- Should this character act more, or think more?
- What does this character want?
- Is this character’s death necessary?
- What does this character fear?
- Who does this character love?
- What are this character’s flaws?
Meanings
Key: Upright meanings / Reversal meanings
Here I list the names of each Major Arcanum card and a few of their few basic meanings. I've started with the Fool, card zero, but some decks place it at the end.
In addition, I've included elements I think will help you as a writer connect each card to certain characters, roles, or personalities in your own stories. The alignments section refers to the role playing system popularized by Dungeons and Dragons, which places characters into one of nine different morality categories:
I've also included any allusions to myth or historical concepts present in the cards to give the symbolism some context, which you can draw from in your own work.
Beneath each meaning, I've inserted a quote from my deck's handbook, the Dalí Tarot Universal.
Alignment: any
- naiveté / ignorance
- open-minded / narrow-minded
- adventure / catastrophe
"You are entitled to lack answers and to change your point of view at will."
1. The Magician
Characters: wizards, witches, superheroes, masters
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
- intelligence / arrogance
- ambition / procrastination
- talents / abuse of talents
- confidence / overconfidence
"We are all artists and magicians."
Allusions: Oracle of Delphi, Hekate
Characters: spiritual leaders, prophets, scholars, teachers, bookish or spiritual characters
Alignment: Neutral Good / Evil
- knowledge / ignorance
- identity / loss of identity
- nurture / neglect
- intuition / reason
- self-determination / self-doubt
"Seek guidance first and foremost within yourself"
Allusions: Gaia, Aphrodite, Persephone, Virgin Mary
Characters: matriarchs, independent women / evil queens, evil stepmothers
Alignment: Lawful Good / Evil
- femininity
- fertility / infertility
- sensuality / numbness
- motherhood / no guidance
- creativity / creative block
- individuality / sameness
- independence / codependence
4. The Emperor
Allusions: Zeus
Characters: patriarchs, businessmen, politicians / tyrants, evil corporations
Alignment: Lawful Good / Evil
- masculinity
- drive / laziness
- action / inaction
- stable / instable
- structure / chaos
- power / powerless
- negotiation / authoritarianism
5. The Hierophant
Allusions: Pope, Catholic priests
Characters: clergy, spiritual leaders, scholars
Alignment: Lawful Good / Evil
- sanctity / sacrilege
- salvation / damnation
- truth / deception
- purity / corruption
- communication / silence
- tradition / regression
"The sacred manifests itself in our daily human interactions."
Allusions: Adam & Eve, Romeo & Juliet
Characters: love interests, sexual partners, close friends
Alignment: Chaotic Good
- romance / lust
- innocence / impurity
- new love / lost love
- mutual / unrequited
- healthy love / codependence
"As long as you are looking for your 'better half,' you risk being only half a person."
7. The Chariot
Allusions: Hermes
Characters: messengers, coaches, warriors
Alignment: Neutral Good / Evil
Allusions: Hermes
Characters: messengers, coaches, warriors
Alignment: Neutral Good / Evil
- victory / defeat
- good news / bad news
- progress / stagnancy
- order / collapse
- journey / stagnancy
"Assume full responsibility for the shaping of your life path."
8. Strength
Allusions: Cardinal Virtue
Characters: heroes, warriors / warlords
Alignment: Lawful Good / Evil
9. The Hermit
Characters: mentors, masters, scholars, shamans
Alignment: True Neutral
10. Wheel of Fortune
Allusions: Fate, Fortuna, Rota FortunaeCharacters: messengers, agents of change
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
11. Justice
Allusions: Justitia, Cardinal Virtue
Characters: judges, activists, vigilantes, law enforcement, lawful good alignments
Alignment: think they're Lawful Neutral, but are actually Lawful Good / Evil
Allusions: Cardinal Virtue
Characters: heroes, warriors / warlords
Alignment: Lawful Good / Evil
- physical fortitude / overpowered
- mental resilience / weakness
- mindfulness / carelessness
- courage / cowardice
- morality / temptation
- freedom / imprisonment
"Unclear feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations have to be evaluated; prejudices have to be overcome."
Characters: mentors, masters, scholars, shamans
Alignment: True Neutral
- spirituality / spiritual crisis
- solitutde / alienation
- wholeness / loss of self
- enlightenment / darkness
"Your light gets stronger as you resolve your own contradictions."
Allusions: Fate, Fortuna, Rota FortunaeCharacters: messengers, agents of change
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
- fate: positive / negative
- fortune: good / bad
- patterns / unpredictability
"If the individual reconciles with their destiny, they will be in harmony with the world."
Allusions: Justitia, Cardinal Virtue
Characters: judges, activists, vigilantes, law enforcement, lawful good alignments
Alignment: think they're Lawful Neutral, but are actually Lawful Good / Evil
- justice / vengeance
- fairness / injustice
- equality / inequality
- balance / imbalance
"Beware of useless ideals and violence in the name of love."
Allusions: Odin, Judas Iscariot, Pittura infamante
Characters: rogues, drunkards, stoners, artists, traitors, criminals
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
- surrender / resistance
- dreams / lost dreams
- new perspective / unchanged
"Evaluate your own belief system, which may involve turning everything upside-down and completely changing your own point of view."
Allusions: Grim Reaper, Unlucky 13, Anicca
Characters: monks, assassins, dying or dead characters / ghosts, immortal beings
Alignment: True Neutral
- endings / beginnings
- loss / recovery
- metamorphosis / stagnancy
- impermanence / permanence
- clarity / illusion
"Death is not nothingness. It is the destroyer of illusions."
Allusions: Cardinal Virtue
Characters: monk
Alignment: Neutral Good
- moderation / excess
- self-discipline / indulgence
- patience / impatience
- purpose / lack of purpose
15. The Devil
Allusions: Satan, demons, vampires
Characters: villains, antiheros, doppelgängers, tempters, vampires
Alignment: Lawful Evil
- temptation / resistance
- powerlessness / empowerment
- weakness / strength
- self-destruction / self-help
"The Devil represents the part of us that we have always tended to deny and neglect although we secretly and rightfully long for it."
Allusions: Tower of Babel
Characters: adversaries, institutions
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
- disaster / resolution
- danger / safety
- megalomania / humility
- upheaval / harmony
- revelation: negative / positive
"Violence destroys and results in speechlessness and confusion."
Characters: monk, protector, guardian angel, fairy godmother
Alignment: Lawful Good
- hope / dispair
- serenity / anxiety
- truth / illusion
- confidence / self-doubt
"We carry the vessel of all we are."
Allusions: Artemis
Characters: animal guide, trickster / evil enchantress, deceiver
Alignment: Chaotic Neutal
- disillusionment / illusion
- intuition / deception
- clarity / confusion
"Accept intense emotions as a reality that wants to be lived. Then you may safely swim about in the deep waters of your psyche."
19. The Sun
Allusions: Apollo
Characters: optimists, allies, helpers
Alignment: Neutral Good
- success / failure
- happiness / discontentedness
- well-being / unhealthiness
- choice / helplessness
"Traditional behavior and thought patterns are replaced by a consciously chosen lifestyle."
Allusions: Book of Revelations, Judgement Day, Cardinal Virtue
Characters: mentors, experienced heroes
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
- thoughtfulness / thoughtlessness
- self-reflection / self-projection
- criticism: constructive / harsh
- faith / doubt
"Powerful forces are being set in motion; latent energies are being awakened. Processes of change and transformation are immanent."
Allusions: Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Saṃsāra, Circle of Life
Characters: friends, family, allies, community
Alignment: True Neutral
- cycle of life
- unity / discord
- fulfillment / emptiness
- major life event
- connection / isolation
- rebirth / death
"Our individual existence is bound to the existence of others."
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