August 2022: Rider Waite Major Arcana

Tarot is fun, but requires learning stuff by heart, which I've become quite bad at. I'll think about how to reverse this somewhat disquieting development some other time, but for now I'll use my interest in card designs to help get me started on that. I've been interested in tarot for a while, partially because there's a lot of interesting designs on the cards, and partially because all that magic stuff is just kinda fun. I haven't grown up around this stuff, so from the outside looking in, it just seems like a fun past-time. I'll read up on it whenever I find some good sources, but until then, why not learn how to at least interpret the Major Arcana. Minor Arcana TBD, I suppose.

The Major Arcana supposedly illustrate the stages of attaining enlightenment, so even without knowing all the details, there is an intuitive understanding of the meaning, however it's not a deterministic reading. That means, that The Fool isn't necessarily a bad card to draw, and drawing The World isn't supposed to automatically guarantee success. As there are 22 Major Arcana, each of which can be read upright, or reversed, I'll try to memorize five or six of them per week, maybe more if possible.

Week 1

I focused first on the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor and the Hierophant, so the first 6 Arcana. I was also slightly delighted to discover that the Tarot counts from zero, meaning it indexes just the way things ought to be indexed. I've found an application for the phone that lets me read the usual interpretations for the Arcana, which is exactly what I need anyways, so that will be my primary source. What's a little difficult for me though, is that these interpretations are - as mentioned - not deterministic. This means that not only do I have to interpret the text associated, but also keep in mind that there are a number of ways to apply the "advice" in practice. I guess that's why people practice this by doing actual readings, which I'm expecting to have to do eventually as well, if I want the information to stick.

Two of the Arcana turned out to be somewhat difficult for me to memorize, or rather, two of them I had to memorize very explicitly, which I think speaks somewhat to my lack of understanding when it comes to traditional archetypes. Maybe it's because I've been raised with feminist undertones, but when the Empress and Emperor were described as the "archetypal" mother and father, I pulled blanks both times. What helped me out of this, is moving away from the parental equation and more towards the archetypes used in children's stories. Take the Empress for example. If a queen in a children's story is supposed to be good, then she will be framed as nurturing, warm and empathic. This more or less describes the upright reading of the Empress. If a queen in a children's story is supposed to be evil, she will be framed as prohibitive, maybe a little manipulative and possibly jealous. For the Empress, one could insert the Greek reading of Hera, which I suppose is called the "Mother of the Gods" in some versions of the myths, but if this dichotomy is the only reason why, that's going to be more confusing to me long-term. A similar thing can be done for the Emperor. Taking apart what role the Arcana take in these children's story's tropes, will probably by helpful for the remaining cases as well. The Hierophant for example, feels reminiscent of the royal advisor, who is maybe a religious figure. This is of course directed quite squarely at the role religion has taken in Western pop-culture, meaning that it's always slightly conservative in one way or another. I'm not sure if thinking of the card like this will colour my impression of Hierophant readings significantly. Otherwise I might have to keep reminding myself that he could also be a philosopher with slightly suspicious values.

Week 2

I've skimmed the remaining Arcana, and that's actually a nice little feeling to be on top of one of these projects for once. A lot of the Arcana do interpret themselves for the naive approach, so it's not really a testament to my memorization ability, but much rather it's one to the design of the system. There is some parts of the later Arcana that I'll need to intuit from the order, such as Temperance following directly from Death. Then it's relatively easy to understand. I should start doing a few readings every few days and then the system will probably be about as present as the rules of Shogi are now, and that's honestly all I was going for.

This puts me before another problem: There are different types of readings. Single-card readings are a little too small for good practice, I think, because that is just memory recall. The giant spreads, on the other hand, are very time-consuming and I see those devolve into lookup-central, especially toward the beginning. However, there are 3-card readings, concerning themselves with combined questions. In this category, there is a kind of situational reading I think might be reasonably easy to interpret, so I'll stick to these.

For example, drawing upright Temperance for in first position (the nature of the situation) gives a general acceptance and the finding of meaning in the events in question, drawing upright Sun for the second position (the solution, should you choose it) implies a celebratory, lively approach, and then I drew a minor Arcana in thrid position, which I will ignore for the purpose of this reading. In my defense I didn't have a tarot deck on hand, so the future readings will get pictures and will have minor arcana filtered out for my convenience.

Week 3

I've been kinda looking forward to this. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet my favourite Tarot Deck.

It's the Yokai Yochi Tarot by buboplague, an artist with a dark and stylish aesthetic that I'm very partial to. This deck is inspired by traditional Japanese illustrations and features staples of Shinto mythology. I've had this sitting in my playing cards drawer for about half a year now, telling me I'd get a use out of it eventually, and it would be a shame not to use this. It came with a fun blanket, that is taking up not insignificant space on my desk either.

This came out as my first physical reading - at least after a thorough shuffle that also gave me a chance to invert the cards. I had only flipped through the illustrations before and forgot that the way I shuffle cards doesn't invert them, unless I drop the entire deck spectacularly. So let's see what we've got here.

Situation: Death, Upright. Death represents the end of a cycle as well as new beginnings. This rings kind of true, as most things do, if they're vague enough, but it's a nice sentiment, I suppose.

Solution: The Hanged Man, Reversed. The Hanged Man is a symbol for willing sacrifice and acceptance. If it's reversed, so is its meaning, which I'm not entirely clear on. Looking this up, this is supposed to imply stalling and either a needless sacrifice, or fear of sacrifice. Insert joke about rent here.

Outcome: The Tower, Reversed. The Tower is usually modeled after the Tower of Babel, a symbol of hubris, and the fall. It's one of the few cards that has foreboding implications upright. Reversed, it implies the avoidance of disaster, which also isn't necessarily something great.

Situation: Fortitude, Upright. This one, I noticed is not where I found it in the database I learned from. What is called Fortitude, is called Strength, but it retains the lion motif, so I assume that's not an issue. Upright, it's a symbol for bravery and compassion. The archetypal hero of traditional storytelling, I suppose. Maybe the change is due to the difference of the hero archetype between cultures.

Solution: The Emperor, Upright implies a well ordered present. We discussed this Arcana in the learning phase earlier.

Outcome: The Fool, Reversed. Again, one of the early Arcana. Reversed, the Fool is a sign of exploited naivete.

Situation: The Hierophant, Reversed. I really like the illustration for this version of the Hierophant. He seems somewhat friendlier than the quasi-clergy I'm used to. Or maybe I just think frogs look funny. Reversed, it's a sign of rebellion and new approaches.

Solution: The World, Upright. The final Arcana, upright, naturally implies the conclusion of a journey and the attainment of a set goal. It suggests that maybe there's something new to work towards.

Outcome: The Fool, Reversed. This fun little spirit seems tenacious in its insistent to show up reversed and in the future position. The illustration is of a Shiro Ukari, a harmless spirit that is said to roam aimlessly in large cities.

Situation: The World, Reversed. Uncompleted goals might live in the past. If this were true, it wouldn't surprise me, considering my penchant for forgetting things...

Solution: The Moon, Upright. The Moon is really just synonymous to night-time associations, or rather the mystical interpretations of dreams as the unconscious or illusory intuition that reveals itself during sleep.

Outcome: The High Priestess, Reversed. The High Priestess is thought of as a guardian and a representation of an inner voice. If it's reversed, this inner voice might be lost or untrue.

Situation: The Devil, Reversed. The reversed Devil stands for freedom, or the restoration of control.

Solution: The Sun, Upright. A positive outlook might help resolve the issue.

Outcome: The Star, Upright. If so, hope and rejuvenation - a rebirth after the fall of the tower, opening the view on the stars - might emerge.

Situation: The Chariot, Reversed. The situation may be based in aggression, or the reader might not have much control over it either way.

Solution: The Emperor, Upright. Approaching the situation with a steady hand and structure will open the door to...

Outcome: The Hierophant, Upright. A traditionally desirable outcome, or one that retains ethics and morality. Whose, is yet unclear.

Situation: Strength, Reversed. The situation arises from insecurity, or some other form of inner weakness.

Solution: The Hermit, Reversed. By allowing oneself to become lost and choosing isolation, the situation might resolve in...

Outcome: The High Priestess, Upright. An safe end, and the go ahead to follow ones intuition

Situation: Justice, Upright. Justice upright indicates clarity, truth, or the relationship between cause and effect. Here, the latter makes the most sense. The situation is a product of cause and effect, regardless of how this might complicate the situation.

Solution: The Hermit, Upright. Maybe choosing isolation and taking the space to reflect, might...

Outcome: The Tower, Reversed. Divert disaster.

Situation: The Empress, Upright. The situation is natural, and maybe not anything to be mad about.

Solution: The Moon, Reversed. A possible solution might be found in deceptive means, leading to...

Outcome: The Wheel of Fortune, Reversed. A loss of control, even despite clinging to it.

Situation: The Chariot, Upright. The crux of the issue lies in direction and willpower. Whether this is the source, or the center of the problem remains to be seen.

Solution: The Emperor, Reversed. A solution based in the retention of control to the point of rigidity, might lead to...

Outcome: The Hermit, Upright. Inner Guidance.

I think you get the gist by now. I still have to look up a few of the cards, in the reversed positions, but in general I think I've got the hang of the major Arcana. Of course that's about a fifth of the tarot, and there's still four suits to similarly memorize. I probably won't be doing that in the next month, but I'm definitely going to come back to this eventually.