Foundations · 13 min
The Major Arcana map
The 22 Majors as a map: the Fool and three rows of seven, one line for each card, and the Waite–Smith numbering of Strength and Justice.
In this lesson you will
- Place the Fool and the three rows of seven on the map of the Majors.
- Give a one-line idea for each of the 22 Majors.
- Recognize the Waite–Smith numbering: Strength is VIII and Justice is XI.
Twenty-two Majors can look like twenty-two unrelated pictures. Laid out in the right shape, they become a map you can find your way around in a few minutes, and a single Major in a reading tells you where on that map you stand.
The Fool and three rows
Set The Fool, numbered 0, apart: the Fool is the traveler who moves through all the others. Then lay the remaining 21 cards in three rows of seven. Each row describes one wide area of a life.
- Row one, I to VII: the outer world and society. Learning to act, to build, to belong and to choose a direction.
- Row two, VIII to XIV: the inner search. Courage, solitude, change, honesty, letting go and finding balance.
- Row three, XV to XXI: the larger forces and the whole. What binds, what breaks, what heals, and what is finally complete.
When a Major appears, ask which row it belongs to. A first-row card points to your place in the world, a second-row card to something inner, and a third-row card to a force larger than a single decision.
Warm up
A quick look back before the new material. Recalling helps you remember.
Warm-up
Which order of these four Cups scenes follows the number arc, from the Ace of Cups to the Ten of Cups?
Warm-up
The Knight of Wands rides a rearing horse with his wand raised. What does the rank of Knight add to any suit?
Look first
Look at these three Majors, one from each row, before reading on. Which feels most outward, which most inward, and which feels like an ending?
Remember
- The Fool (0) is the traveler; the other 21 Majors form three rows of seven: the outer world, the inner search, the larger forces.
- Each Major has a one-line idea, and its row tells you the scale of what it is pointing to.
- The VeilSoul deck follows the Waite–Smith order: Strength is VIII and Justice is XI.
Sources: original VeilSoul text · VeilSoul card pages · the 1909 Waite–Smith imagery (public domain) · A. E. Waite, 1911 (public domain)