Arcanum Nox The Tarot Compendium

Major Arcana & Minor Arcana

In this Chapter I'll explain what the word Arcana means , the two types of Arcanas and what Major Arcana is.

The word 'Arcana' is derived from Latin that means 'Secret' . The reason why it was called as such is because each of the card's illustration holds a message that needs to be deciphered or be interpreted. 

There are two types and these are the 'Major Arcana' (aka. Greater Secrets) and the 'Minor Arcana'  (aka. Lesser Secrets). 

The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana are the trump cards within the deck of 78 cards, it consists of 22 cards and each card represents an archetype of life and it's cycle. 

The Major Arcana has the least number of cards in the tarot deck but each card holds a lot of messages compared from the Minor Arcana. 

Each Card represents an aspect of life that can be expounded to provide profound and in-depth messages. 

The Major Arcana starts with the null value 0 and ends with number 21 which are:

0: The Fool

1: The Magician

2: The High Priestess

3: The Empress

4: The Emperor

5: The Hierophant

6: The Lovers

7: The Chariot

8: The Strength

9: The Hermit

10: The Wheel Of Fortune

11: Justice

12: The Hanged Man

13: Death

14: Temperance

15: The Devil

16: The Tower

17: The Star

18: The Moon

19: The Sun

20: Judgement

21: The World

The Major Arcana starts with the fool the representation of nothingness and ends with the World the representation of completeness.  

If all of the 22 cards will be deciphered together It will provide you the cycle of life within the mundane world and the afterlife. 

The Fool and his journey to Completeness

In the beginning there was a man who had nothing that stumbled upon the forbidden tree which he was warned from wandering.

Then the fool changed its fate by taking a bite of the fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge. 

He then became aware of the aspects of life by gaining the knowledge, he was enlightened. 

He then dabbled with secrets of the mundane world after he searched for it using the knowledge he attained from the forbidden fruit.

After gaining these secrets, he used it to achieve abundance, power and authority. 

Still not satisfied he sought the power of the divine to understand the virtues of the divine and seek for divine ascension and immortality.He then was revered by all because of his wisdom and authority.

Then he sought love, thinking that it would fill his the sense of void that he feels inside. 

However he was still filled with desires and lust, still not content of what he had and sought fame and strength until his pride grew but still feels a sense of flaw. 

But as time passed he realized that everything he gained within his journey is for naught and confined himself in solitude. Away from all and chose to hide in the shadows.

Abundance, Power, Life , Fame, and Strength were slowly fading from his grasps as the wheels of fortune turns against him. 

He realized his demise from all he had done from the past and in the hands of justice he was damned for his sin.

He was then condemned by all and was punished for abusing the knowledge he gained. 

Then comes Death that took him and tested him through series of trials.

Although the obstacles he faced were hard, his unwavering hope still kept him to defeat death.

After winning over death's wager, A messenger of the divine appeared before him.

The messenger revealed him the fate of those who had sought for carnal desires and their destruction and demise. 

Then the messenger showed him the secrets of the stars, the meaning of the moon and its cycles and the light of the sun was bestowed upon him. He now had seen truth with his eyes. 

With the messenger he journeyed upward upon the highest heavens to meet the divine for his final judgement.  

The divine then judged and weighed his heart and seen the light within it, the divine then welcomed him to be reborn anew as a part of the world above bestowing his completeness.