Definitions for "Major Arcana"
Keywords:  tarot, trump, arcana, fool, archetypal
Archetypal 22 card section of the Tarot.
The twenty-two Tarot trumps, starting with The Fool and climaxing with The World. Drawn upon ancient archetypes and compiled into a system in the Middle Ages, the Major Arcana illustrate various individuals, concepts, and life situations that most people will have to encounter at some point in their lives. In a Tarot reading, the trumps are generally related to the most important life events - those involving humanity, the world and its life forms, customs, laws, and other major sociological issues. It used to be believed that the Tarot deck developed first, and then the trumps gradually were dropped from the game pack. Now, however, Tarot scholars believe that the Major Arcana, with all their esoteric and religious symbols, developed separately from the game pack, and were joined into one deck around 1400.
Twenty-two special cards of the Tarot which are of deep spiritual significance and contain elements of philosophy, embodying answers to the mysteries of creation, the origin of life and the nature of man.