Rider-Waite: Major Arcana Flashcards
The Fool
Beginning - Freedom - Spontaneity
🔑White Rose: purity & innocence
🔑Cliff: the unknown/potential danger
🔑Dog: instinct & protection
🔑Knapsack: lightness of being/minimal baggage
⬆️New beginnings are coming; you have faith in the future & believe in the universe. You are a free spirit, young at heart, & might have beginner’s luck. You have infinite potential. You might embark on an adventure or go traveling. Stay spontaneous, original, and curious!
⬇️There might be chaos, folly, recklessness, risk-taking in your life, or naivety, poor judgement, negligence, carelessness. Or you might be holding back, worried about the risks of the unknown. Stay cautious of these!
The Magician
Action - Creation - Power
🔑Hand pointing to Earth: grounding & manifestation
🔑Table : resources & tools
🔑Wand: power of will
🔑Infinity Symbol: limitless potential
⬆️You have the talents, capabilities, & resources to succeed. You are creating and manifesting goals, bringing ideas to reality. Tap into your full potential!
⬇️You might have unused abilities, untapped talents, lack of energy. Perhaps you have an idea but you are not taking action yet or don’t know what action to take to manifest it. Focus on what you want and the Universe will guide you to achieve it.
The High Priestess
Intuition - Knowledge - Wisdom
🔑 Pillars: duality & balance
🔑 Pomegranate: fertility & abundance
🔑 Moon: emotions & subconscious
🔑 Scroll: hidden knowledge & secrets
⬆️You have hidden mysteries, spiritual insight, & divine knowledge. Now is the time to be still so you can tune into your intuition, you have the opportunity to access the knowledge deep within your soul. You hold the answers to the deep unknowns, let what is hidden come to the surface. Trust your inner instincts to guide you!
⬇️You may be disconnected from your intuition, have secrets, are withdrawn & silent, or have blocked psychic powers. Be still and direct your attention inward to listen to your voice & wisdom. Focus on what is right for you.
The Empress
Abundance - Nurturing - Growth
🔑 Wheat: abundance & nourishment
🔑 Crown of Stars: connection to the divine
🔑 Earth: grounding & stability
🔑 Venus: love & beauty
⬆️There is beauty, abundance, and femininity in your life. There may be a new opportunity, romance, art, or new business on the horizon. Focus on your senses & on creative expression. You will experience pleasure & deep fulfillment.
⬇️You may have creative blocks and disharmony in your life. Make self-love and self-care a priority. Now is the time to bring your loving energy and focus on yourself to regain balance.
The Emperor
Authority - Structure - Stability
🔑 Ram Heads: determination & leadership
🔑 Throne: stability & authority
🔑 Scepter: power & control
🔑 Armor: protection & strength
⬆️There is stability & security in your life. You are on top of things & everything is under your control. It is your hard work, discipline, & self-control that have brought you this far. You are in charge of your life now, setting up your own rules & boundaries.
⬇️Assess your relationship with power, control, authority, responsibility, & discipline. Are you expressing too much or too little of these elements in your life right now? Are they working for you or against you right now?
The Hierophant
Tradition - Guidance - Belief
🔑 Followers: adherence to tradition & beliefs
🔑 Triple Crown: authority over heaven, Earth, & underworld
🔑 Hand Raised in Blessing: spiritual guidance & teaching
🔑 Keys: access to spiritual knowledge
⬆️Traditional values, an established set of spiritual wisdom & guidance affect your current life. It can mean formal doctrines, teaching, education. Before you can discover your own belief systems & make your own choices, you are encouraged to learn the fundamental principles from a trusted source.
⬇️A reminder that you are your own teacher. All the wisdom you seek comes from within, not from some external source or power. You are being guided to follow your own path & adopt your own spiritual belief systems rather than blindly following others.
The Lovers
Choice - Connection - Harmony
🔑 Angel: divine guidance & blessing
🔑Tree of Knowledge: choices & knowledge
🔑 Serpent:temptation & moral decisions
🔑2 Figures: partnership & union
⬆️Represents relationships & choices. You have love & harmony in your life. It can be a meaningful romantic relationship or soulmates. There may be some decision about an existing relationship, a temptation of the heart, or a choice of potential partners.
⬇️If there is imbalance & disharmony in your relationships, focus on self-love & making yourself a priority, to find alignment & harmony. You may be reluctant to open your heart to a relationship for fear of getting hurt. Become aware of what you value & need.
The Chariot
Ambition - Focus - Movement
🔑 Sphinxes: opposing forces that need to be balanced
🔑 Chariot: control & determination
🔑 Star Crown: spiritual guidance & victory
🔑No Reins: controlling through sheer willpower
🔑 Armor: protection & readiness
⬆️You are confident & have the drive to overcome obstacles, moving forward in a positive direction. You are now channeling your inner power with a fierce dedication to bring your goals to fruition. Keep going on; through hard work & commitment you will succeed.
⬇️You might have lost your motivation & no longer feel as committed to the outcome of a project as you did when you started. So, if something is not moving forward as you planned, reevaluate the situation & check in to see if it’s a sign that you need to change course. Ask yourself why this has happened and what you can learn from it.
Strength
Courage - Patience - Strength
🔑 Infinity Symbol: infinite wisdom & balance
🔑 Woman taming the lion: inner strength & gentle control
🔑 Lion: raw passions & instincts
🔑 Flower garland: peaceful approach & harmony
⬆️Your strength gives you the confidence to overcome any fears, challenges, or doubts. Feel the fear & do it anyway! You have the confidence, the vitality, the potency, & the courage that is needed.
⬇️Are you overflowing with self-confidence, or are you depleted? How can you bring these aspects back into balance? Know that your core strength will always be with you and now is as good a time as any to reconnect with this power.
The Hermit
Solitude - Reflection - Wisdom
🔑 Mountain: challenges & heights of spiritual growth
🔑 Lantern/seal of Solomon(Star): inner guidance & enlightenment
🔑 Cloak: Protection & privacy during the journey inward
🔑 Staff: support & stability during introspection
⬆️You are in a phase in introspection where you are drawing your attention inwards & looking for answers from within your soul. You are in need of a period of inner reflection, away from the current demands of the outside world. The most profound sense of truth & knowledge is within yourself.
⬇️You are either not taking enough time for personal reflection or you are taking too much. If you struggle to connect with your spiritual self then create more space to meditate & reflect. Make sure not to take your isolation too far, do not become a literal hermit who cuts off the outside world.
Wheel of Fortune
Change - Cycles - Destiny
🔑 Anubis: forces of change & transformation
🔑 Sphinx: wisdom & mystery @ the top of the wheel
🔑 Wheel: cycles of life & the inevitability of change
🔑 Snake: the descent & challenges of change
⬆️The wheel is always turning and life is in a state of constant change. If you’re going through a difficult time, rest assured that it will get better. Good luck & good fortune will return in time. If things are going well, know that this, too, will change and life will return to normal soon.
⬇️Changing your destiny starts with accepting responsibility for where you are now. Consider what role your earlier actions have played in your present circumstances. Even when you think everything is beyond your control, there is often something you could have done differently that might have changed where you are now. What can you learn from this situation and how can you apply it to your future life?
Justice
Balance - Fairness - Truth
🔑 Sword: the power of truth & justice
🔑 Cloak: protection & impartiality
🔑 Crown: authority & the responsibility of judgement
🔑 Scales: balance & fairness in judgement
⬆️You understand cause & effect, & that a fair & just outcome will follow your actions. If you have acted in alignment with your Higher Self, you have nothing to worry about. If you haven’t, you will be called out & made to own up to your actions. You understand that the fairest decision will be made, in order to find balance & equilibrium.
⬇️You might not be willing to take full accountability for your actions. Assess your situation, while intending to discover where you can accept responsibility. Acknowledge where you made a mistake, do what you can to make it right again. I’m doing so you will free yourself from any guilt or shame & empower yourself to make better decisions.
The Hanged Man
Pause - Sacrifice - Perspective
🔑Halo: enlightenment & spiritual insight
🔑Rope: suspension/bring in limbo
🔑Tree: connection to life & the natural world
🔑 Upside-down position: seeing things from a new perspective
⬆️You are breaking old patterns, letting go, surrendering, & releasing old mental & behavioral patterns that no longer serve you, in order to discover & embrace new perspectives & new opportunities.
⬇️If there are delays, resistance, & missed opportunities in your life, pause for a moment to see things from a different perspective. This is your positive sign that you can now move forward with a new perspective & a renewed sense of energy.
Death
Transformation - Ending - Rebirth
🔑Horse: the unstoppable force of change
🔑Skeleton: the inevitability of change & transformation
🔑 White Rose: purity & new beginnings
🔑 Rising Sun: hope & the promise of a new day
⬆️A major phase or aspect of your life that is no longer serving you is now coming to an end, opening up the possibility of something far more valuable & essential. You must close one door to open another. Do not fear this change, it can be a truly positive thing.
⬇️You are on the verge of a meaningful change but are resisting or delaying it. Ask yourself why this is happening, what is holding you back? Or you may be going through a massive personal transformation, in private, out of view from others.
Temperance
Balance - Moderation - Harmony
🔑 Flowing water: continuous flow of life/emotions
🔑2 cups: blending of different elements or forces
🔑 Angel: divine guidance & protection
🔑 Path & mountains: the journey towards spiritual enlightenment & higher goals
⬆️You are being invited to stabilize your energy, to learn to bring about balance, patience, & moderation in your life, & to allow the life force to flow through you without force or resistance. You should take the middle road, avoiding extremes, & maintain a sense of calm.
⬇️You are being invited to restore balance & moderation as soon as possible. It may mean a period of self-evaluation in which you can re-examine your life priorities. It can be a call for profound self-healing.
