major arcana
Lenormand Cards Illuminate The Everyday
A few years ago, I met a fellow psychic online who recommended that I add Lenormand cards to my divination repertoire. It is a decision I will always cherish, as learning these cards has certainly benefited both my spiritual and professional journey.
Like Tarot, it is a card-based divination system rich in symbolism, but it is simpler than Tarot, with fewer cards in the deck, and easier to learn. Lenormand has only thirty-six cards instead of the bulkier 78-card Tarot deck.
This system of cartomancy is named after Marie Anne Lenormand (1772-1843), a famous French fortune teller of the Napoleonic era who was known for her work with influential figures of her time, although she did not create the cards herself. Lenormand cards became popular in the 19th century and have seen a resurgence of interest in recent years.
I use two types of Lenormand decks in my readings. One is the Petite deck and the other is the Dondorf Lenormand.
The design of the Petite Lenormand deck is simpler and more direct than that of the Dondorf Lenormand, focusing on clear, easily recognizable symbols without extensive ornamentation. This simplicity is intended to facilitate the interpretation of the cards, as the symbols and their combinations are the primary means of divination. The cards are also smaller than typical tarot cards and are modeled directly after the types of decks that Ms. Lenormand herself might have used or recognized.
The Difference Between Spirit Guides And Angels
From the beginning of my psychic career, the information in my readings has always come from both spirit guides and angels. I find that the energy of these two types of spirit beings are very similar in the way they present themselves, but there are different nuances in the messages they convey.
In the early days, I never gave much thought to the “technical” differences between spirit guides and angelic guides until a client asked me about it. I then decided to investigate by asking my guides and angels directly in my daily meditations. I believe it’s always best to go straight to the source, don’t you?
The information I received from Spirit turned out to be very enlightening and even a little surprising, making it easier for me to explain it to people ever since. Over the years of doing many spirit guided readings, I gradually gained a deeper understanding of how these benevolent spirit beings guide us in our life journey.
Spirit guides and angels are spiritual beings who offer guidance, support and protection to humanity, but they have slightly different roles and characteristics. The two main distinctions that has been shown to me are that spirit guides have lived human lives before, while angels have not, and that spirit guides support us in our daily human lives and earthly affairs, while angelic guides provide us with higher wisdom, spiritual guidance, and divine protection.
The People In Your Tarot Court Cards
In a psychic tarot reading, several court cards, also known as ‘people cards’, may come up in a spread. This can be challenging and even confusing, because the reader must now interpret not only the situational influences and circumstances revealed by the spread, but also the other people who are playing a role, or may still be involved in the matter.
There are many different approaches to interpreting tarot court cards, but my personal preference is to associate each card with an astrological sign of the zodiac.
There are 78 cards in a traditional Tarot deck. The first 22 cards are the Major Arcana and the remaining 56 are the Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana are divided into four suits that correspond to the four classical elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.
The element of Air is typically represented in the deck design as swords, feathers, birds, or clouds. The element of Fire is usually represented as wands, batons, or staffs. The element of Water is represented by cups, chalices, bowls, or mermaids. And the element of Earth is represented as pentacles, coins, or stones.
Sixteen of the 56 minor arcana are the court cards. The court cards of each suit represent people who embody the personality, traits, or influence of the associated element. Occasionally, a court card may also represent someone who fits the physical appearance of a particular person card as depicted in the card’s design.
The True Meaning Of Judgment
Judgment is card 20 in the Tarot’s Major Arcana. Arcana means “hidden things, mysteries,” from the Latin arcanum meaning “a secret, a mystery” and arcanus meaning “secret, hidden, private, concealed.” Arcana are therefore “pieces of mysterious knowledge or information.”
In a standard Tarot deck, there are 21 Major Arcana cards. They define The Fool’s journey (the first card) through life and all of the life lessons we encounter along the way. As one of the final stages in The Fool’s journey, the Judgment card represents having learned sufficient lessons to now awaken from the illusion and limited perceptions.
The most well-known tarot deck is the Rider–Waite. Pamela Coleman Smith, aka “Pixie,” was a British artist who illustrated the deck. She deserves much credit for the brilliant way she captured advanced spiritual concepts in the deck’s artwork.
The Rider–Waite Judgment card depicts three resurrected figures, a woman, man, and child, reaching up to an Archangel overhead blowing a trumpet as a wake-up call. The scene is based on Christian imagery representing the Resurrection and Last Judgment. The flag of St. George hangs from the trumpet, which references 1 Corinthians 15 in The Bible.
The Judgment card reminds us that no matter what our background may be, we can rise up and transcend any trauma or adversity in life, regardless how challenging the situation. We also have the power to see through the illusion of life and wake up to the truth.
The Empowering Symbolism Of The World Card
The World card in the Tarot remains one of my firm favorites. I am all for personal and spiritual growth, the completion of cycles, and new beginnings. The World represents exactly that: the ending of a cycle and pause in life, before the next major cycle begins with the fool.
The journey from the new beginnings of The Fool to the fulfilling endings of The World is a constant evolutionary process in our everyday lives that is represented by the sequence of the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot. The World is the 22nd trump and therefore final card of the Major Arcana.
I have reflected on the imagery of the Rider-Waite version of this Tarot card in great detail. Rider-Waite is probably the most popular and universally recognized Tarot deck. The illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith at first glance appear simple, but the details and backgrounds feature abundant mystical symbolism.
The World pictures an empowered figure within a wreath – traditionally a symbol of victory, success, achievement, and eternal life. The figure holds a wand in each hand, which is reminiscent of the Magician card and the Two of Wands. However, while The Magician holds only one wand, the two wands in the The World card represents fulfillment, wholeness, balance and coming full circle.
The card is framed by four animals on the diagonal. The depiction of these four creatures parallels the four animal symbols used in Christian art to represent the four Evangelists, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The four animals also represent the zodiac signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, the four fixed signs in Western Astrology, which in turn represent the classical four elements of Earth, Fire, Water and Air.
Yoga And The Tarot Archetypes
When I’m not doing psychic readings, I enjoy engaging in activities that support a healthy lifestyle, such as Yoga and Herbalism. Although I spent many years training with Yoga masters from around the world and I am a certified Yoga instructor, I continue to learn more each time I get onto the mat.
While practicing the other day, I found myself thinking about the Tarot cards while in a particular yoga posture. It was the asana known as the Hero’s pose, or Virasana. The pose involves kneeling or sitting in between your bent legs.
As I was sitting in this stretch, I was wondering how the posture got its name, which comes from the Sanskrit word vira meaning ‘hero.’ It occurred to me that a hero was someone who had to think of someone else or others in that moment more than themselves. When we are pushed to our edge, in that moment of vulnerability, it makes us stronger. The same humility can be found in certain Yoga postures.
Then the Emperor card from the Tarot deck came to mind. The Emperor in a reading can show a ruler or leader who is strong, confident, and who guides others. Might there be an ancient connection with Yoga and the Tarot?
I then began to think of other Yoga postures and how they might correlate with the other Major Arcana cards in the Tarot.
The first that came up for me was The Hanged Man. This iconic card features a figure hanging upside down from a tree. Hanging from a tree in this way would certainly make one see the world from a different perspective. Interestingly, the headstand pose in Yoga, Sirsanasa, aims to create mental balance and physical poise. Continue reading
Empower Yourself With A Tarot Meditation
The Tarot is so much more than just a method of fortunetelling. Tarot can be used as a tool for meditation just as much as it is an aid for divination.
For example, you can meditate on one of the cards in the Major Arcana, to connect with that specific card’s archetypal energy. Connecting with the card’s energy can not only help you find the answers you need, but more profoundly it can also invite that energy into our life.
Every archetype can awaken within us certain a type of personal power. The Magician can inspire us to become more quick on our feet, as he is mercurial in nature. The High Priestess connects us more deeply with our intuition and higher self. The Tower can bring an immediate closure to a negative situation we cannot stand anymore, and so on.
Let’s focus on The Empress card with a more detailed analysis, to demonstrate how we can utilize her in meditation.
Symbolism Of The Empress
The Empress is the number 3 card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot. She is the archetypal queen and symbolizes all the riches of femininity. She is related to the planet Venus and the zodiac sign of Taurus, representing affectivity in all its fullness.
As an earthly partner of the Emperor, her archetype represents the earthly plane achievements and pleasures of the physical body, including motherhood. There is also a connection between the Divine Feminine or Divine Mother archetype, represented by this card, and the Earth as Gaia, our nurturing mother.