The Universal Journey: 22 Major Arcana

 

Foolish & Naive, We Embark on a Journey

    We are born vulnerable and naive, and we die (hopefully) knowing valuable lessons. The journey from beginning to end is winding, unpredictable, and certainly not linear. Sometimes we will step forward, other times we will be forced back. There will be happy times, grieving times, and unexplainable phenomena. There will be stagnation, boredom, and fear of missing out. There will be times when you are an expert and others when you are the clueless novice. In every case, there seems to be a card to describe a state of being. 

    As a first-generation college student, I approached higher education as a total newbie. I had always done well in school and extracurriculars, and so I thought that as long as I stuck to my guns and was confident, I could get wherever I needed to. I applied for colleges through the QuestBridge program for high-achieving, low-income students, and I was so hopeful that I could get into a prestigious university. I wanted to prove to my family that I was smart and capable of doing what had seemed impossible, and I wanted to be able to do it as independently as possible. I jumped into the application process with few resources: I was a Fool with nothing but a smile and the bare minimum to get by, tied up in a handkerchief and hanging loosely off my shoulders. 

    I quickly began conjuring essays, recommendation letters, and a portfolio of scattered achievements: science awards, theatre roles, art and writing pieces. I threw them together with the rambling mind of a feral student, taking my best guess at the stereotypes I thought higher education would value. I worked illusions about myself like a Magician: that I did have some great ambition, that I could tolerate high stress for years on end. I crafted a person I thought looked very decent on paper, abundant on paper. Not only was I experienced, I had potential. "Choose me, see my value. I am worth being heard." 

    At the same time that I was dealing with preparing for college, I was newly engaging in relationships and struggling with the intensity of romantic feelings I'd never dealt with before. I became a young Lover, transfixed with emotion and yearning. It begged the question: what would I choose? To be with the one I loved? Or to go where my education called? Two Chariots pulled at my center, fragmenting my being to disparate pieces. No choice would be made; my love and college hopes would both fail. 

The Hermit Becomes the Hanged Man

    More lost than ever, I became idle. I disconnected and watched as friends moved away, continued onward, and lost touch. The pandemic began, and online community colleges classes came with it. Suddenly, I was a Hermit, and my room became the homework space, the crying space, the lounging space, the everything space. I was pressed down and condensed into a box, so small all it held was a dresser and mattress. I was forced into very close proximity with a person I didn't really like all that much: myself. Waking each day was spinning a Wheel of Fortune, walking along in the great unknown as world events seemed to pass me by. There were good days and bad days, countless changes. 

    I began to change with them. 

    When you are alone and still in pain, you are faced with the fact that it may be you hurting yourself. The truth brings Justice, and with acknowledging the truth comes self-obliteration. To be satisfied, I had to silence the angry, bitter parts of myself. With affirmations of love, I wrung the throat of my resentment and observed the quiet after. Rather than cold, the Death of my older self felt warm, flowers emerging where there once were brambles. 

    I came to the tender realization that the world was not some depraved place but that it was my perspective that was sumptuous. Of course I would be upset if I expected that I deserved this or that. The mental Tower of superiority I constructed for myself came crashing down, and it was up to me to rebuild from the crumbled remains. 

A Star Only Glows in Darkness

    Something you learn as you grow older is that life just goes on. It's important to also learn that when a door shuts, a window opens. It's up to us to keep our eyes open to see it; you can't make a wish upon a Star if you never bother to look up. Hope is not a matter of circumstances but perspective, and the Universe always offers opportunities to those who are willing to search for and take them. 

    

    I enrolled at my local community college and began to work. I completed my Associates and supplemental courses on the Dean's List, and I got a job assisting people from marginalized backgrounds with accessing education. I stopped constantly thinking about myself and what I wanted, and I started considering instead what I could offer to the world around me. The Star expanded into a glowing, full Moon. To this day, I always wake up in the middle of the night on a full moon. I look out my window and see it over me, a white torch in the vast, inky night. 

    Today, the Sun shines. I am now a student at SDSU and have advanced in my job, taking on more responsibilities and playing more key roles. I look on my past self with empathy as opposed to Judgement, as I know that fate has already made those calls for me. With that, the World has opened up to me. I am more comfortable with myself than ever, and it has made learning, relationships, and self-reflecting so much easier. 

The Cycle Continues

    While my transfer experience has come to an end, my experience at SDSU has only just begun. Over half finished with my first semester, I look forward to seeing what comes next. When I graduate, yet another cycle will begin: my great journey into my career, perhaps the longest adventure I will take. Just like with my education, I will find joy and despair through the various challenges and blessings I receive along the way. What is important is not that I be the best but that I show up for the ride with an open mind. 

    Learning how to read tarot cards changed my life for the better. It helped me realize the world is so vast, so complex, and so rewarding. It contextualized my life as big for me, and yet so small on a grand scale, valuable yet fleeting. Major experiences in my life that felt so unique to me became expressions of a larger human experience, connecting me to other humans in a way I hadn't felt before. When I felt out of place or out of control, these archetypes and symbols brought me back to being a person and humbled me. 

Their Names: The 22 Major Arcana

My Universal Lessons

    We live, we love, we pay taxes, we die. We judge and are judged. We play hero and villain, lover and foe, ally and enemy, superior and inferior. We play many things in between. Many of us are similar, and yet so many of us seem to live in completely separate realities. 

What unites us are these lessons: 

1. When starting something, the first step is to embody the Fool: carefree, curious, & observant.

2. A true Magician is a master of resourcefulness. 

3. The traditions of our ancestors are unique and valuable wisdom not to be forgotten or disregarded.

4. Femininity is fruitful and abundant. 

5. Masculinity is authoritative and structured. 

6. Belief, with time and popularity, can become reality.  

7. At some point, everyone must make a choice for what or who they most prioritize in their life. 

8. Passion will inspire change, and diligence is needed to ride the current. 

9. It requires tremendous strength to not just tame but to befriend the beast within. 

10. Only in solitude may we hear ourselves think. 

11. Destiny can change at any moment, and we may wake up tomorrow a new person with new circumstances.

12. The truth will always come out somehow, in one way or another. 

13. When stuck, it's essential to pause and get a new perspective. 

14. To gain is to lose; new growth may only come with sacrifice of the old. 

15. Slow and steady wins the race, and meticulousness is often rewarded.

16. Everything in moderation; the devil is in the extremes.

17. All that goes up must come down eventually; every castle crumbles.

18. Clear-headedness gives us the opportunity to hope and find a light in the dark.

19. The brilliance of a guiding torch in darkness may obscure an unsightly guide. (for those who don't like poetry: just because someone is offering help does not mean it is well-intended or meant for you.) 

20. Good days are as inevitable as bad ones. :) 

21. With enough time, we will all see the consequences for what we have done.

22. The world will continue to turn, even as it offers us opportunities to rest.

    Maybe my story resonates for some of you, maybe not. Even so, I'm certain the feelings and lessons of these cards do. Tarot helped me to make sense of my journey during a chaotic time where life has felt surreal, vulnerable, and meaningless. I'm sure every person wonders what the meaning of life could be; I argue that we each construct that meaning. We construct this meaning through symbols, narratives, archetypes. When our meanings intersect with others, we influence reality itself. 

    Like the Minor Arcana, consider these cards as an alphabet; they are symbolic building blocks to describe human experiences. Some of the meanings may seem to overlap with other cards; consider these as having a gold star, an emphasis of some kind. In a reading, I interpret these cards as having more long-lasting consequences or influences than others. 

I hope you enjoyed this post!

All images were taken from the Biddy Tarot website. The deck is modeled after the Lumina Tarot.