Ranking the Major Arcana Cards

I love reading tarot cards. In recent years I’ve gotten more and more interested in giving readings, learning about tarot, and interpreting cards. Although I do believe all cards are beautiful, unique, and important to a deck, I can’t help but have my favorites. So, in a very particular order, I give you my personal rankings of the Major Arcana cards. 

The World

This card is amazing, and it always brings a smile to the face of whoever I’m reading. I especially like getting it in reading about the future. It represents accomplishment and completion so it usually inspires a lot of hope, and I think that’s the best way to close a reading.

The Star

I love getting The Star because it brings so much positivity to a reading. Plus, the art for it is always beautiful! Some of its most significant representations are faith and purpose, and the combination of this meaning with the infiniteness of the stars helps remind us that anything is possible.

Wheel of Fortune

The primary messages of the Wheel of Fortune are destiny and life cycles. This isn’t always what the subject wants to hear, especially when they’re hoping for change. But the interpretation of this card that speaks most to me is the idea that even if things aren’t great right now, life will inevitably go on and improve.

The Lovers

This one’s a bit obvious: love, relationships, and harmony. Honestly, I’m a little biased when it comes to this card. I just love love! I’m a hopeless romantic, and I love doing readings about relationships‒good or bad.

Death

Okay, if you don’t know much about tarot, you’re probably wondering why this card is so high on the list. But the meaning is really about new beginnings and change, much more positive than you’d think. This card usually helps people realize when something in their life is toxic and needs to be moved on from. 

The High Priestess

I love the feminine energy in this card. It represents a powerful woman with strong intuition and knowledge. My favorite time to get this is when I’m pulling for a card that represents the subject or a significant woman in their life because I think it gives a nice boost of confidence.

The Sun

The Sun represents exactly what you’d imagine: warmth and vitality. I usually end up pulling this card when I’m asking about the future of a situation or the relationship between two people. I just enjoy the ray of sunshine this card brings to a reading (pun intended).

The Hermit

This is another card that sounds negative, but really isn’t. The Hermit isn’t alone because he’s sad or lonely, he’s introspective and self-fulfilled. By spending time alone, he’s able to better understand himself and the world around him, which is a strong trait that not many people possess.

The Fool

The Fool represents a person (generally, a young boy) who is spontaneous and free-spirited. Overall, this card can bring a lot of joy to the reading, even though describing someone as a fool has a negative connotation. However, always remember that even though The Fool is happy, he’s not cautious or wise.

Strength

I really enjoy Strength because of how open to interpretation it is. Although its primary meanings are courage and compassion, I think that this card can be looked at from a much wider perspective when considering the subject of the reading. Some things that may seem easy to some may require great efforts from others.

The Magician

The Magician represents magic and manifestation, which I find to be a meaning that holds a lot of power. This is an interesting card because oftentimes when you imagine a magician, you don’t necessarily picture someone powerful. I think a better way to explain The Magician is to describe it as magic manifested in a human form. 

The Empress

While The High Priestess expresses the more intuition-centric aspects of womanhood, this card encompasses the more pure and nurturing aspects. The Empress represents femininity and fertility and all the other beauties of being a woman. The combination of purity and power in this card is what I think makes it so great.

The Chariot

There are two very important ways to consider the meaning of The Chariot when interpreting it. This card represents action and control, which is an important message for the subject when they need a push to take charge of their life. However, the negative side of this is the way that The Chariot pushes forward to achieve its goal without any regard to its surroundings. 

Temperance

This is a card I feel that I personally identify with, and I tend to pull during more stressful or intense readings. Temperance is a very literal card; it represents patience and moderation. I’m relatively indifferent to this card, but it is very important for reinforcing the virtue of balance.

Justice

Again, we have a pretty literal, virtue-oriented card. Justice represents fairness and law. Again, this card isn’t particularly special to me, but its message is still important and useful.

Judgement

The name of this card has a more spiritual meaning than a literal one. Rather than meaning being judgemental, Judgement represents repentance and release. I personally feel that this card is very meaningful, but oftentimes I find it somewhat difficult to explain to the subject.

The Hierophant

A hierophant a religious leader that interprets scripture. This card represents conformity and traditionalism, which are not inherently negative things, but I don’t hold them very close to my heart. Plus, this card never seems to be pulled in a positive context with me.

The Emperor

The Emperor is a powerful man in leadership that represents authority and institutionalism. This can be looked at in a more positive way by considering him as a father figure or leader. However, whenever I pull this card, it seems to be about a person who has had a negative influence on the subject’s life.

The Moon

Being a cancer sun, it feels wrong for me to have my ruling planet so low on this list. When I think of the moon, I think about the emotion and inherent power it holds. This card takes those ideas into a darker context, and represents mystery and illusions which I think takes a bit away from the healing energy of the moon.

The Hanged Man

This card always makes me feel bad pulling it for a subject. It represents surrender and endings, which is hard to tell people that are seeking future improvement. I always feel a bit disappointed when I pull this card because I like to encourage others not to give up or lose hope.

The Tower

The Tower is a card full of aggressive, negative energy. It represents chaos and change. These things can be good, especially when the upheaval is invoking positive changes. However, the inherent violence and fear associated with it tend to cast a shadow over a whole area of the reading.

The Devil

This card probably seems like an obvious least favorite. It’s clear what The Devil represents: evils and temptation. This is probably the card with the worst energy in the deck, and I feel like it always throws off the subject when it’s pulled.

If you’re just getting into tarot, I hope this has helped you learn a little bit more about some cards. If you’re a seasoned professional, I hope that maybe we share some opinions or you considered a new perspective on a card that you hadn’t thought of before. Again, all cards in a deck are important and meaningful, and they can’t just be taken at face value. Each person is going to have a different opinion on their favorite cards, and they’ll love each for a different reason. 

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