Dumb Law of the Day:

In Natchez, Missouri, it is against the law to provide beer or other intoxicants to elephants.

The mind boggles...

Last week, we considered the two different sorts of cards in the Tarot deck; the Major Arcana (trumps), and the Minor Arcana (not trumps). This week, we are going to focus on the Major Arcana.

The Major Arcana consists of 21 numbered cards, plus The Fool, who has been given the number 0. (Some non-standard Tarot decks have more than 22 trump cards, and if you are using a deck that has more than 22 trump cards, that's fine.) Even in the Rider-Waite influenced decks, some of the trumps may be numbered differently. Again, we're not going to worry about that in just now. We're going to have some fun with the pictures.

This week, we're going to study the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Separate the Major Arcana cards in your Tarot deck from the Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana cards will be numbered 0 – 21 (perhaps in Roman numerals, perhaps not). Spread the cards out so you can get a good look at them. If your tabletop is too small, use the floor. The object is to get all the cards spread, so you can look at all of them at once.

Study the cards, and study them in detail. Ask yourself the questions we considered last week. When you feel familiar with the cards, choose the one card that sums up the kind of day you had yesterday. For example, if you went hiking, you might choose The Fool. Once you've chosen your card, it is a good idea to write the name of your card and why you chose it in a journal or notebook. (You're going to be gleaning a lot of information in the next few weeks!)

Pick up your Major Arcana, put your selected card back into it, and still keeping the Major's separate from the rest of the deck, shuffle them. Once they've been shuffled, choose a card at random. You'll need to write down the name and a brief description of this card somewhere, so you can refer back to the information later. Refer again to the questions from last week, and answer them with the information from this card.

Tomorrow, or later in the week, look back over the notes you made regarding the random trump card you chose for this exercise. As you read your notes, consider the type of day you had that day. In what ways did the notes you made about this card correspond to the sort of day you had? Did anything that observed about the card occur in your day? Did you notice anything about your card that might be attributed to the theme running through your day? 

The purpose of these exercises is to start to understand how the images on the Tarot are speaking to you. I'm reminded of the line in the film Smoke Signals, when Thomas has just returned back to his grandmother, after his adventure with Victor.

"Tell me what happened. Tell me what is going to happen..."