The 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot de Marseille
The Tarot de Marseille is one of the best-known divinatory card decks in France. Its symbolic core lies in its 22 Major Arcana, cards illustrated with a figure or a scene. Here is where the deck comes from, how it is organised and how it is used today.
An origin that began as a game
Tarot was born in Italy in the middle of the 15th century as a card game: the "tarocchi". A series of illustrated trump cards was added to the usual four suits. The game spread across Europe, and the "Marseille" pattern settled in the 17th and 18th centuries, thanks in particular to the card makers of that city, whose engravings long served as a reference.
Its use for divination came later. It appears in the 18th century, when authors such as Antoine Court de Gébelin attributed a mysterious origin to the cards, one now considered to have no historical basis. It is these symbolic readings, later enriched by other authors, that turned tarot into a tool of divination.
How the deck is made up
A full deck has 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana, split into four suits (batons, cups, swords, coins). The word "arcana" means a secret, something hidden. The Major Arcana are numbered in Roman numerals, except for the Fool, who has no number, and card XIII, which carries no name on traditional decks.
| No. | Arcanum | No. | Arcanum |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | The Fool | XII | The Hanged Man |
| I | The Magician | XIII | The Nameless Arcanum |
| II | The Popess | XIV | Temperance |
| III | The Empress | XV | The Devil |
| IV | The Emperor | XVI | The House of God |
| V | The Pope | XVII | The Star |
| VI | The Lover | XVIII | The Moon |
| VII | The Chariot | XIX | The Sun |
| VIII | Justice | XX | Judgement |
| IX | The Hermit | XXI | The World |
| X | The Wheel of Fortune | ||
| XI | Strength |
In the Tarot de Marseille, Justice is the eighth card and Strength the eleventh. Other decks, such as the English-language Rider-Waite tarot, swap these two numbers.
What each card evokes
The Major Arcana are traditionally seen as stages or archetypes. The Magician evokes initiative and new beginnings. The Popess points to inner knowledge, the Emperor to authority and structure. The Hermit symbolises stepping back and reflection, the Wheel of Fortune a change of cycle. The Sun is associated with clarity and joy, the World with fulfilment.
No card has a fixed meaning. The same card reads differently depending on its place in the spread, the neighbouring cards and the question asked. Some tarot readers focus mainly on the images, others rely on numbers and symbols; there are therefore several schools, sometimes at odds with one another.
How it is used today
A simple spread consists of choosing one, three or five cards after forming a question. The three-card spread is often read as past, present, future, or as situation, obstacle, advice. Many people use tarot as a prompt for reflection: the images serve as a starting point for putting words to a situation.
To try it for yourself, the free tarot reading lets you draw a few cards and read a description of each. The Tarot page presents this practice and its variants more broadly.
Tarot does not predict anything in any proven way: it offers a symbolic framework for reading. These practices are a matter of belief and entertainment and do not replace medical, legal or financial advice.