The Complete Major Arcana Chart · All 22 Tarot Cards at a Glance
The Major Arcana are the 22 trump cards of the Tarot, numbered 0 (The Fool) to 21 (The World), that trace the soul's journey through life's defining lessons. This chart gives every card's number, upright and reversed meaning, and key theme, free to read here and to download as a printable PDF.
The Major Arcana are the 22 great cards of the Tarot · the numbered trumps, from 0 The Fool to XXI The World, that trace the soul's journey through life's defining lessons. This is the complete reference chart for all 22 Major Arcana cards: each card's number, upright and reversed keywords, and key theme, free to read on this page and free to download as a printable PDF. Every card links to its full guide.
When the trumps start calling you deeper, you can learn Tarot online with Mary K. Greer and the rest of our published-author faculty.
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Major Arcana Meanings · All 22 Cards
Every card of the Major Arcana, in traditional Rider-Waite-Smith order · from the Fool's first step through to the completion of the World. Each row gives the card's number, its upright and reversed keywords, and its key theme. Each card links to its complete guide · full meaning, reversed meaning, and its role in love and career readings.
| Card | No. | Upright Keywords | Reversed Keywords | Key Theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Fool | 0 | beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, freedom, faith | recklessness, naivety, folly, irresponsibility, stagnation | beginnings, innocence, spontaneity |
| The Magician | I | manifestation, will, skill, power, concentration | manipulation, trickery, wasted talent, deception, scattered | manifestation, will, skill |
| The High Priestess | II | intuition, mystery, inner wisdom, patience, the unconscious | secrets, repression, disconnection, surface-level, blocked intuition | intuition, mystery, inner wisdom |
| The Empress | III | abundance, fertility, nurturing, creativity, sensuality | dependence, creative block, smothering, neglect, overindulgence | abundance, fertility, nurturing |
| The Emperor | IV | authority, structure, stability, leadership, discipline | tyranny, rigidity, domination, inflexibility, control | authority, structure, stability |
| The Hierophant | V | tradition, teaching, institution, faith, conformity | rebellion, dogma, hypocrisy, restriction, unorthodoxy | tradition, teaching, institution |
| The Lovers | VI | love, choice, union, harmony, partnership | disharmony, temptation, misalignment, indecision, imbalance | love, choice, union |
| The Chariot | VII | victory, willpower, determination, control, triumph | lack of control, aggression, defeat, directionless, forcing | victory, willpower, determination |
| Strength | VIII | courage, patience, compassion, inner strength, gentle mastery | self-doubt, weakness, overwhelm, cruelty, insecurity | courage, patience, compassion |
| The Hermit | IX | introspection, solitude, wisdom, guidance, soul-searching | isolation, loneliness, withdrawal, avoidance, misanthropy | introspection, solitude, wisdom |
| Wheel of Fortune | X | cycles, fate, change, destiny, turning point | bad luck, resistance, stagnation, repetition, setbacks | cycles, fate, change |
| Justice | XI | justice, truth, fairness, accountability, karma | injustice, dishonesty, bias, avoidance, imbalance | justice, truth, fairness |
| The Hanged Man | XII | surrender, new perspective, sacrifice, patience, letting go | stalling, martyrdom, resistance, victimhood, stuck | surrender, new perspective, sacrifice |
| Death | XIII | transformation, ending, transition, release, rebirth | resistance, stagnation, fear of change, clinging, decay | transformation, ending, transition |
| Temperance | XIV | balance, moderation, patience, integration, alchemy | imbalance, excess, impatience, misalignment, extremes | balance, moderation, patience |
| The Devil | XV | bondage, shadow, addiction, materialism, temptation | liberation, breaking free, detachment, shadow work, reclamation | bondage, shadow, addiction |
| The Tower | XVI | upheaval, revelation, destruction, breakthrough, crisis | avoidance, fear, resistance, delayed collapse, narrow escape | upheaval, revelation, destruction |
| The Star | XVII | hope, inspiration, healing, serenity, renewal | despair, disconnection, hopelessness, cynicism, doubt | hope, inspiration, healing |
| The Moon | XVIII | illusion, fear, unconscious, confusion, dreams | clarity emerging, facing fears, overcoming illusion, release, truth | illusion, fear, unconscious |
| The Sun | XIX | joy, clarity, vitality, success, truth | sadness, delay, blocked joy, clouded vision, diminished | joy, clarity, vitality |
| Judgement | XX | rebirth, calling, awakening, judgement, absolution | self-doubt, avoidance, refusal, delayed awakening, fear | rebirth, calling, awakening |
| The World | XXI | completion, wholeness, fulfilment, integration, celebration | incompletion, delay, unfinished, shortcuts, unfulfilled | completion, wholeness, fulfilment |
Upright keywords describe the card in its natural, forward-flowing position; reversed keywords apply when the card appears upside-down or when its energy is blocked, delayed, or turned inward. The numbering follows the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, in which Strength is VIII and Justice is XI · the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn swapped the two from the older Marseille order to align with their astrological attributions.
The Fool's Journey · The 22 Cards as One Story
Read in order, the Major Arcana tell a single story · the Fool's Journey, the soul's passage from innocence to wholeness. The 22 cards fall naturally into three movements. For each card in depth, see the complete guide to all 22 Major Arcana cards.
Building the Self · The Fool to the Chariot (0–VII)
The Fool leaps into life as pure potential and meets the forces that shape identity in the outer world: the will of the Magician, the intuition of the High Priestess, the abundance of the Empress, the authority of the Emperor, the tradition of the Hierophant, the choice of the Lovers, and the hard-won mastery of the Chariot. This is the building of the ego and the conquest of the world.
Turning Inward · Strength to Temperance (VIII–XIV)
Having mastered the outer world, the Fool turns to face the inner one: taming instinct with Strength, seeking wisdom in the Hermit's solitude, meeting fate at the Wheel of Fortune, facing consequence with Justice, surrendering control as the Hanged Man, dying to the old self in Death, and learning the middle way through Temperance. These are the trials that mature the soul.
Toward Wholeness · The Devil to the World (XV–XXI)
The final movement passes through the deepest territory and out into the light: confronting bondage in the Devil, weathering the shattering of the Tower, finding hope in the Star, crossing the dark night of the Moon, being reborn in the joy of the Sun, answering the call of Judgement, and arriving at the completion and integration of the World. The journey ends in wholeness · and begins again.
The full chart, laid out to print · keep it beside your deck as you learn.
Ready to go beyond keywords? The Major Arcana come fully alive when you learn to read them for the questions people actually bring to a reading · explore Reading the Major Arcana for Life's Real Questions, a guided course in working with the trumps. And because every one of these cards can appear reversed, The Complete Guide to Tarot Reversals teaches you to read the inverted meanings with confidence.
Sources & Tradition
The meanings presented here follow the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, drawn from A.E. Waite's The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) and the symbolic imagery of Pamela Colman Smith. The numbering · with Strength at VIII and Justice at XI · follows the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, along with the astrological and elemental correspondences assigned to each trump. Modern interpretive nuance draws on Rachel Pollack's Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (1980) and the archetypal readings of Sallie Nichols. These meanings are taught at Global Spiritual Studies by our faculty of Tarot instructors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 22 Major Arcana cards in order?
The 22 Major Arcana run in a fixed sequence from 0 to XXI: 0 The Fool, I The Magician, II The High Priestess, III The Empress, IV The Emperor, V The Hierophant, VI The Lovers, VII The Chariot, VIII Strength, IX The Hermit, X Wheel of Fortune, XI Justice, XII The Hanged Man, XIII Death, XIV Temperance, XV The Devil, XVI The Tower, XVII The Star, XVIII The Moon, XIX The Sun, XX Judgement, and XXI The World. In the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, Strength is VIII and Justice is XI · the Golden Dawn swapped the two from the older Marseille order to match their astrological attributions.
What is a Major Arcana chart?
A Major Arcana chart is a printable reference that lists all 22 Major Arcana Tarot cards with their number, upright and reversed keywords, and core theme. The chart on this page is the complete version · every card in order, free to read here and free to print as a PDF · so you can see the whole Fool's Journey at a glance and look up any card's meaning in seconds.
What is the difference between the Major and Minor Arcana?
The Major Arcana are the 22 named, numbered trump cards · the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess, and so on · that speak to life's great themes, turning points, and spiritual lessons. The 56 Minor Arcana cards are the suit cards (Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands) that describe the practical texture of daily life. When Major cards dominate a reading, forces larger than the everyday are at work; Minor cards fill in the circumstances around them.
What is the Fool Tarot meaning?
The Fool is card 0 of the Major Arcana · the leap of faith that begins the whole journey. Upright, the Fool Tarot meaning is new beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, freedom, and faith · stepping into the unknown with an open heart. Reversed, it warns of recklessness, naivety, and folly · a leap taken without looking. The Fool is the soul who will meet every other Major Arcana card in turn.
What is the High Priestess meaning?
The High Priestess is card II, the guardian of the unseen. Her upright meaning is intuition, mystery, inner wisdom, patience, and the unconscious · the sense that the answer is already within you, waiting to be felt rather than reasoned. Reversed, the High Priestess meaning points to secrets, repression, and a disconnection from that quiet inner voice.
What is the Star Tarot meaning?
The Star is card XVII, the card of hope after hardship. Upright, the Star Tarot meaning is hope, inspiration, healing, serenity, and renewal · the calm that arrives once the Tower has fallen and the sky clears. Reversed, it can signal despair, disconnection, or a temporary loss of faith · the light is still there, but harder to see.
A complete reference, free to print and keep · return to it whenever you read the cards.
