The Tarot Major Arcana is a map of the progression of Human Spiritual Awakening through the centuries of the Age of Pisces, beginning with The Fool (0-99AD) and ending with The World (2100-2199).
Each of the 22 cards represent the influences at work in each of the 22 centuries.
From 2000-2099 we are under the influence of the number 20 card, Judgement.
Stimulated to find mythical connections with the pandemic in 2020, I had an epiphany about the hidden meaning of the Tarot Major Arcana. Creators of mythical stories and systems are not always consciously aware of the deepest spiritual themes within their works. Their subconscious minds present archetypal ideas which can be interpreted on many levels. Though the tarot can be used in many ways, I now feel that its primary purpose is to illuminate the awakening of consciousness in the Piscean Age.
Jesus was the herald of the Age of Pisces, the anthropomorphism of its potential. Pisces is the most spiritual, sensitive and intuitive sign, but it is also prone to delusion and glamour. Throughout the Age of Pisces humanity has been awakening to a new way of being, moving away from worshiping external gods and goddesses into the realization of oneness with God / Source that Jesus taught.
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus and his sacred connection with Mary Magdalene at the beginning of the age of Pisces, represents the possibility of spiritual awakening for humanity during this age.
The Major Arcana through the Centuries of the Age of Pisces
The Fool
0 – 99 AD
Positive
New Beginnings, leap of faith, enthusiasm, innocence, spontaneity
Negative
Naivety, risk-taking, distraction, stupidity, recklessness
In ancient times the Fool was someone who was made ‘king for a day’ and then sacrificed for the benefit of the people and land.
The Fool represents Jesus himself: a completely new idea arriving fully formed, fresh and innocent. Jesus’ teaching presented humanity with a blueprint for realization of the highest Piscean ideals of kindness, gentleness, healing and compassion.
The negative side of the Fool shows how naively people responded to Jesus’ teaching. What was presented as a way of understanding our true place in the Universe, was twisted into the idea that there is only one son / sun of God and that only he can save us. Jesus’ supporters and detractors alike projected their materialistic view of the Universe onto him, turning something which was available for everyone – a metaphor for personal spiritual awakening – into an external belief system which would become more and more materialistic and institutionalized over the centuries.
The Magician
100 – 199 AD
Positive
Creation, magic, the Conscious Mind, action, skills, manifestation
Negative
Trickery, dishonesty, narcissism, manipulation, over confidence
The possibility of self realization for humanity gained momentum as Christianity became distinct from Judaism, forming its own identity. Free thinking mystics like the gnostics attempted to realize Jesus’ teachings in their own experience.
The High Priestess
200-299 AD
Positive
Female intuition, inner voice, the subconscious mind, the balance between the physical and the mental, spiritual wisdom
Negative
Secrets, doubts, emotional imbalance, incorrect judgement, psychic blockage
Before Rome institutionalized Christianity, women had a significant role within it. At this stage Christianity was still connected to the intuitive, mystical feminine qualities associated with The High Priestess.
The Empress
300 – 399 AD
Positive
Nurturing, fertility, abundance, self expression
Negative
Disease, overbearing, dependence, creative blockages
During this century Constantine the Great became the first Roman Emperor to adopt Christianity. This created a more secure, harmonious environment for Christians, who had previously been persecuted.
The Emperor
400 – 499
Positive
Leadership, authority, discipline, control, power
Negative
Stubbornness, egotistical, controlling, authoritarian, undisciplined
The rise of Germanic tribes led to the collapse of the Western Roman empire. According to Wikipedia, in the 5th century within Christianity, “…there were many developments which led to further fracturing of the State church of the Roman Empire”. This century saw power struggles for leadership within Christianity.
The Hierophant
500 – 599 AD
Positive
Spiritual authority, teacher / student, communicating spiritual or religious beliefs, expansion.
Negative
Dogma, institutionalized religion, dull mind
Gregory 1 was the Pope who Is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregorian Mission, to convert the then largely pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. According to legend, St. Brendan of Ireland set sail for the Blessed Isle and discovered America. The Life Path number of the USA is 5.
The Lovers
600 – 699 AD
Positive
Love, choice (often between sacred and profane), good decisions, virtue, harmony
Negative
Conflict, vice, lost love, bad choices, self-love
Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England began around 600, influenced by the Gregorian mission from the southeast and the Hiberno-Scottish mission from the northwest. Arwald, the last pagan Anglo-Saxon king was killed in 686. Islam began.
The Chariot
700 – 799 AD
Positive
Focus, ambition, goals, willpower, conquest
Negative
Lack of direction, instability, egotistical, opposition, overly aggressive
The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic domination. The Vikings begin raiding the coasts of Europe and the Mediterranean, and go on to found several important kingdoms. A time of new conquests.
Strength
800 – 899 AD
Positive
Inner and physical strength, courage, overcoming adversity, fearlessness, mastering vices and desires
Negative
Weakness, no self-discipline, giving in to urges and desires, arrogance
Alfred the Great, the first King to unite the Anglo-Saxons in England reigned. He endured defeats by the Vikings to emerge victorious as a liberal ruler, bringing the country together through good governance and reforms.
The Hermit
900 – 999 AD
Positive
Inner guidance, sanctuary, self-discovery, self-reliance, understanding
Negative
Loneliness, isolation, exclusion, rejection, outsider, missionary complex
The historian Lynn White mentions of the 900s that “to the modern eye, it is very nearly the darkest of the Dark Ages… if it was dark, it was the darkness of the womb”. Caesar Baronius described it as the Iron Century, because it was ‘iron in its harshness and in its sterility of goodness’.
The Wheel of Fortune
1000 – 1099 AD
Positive
Good fortune, new positive cycle begins, optimism
Negative
Karmic retribution, resistance to change
In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. This century saw a positive shift out of the Dark Ages.
Justice
1100 – 1199 AD
Positive
Justice, fairness, truth, cause and effect, law
Negative
Unfairness, lack of accountability, dishonesty, disharmony
The height of Golden Ages of the Cistercians and Islam. A time of relative balance.
The Hanged Man
1200 – 1299 AD
Positive
Dealing with difficult situations calmly, surrender
Negative
Feeling stuck, unable to deal with pressure, indecision
In numerology 1 is the primary masculine energy and 2, the primary feminine. The 1 (masculine) before 2 (feminine) of the 1200’s symbolized masculine over feminine. In 1209 Simon de Montfort led the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars, a spiritual community which honoured the divine feminine and considered men and women spiritual practitioners equal. The massacre of the Cathars was described by Raphael Lemkin in his book Lemkin on Genocide as “one of the most conclusive cases of genocide in religious history”.
Death
1300 – 1399 AD
Positive
Endings, change, transformation, transition
Negative
Resistance to change, struggle, difficulties, disease and death
100 Years War between England and France. The Black Death. “One of the most fatal pandemics in human history, as many as 50 million people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe’s 14th century population.”
Temperance
1400 – 1499 AD
Positive
Balance, moderation, patience, common sense
Negative
Imbalance, excess, out of control
Beginning of the Age of Exploration by European nations. The Numerology Life Path number of the United States is 14/5 (freedom and communication). In the picture, the Angel steps into the water and the Sun rises in the background over a mountain: symbols of exploration.
The Devil
1500 – 1599 AD
Positive
Prosperity, physical pleasure, art and music
Negative
Enslavement to materialism, addiction
The rise of Empire. The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science.
The Tower
1600 – 1699 AD
Positive
Revelation, awakening, empowering shift, averting disaster through wisdom
Negative
Resistance to transformation causes suffering, disaster
The English civil war would culminate in an end to the dominance of the English monarchy. By the end of the century, Europeans were masters of logarithms, electricity, the telescope and microscope, calculus, universal gravitation, Newton’s Laws of Motion, air pressure, and calculating machines due to the work of the first scientists of the Scientific Revolution, including Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, René Descartes, Pierre Fermat, Blaise Pascal, Robert Boyle Christiaan Huygens, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. It was also a period of development of culture in general (especially theater, music, visual arts and philosophy). Some of the greatest inventions took place in this century. Rosicrucianism began.
The Star
1700 – 1799 AD
Positive
Optimism, renewal, blessing, faith
Negative
New opportunities based in selfishness, lack of faith, despair, disconnection
The Age of Enlightenment began and ideas critical of absolutist monarchies began to spread. A revolutionary wave soon occurred, with the aim of ending monarchical rule, emphasizing the ideals of the Enlightenment, and spreading liberalism. The Industrial Revolution began during mid-century, leading to radical changes in human society and the environment.
The Moon
1800 – 1899 AD
Positive
Connecting with subconscious mind, intuition, sensitivity, going ‘beneath the surface’
Negative
Inner confusion, illusion, self-deception
Asian wisdom discovered by Europeans, which led to new forms of spirituality. Ancient Indian, Chinese, Greek and Egyptian wisdom was integrated into esoteric Christianity in movements such as The Theosophical Society and New Thought. Beginning of psychology. Increase in underground coal mining. The process of modern drilling for oil started.
The Sun
1900 – 1999 AD
Positive
Positivity, fun, growth, success, vitality, individuality, enlightenment
Negative
Arrogance, dictatorship, narcissism, overly optimistic, depression
Higher standards of living. World wars. Rise of dictators such as Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung and Pol Pot. Rise of spiritual gurus such J. Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi, Adi Da, Osho, Barry Long and Eckhart Tolle. Rise of Feminism. Acknowledgement of the teenager, as a transitionary phase between childhood and adulthood. Mass popularity of movie and music stars.
The 1900s was also known as the 20th century. The masculine 1 which began in 1000 with the Wheel of Fortune, reached its apex and gradually began to transition into the feminine 2. The millennium ended with a number 1 year: 1+9+9+9=19/1.
The century was a very important stage in The Fool’s individuation. The filmmaker Adam Curtis described it as The Century of Self, during which people focused more upon their individual needs than ever before. The negative aspect of The Sun card manifested strongly as a kind of Lucifer complex: people putting their selfish desires before what was actually good for them.
The 1900s was the most materialistic stage in the Fool’s journey. The energy of The Sun sustained feelings of confidence and optimism, keeping most people superficially focused on future goals.
Judgement
2000 – 2099 AD
Positive
Positive discernment, rebirth, inner calling, wisdom
Negative
Lack of discernment, ignorance, ignoring the call
The Fool (humanity) is almost at the end of its journey and must integrate what it has learned into both a polarity shift from masculine (1000 – 1999) to feminine (2000 – 2999) and from the age of Pisces to the age of Aquarius. In the 21st century humanity is being tested to determine which kind of World we will incarnate into next. Will we embody the positive Piscean traits of compassion, intuition and spirituality, or be lost in delusion and glamour?
The picture shows the dead arising and being judged by the Angel. This is a symbol for the judgement of our ability to overcome limiting ancestral conditioning through compassion and intuition.
2020 was double Judgement.
- In 2020 the choices and decisions we made about personal sovereignty, health and well being, had a profoundly important influence on the kind of World we will next incarnate into. Under Judgement the underlying neuroses governing our behaviour are being manifested into experience faster than ever before.
It is imperative that we exercise discernment, making our own decisions rather than ceding responsibility to another, no matter who it is. Under Judgement, ignorance is no excuse. This is the time to have faith in your power and to live as if you are already in The World you would like to be a part of.
The World
2100 – 2199 AD
Positive
Heaven on Earth, alignment with highest purpose, completion, integration, accomplishment
Negative
Disempowerment, feeling trapped, lost in materialism
In the Age of Pisces, the combined influence of Pisces (spirit) and Virgo (body) requires that we learn to engage subconscious and conscious understanding together, to evolve beyond our familiar known environment into Universal beings. Space exploration is an external metaphor for this ascension into superconsciousness. The challenge of the Age of Pisces is for our conscious mind to relax its incomplete understanding of life as an objective conceptual experience, into the deeper, pre-rational subjective wholeness of our subconscious mind, where everything is simply as it is.
Jesus spoke of the conscious mind’s limitations when he said “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent me”. John 5:30. Likewise, “He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-4.
The Kingdom of Heaven is the heavens – our Universal experience, which prior to conceptualization by the rational mind, is perceived as purely subjective. Through the Age of Pisces we are evolving into individualized points of awareness within Universal Mind.