I never did like the idea of using the tarot as a tool for divination or foretelling the future and so when I started hearing the idea that it was actually a sort of ancient "text" written in symbolic code, I began my attempt to decipher it. This work is by no means complete, yet it continues to call my interest from time to time - and as long as I use this study as a means to engage my life instead of escaping it, it will always render meaningful and useful results.

A simple linear progression of the tarot cards doesn't seem to make much sense, is hard to follow, and what I could get out of it was impossible to verify in mundane life so I had to find a pattern that was easier to follow.

One of the most striking things about the trumps has for me always been the visual similarity between the "Angel" or "Lovers" card and the "Devil" card - (numbers VI and XV respectively). More subtle but still obvious are the similarities between the "High Priestess" (II) and "Justice" (XI) cards and the "Fool" (0) and "Hermit" (IX) cards. The fact that laying out the first nine trumps over the second nine results in pairing up all of these similar cards defies coincidence and therefore merits a deeper look.

There are four more trumps after the first pair-of-nines which probably represent the four elements and correspond to the four suits of the minor arcana -- more about that later.

The first pair of cards, Fool and Hermit, are different versions of the significator - the self. The Fool represents the self's innocent, wanton side - the expansive and adventurous dare-devil part of ourselves. The Hermit represents the other part of ourselves - caution, wisdom gained from experience (experiences gained no doubt from Fool-ish adventures). These two sides are necessary to each other to ensure a long and interesting life.

The second pair, Magus and Wheel represent respectively the manipulation of higher forces and the unstoppable impersonal juggernaut of fate. The common theme is an awareness of things on a larger than personal scale.

The third pair, High Priestess and Justice, show bringing the larger scale higher forces closer to the mundane level (or vice-versa). The High Priestess seeks to curry the "favor of the gods" through the use of arcane esoteric knowledge while the (archetypal) Justice tries to bring personal behaviors into line with some concept of a higher good.

The fourth pair, the Empress - representing fertility, and the Hanged Man - representing patient suffering, really gave me pause. What could the one possibly have to do with the other? Then in a sudden flash of insight I realized that if she represents fertility, the Empress must be pregnant! From what little I know about pregnancy I understand that it's not-very-comfortable, and that nine months is a looong time. So fertility, regeneration, does involve patient suffering. This also hints that the Hanged Man is undergoing his own suffering for the sake of some sort of inner growth that can't be hurried. On an absolutely mundane level, there is always a long period of time between the start of any self-improvement efforts and discernible results.

The fifth pair of trumps is the Emperor and Death. The Emperor represents power of a worldly sort . Death represents great changes. - the power to change things. More to the point, Death is impartial and so must the Emperor be - otherwise one's power can be manipulated or be enslaved by appetites.

The sixth pair - Hierophant & Temperance are more arcane than most. First, the Hierophant is not the pope, but the person that translates the pope's revelations to the acolytes - his development is somewhere between them - or more in the vernacular, the pope is in the ozone, the hierophant is in the stratosphere, and the acolytes are on the mountain-top. The only thing I could find in the books about Temperance is that it probably referred to the old practice of mixing water with wine to "temper" it - making it more palatable. -- The intense and concentrated must be diluted with the mundane in order to be useful - in order to be absorbed.

The seventh pair is the Angel (or Lovers) and Devil. These two cards are pretty universally recognized as representing the two sides of our nature - sacred and profane love as it were.

The eighth pair consists of the Chariot and the Tower. The Chariot represents single-minded will ... all of one's forces are marshalled towards one purpose. The Tower (or "Blasted Tower") represents an upheaval in one's life - a catastrophic change. These two can be mutually causal. On the one hand a great shock has been known to galvanize people singularly and en masse to attain single- minded will. On the other hand a single-minded will is likely to turn over the whole of one's life.

Finally, the ninth pair, Strength and the Star. Strength is known to refer to a kind of inner moral strength. Not what I call "book-larning morality" but the power to do "the right thing" from the heart. The books are vague about the Star, but one of them referred to the fact that the ancient mariners and nomads used the stars as guides. So for the last pair of trumps we have moral strength and guidance - both necessary to each other.

An interesting note is that as Strength and its moral connotations leads implicitly to the next card in the numerical sequence, the Hermit, the guidance and clarity implied by the Star readies one to burst forth into the world as the adventurous Fool. So the first eighteen trumps can be seen as a moebius strip -type sequence of conceptual pairs.

The last four trumps represent the four elements and corresponds to the four suits of the minor arcana.

The Moon (XVIII) with its connection to tides, moods, Cancer etc. represents the element of Water and corresponds to the Cups suit.

The Sun (XIX) represents the element of Fire and correspond to the Wands suit.

The Last Judgement (XX) - because of my Christian childhood this card causes a visceral reaction in me that brings me down inside myself. For that I assume it represents the element of Earth and corresponds to the Pentacles suit.

Finally, the World (XXI) with its grand associations, the dance of the universe, the dance of Maya - goddess of illusion, represents the element of Air and corresponds to the Swords suit.