by Triple Water Astrology

Created on: March 13, 2009

Tarot conjures up all kinds of images about fortune telling. Fortune telling's mystique seems to be wrapped around crystal balls and mysterious cards. Tarot is very powerful, and deserves its due respect. But tarot is just an oracle. Knowing the meaning of the cards is important, as well as how they work together. Many people are probably unaware that the major arcana of the tarot deck, consisting of 22 cards, can be arranged in an 'eternal loop' that shows how the cards are separated and paired in relation to the mysteries of life and the trials all of us must face to grow spiritually.

If you have a tarot deck, place the cards in a loop beginning with the Fool and ending with the Wheel of Fortune. This represents the outer, masculine world and corresponds with the Sun. Continue another loop, with the Justice card, below the Fool card, and make a second loop under the first, ending with the World card on top of the Wheel of Fortune card. The lower loop represents the inner, feminine world and corresponds with the Moon.

Notice that the bottom loop is more abstract, in that the cards represent ideas, or some kind of profound figure (such as the Hanged Man). The top loop also has some abstract cards, but especially towards the beginning simply has cards with people on them. The Wheel of Fortune and the World cards signify the crossing point between the inner and outer worlds. Also notice that the last card, the World, simply leads back to the Fool again. Hence, the eternal loop - the soul's journey, apparently, goes through several points on a cycle and then simply moves to another, presumably more sophisticated, cycle.

Also notice how the loop is comprised to show how pairs of cards are opposites, yet complement each other. The Fool card pairs up with Judgement, the Magician pairs up with the Sun, the Papess pairs up with the Moon, and so on. A thorough study of each pair in the eternal loop is called for by serious students of tarot, but some of the pairs are obvious. The Pope and the Devil are hand-in-hand. They are certainly opposed to each other, but where would they be without each other? Interestingly, the Lovers are paired with Temperance. Wild passion's opposite is calm self-control. But one could not exist without the other. (Each card also certainly has a deeper meaning; the Lovers card signifies partnership, for example.) The Magician is paired with the Sun, which overtly shows that the Magician has masculine qualities, along with the fact that a rank beginner along the spiritual path must have some kind of ultimate reward, a long way from his or her grasp, for motivation.

Tarot always offers some kind of new opportunity for enlightenment and study, and the eternal loop is a good example of its profundity.

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