the major arcana

 

The Major Arcana is probably the most recognizable suit in any tarot deck. More than, for instance, the Ten of Cups or the Three of Arms, people know the Fool or Death or Lovers cards from the Major Arcana. These cards are meant to encompass many of the larger aspects of life. In broad, bold strokes, they discuss birth, gender, relationships, death, strength and weakness, riches and poverty, the cosmos, and many of the basic elements of the lives we live and the environments in which we live them. Early in the research stages of the Sickly Tarot, F. arrived at the opinion that he didn’t like when tarot artists greatly alter or add to these cards’ names, meanings, or forms. The design for these cards dictated many of the rules F. followed when going about adapting the structure of his style to the tarot as a whole. While every tarot deck offers a new slant on all the cards in the deck, maintaining a sort of one-to-one adaptation of the established forms is important in a successful, coherent tarot deck, with the Major Arcana as a keystone that many gravitate to, as they are typically clear, straightforward, and immediately relatable, containing much of their themes in their very titles in a way that much of the rest of a tarot deck does not.