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The triunfi naturally fall into 3 groups of 7 cards. It originally followed neoplatonic symbolism back in the 1400s. The 3 states through which a developing soul evolves. Soul of Appetite [body] soul of courage [heart] soul of reason [higher mind]. Many different iterations since then. I like your modern take on the 3 phases.

@Darrell you get more freedoms around the place and more areas when you hit 5 posts 🙂

I'm already digging into stuff, Nice to meet you!

Welcome I have not been here long, yet. I love it here 😊 I am sure you'll find interesting content and connections here.

Hey all, I’ve been reflecting lately on how the Major Arcana can be read as a symbolic journey — not just a sequence of cards, but a narrative arc. The Fool’s Journey is often described this way: a soul’s evolution through encounters, from innocence to wisdom. Personally, I like to tell the story in three phases: Awakening — where the Fool leaps into life and begins forming identity through will, desire, and structure (Cards 0–VII: The Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot) Surrender — where the Fool turns inward, confronting emotion, solitude, and transformation (Cards VIII–XIV: Strength, Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance) Transcendence — where the Fool faces shadow, illusion, and ultimately returns to wholeness (Cards XV–XXI: Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgment, World) It’s not a rigid framework, just a way I’ve found meaningful when reflecting. Each phase feels like a distinct passage — and together, they form a cycle of becoming. I’ve been journaling about Tarot for a long time, and this three-phase arc first appeared in my notes nearly twenty years ago. It’s evolved slowly, shaped more by reflection than expertise. I don’t claim to be an expert — just someone with a long-standing curiosity that’s helped me make sense of the cards over time. I’m curious how others here see it. Do you read the Major Arcana as a journey? If so, how do you tell it? Do you break it into phases, or see it as one continuous arc? And if you don’t see it that way at all — what speaks to you instead? Would love to hear how you approach it, whether in readings, teaching, or personal reflection. Sincerely, Darrell

What a lovely colorful deck! Most of my pip decks are historic tarocchi or tdm. One can plainly see if cups are reversed--but not so much the other suits. For example swords you might only be able to see a reversal on the odd number cards but not the even numbers. of course one can still see reversals on courts or trumps. So I might use reversals if i read that way generally--but since I don't use reversals generally speaking I carry that across. If you normally use reversals its worth a try to experiment and see if you like it for pip decks. I don't think Ben Dov teaches reversals in his book--but it's been years since i read it. My general impression is the books I've read on TdM don't teach reversals--but I might be mistaken.

Hi everyone, Thank you all for the warm welcome — it truly means a lot. I’m still finding my footing here, and it’s encouraging to be greeted with such kindness. It’s nice to be among like minded people, and I’m looking forward to learning from everyone. Thanks again for making the first step feel so supported. Darrell

There are a huge amount of ways for "alternative" / or "poor mans psychotherapy" as my mother calls it. Ah yes - I bet they do! Have you eaten? 🫠😁 I also don't like "I trust that you are well?" - so "I'm forcing my goodwill on you" type of thing. Lol.

Welcome to the community @Darrell Glad you found us here 😀

Hello @Darrell welcome to the TT&M Family

A lot of the cards for this one still have a couple of upright cups. It makes me think of something I'm stealing from Crowley: When life has been easy, any disturbance of that is going to feel like 5C 'Disappointment'. I could be disappointed a summer vacation is ending and it's back to normal life. Imagine if someone were a billionaire and lost a whopping 80% of their wealth. Then they'd only be a multi-millionaire 🤑, and I'm sure it would feel like a huge disappointment. But to most of us either number is like the Thoth 4 of Cups: 'Luxury'. I don't mean to downplay disappointment. We could be in a bad place already emotionally and then lose what little sense of well-being we felt we had. In which case, it can be lonely and difficult to get through it. And then some. But I like that this art isn't usually 5 Cups overturned -- not because 2 is more positive, but because having some up and some down is more interesting of an idea to me.

@Darrell Hello and welcome to the Tarot Community! 👋

Thank you a lot this is a good one

Can Tarot answer these questions? I love it because it is about helping me understand the way I feel and think about the topics and why I do think and feel the way I do . And now writing it all down I understand that after modification any question can become secular one and help me talk to my inner self . Thank you big time

Oh, yee ha! I didn't give away my Universal Wirth Tarot after all! It's languishing in the bottom of the box where I keep empty tuck boxes (because I like to put my decks in lidded boxes.) The one I remember giving away was a terribly garish version of the Tarot de Marseille. I have a much calmer version of that now. Oh boy. So except for a Thoth deck, I guess I have a pretty good foundation to try out these new systems! UPDATE - just ordered a pre-owned (traditional) Thoth deck (plus booklet) from eBay. So I'm entering a new phase. Old dog learning new tricks? Thanks everybody for all the extremely useful advice. 🙂

I guess there are pip decks and pip decks! My Wegmüller Tarocco Tzigano deck certainly has reversible pips. Even the coins are reversible. All the decoration makes them so, as well as things being upright, like cups and swords, etc. As that's really the only pip deck I've looked at recently, I just assumed all pip cards in all pip decks were reversible. I stand corrected! My Fournier edition of Le Tarot de Marseille also has some reversible pips ...although not all of them. Technically they could all be reversible because the number of each card is displayed in the border ...but that would be cheating! 🙂 I'll need to re-think my approach. I suspect you are right ...to just employ the numerics and work on that.

I have three best deals. One was trading my Revelations tarot ($20-30) for the Ophidia Rosa ($60) with someone on reddit. I made sure they knew mine was easily accessible, but they didn’t care, To be honest, Revelations tarot is way easier to read and might be the better deck, but I wouldn’t have bought this deck otherwise and it is interesting and pretty. The second is a trade I got on a forum for Baba Studio’s OOP Fairytale Tarot in exchange for a couple amazon decks shipped directly to them. It wasn’t too expensive, though I don’t remember exactly how much I spent. The only thing was it didn’t come with a guidebook, but that isn’t too bad because I can just google the Fairytales if I’m not familiar with them. The third was a good deal at the time. It was a first edition Tyldwick. I think I bought it on CollecTarot. I had signed up for alerts in case they brought it back in stock. I got it for $110 with shipping and it’s the most expensive deck I own, but it was way better than the hundreds of dollars it was going for online. Some lady on instagram actually offered to buy it and said “name your price” but I declined, haha. Hopefully she got one of the recent reprintings.

Hello everyone, I’m Darrell. I’ve been studying Tarot for a long time — mostly in solitude, mostly through writing and reflection. I’m drawn to the emotional side of the cards: the thresholds, the silences, the moments that don’t always fit neatly into spreads. I tend to approach things slowly and deliberately, with a focus on clarity, resonance, and symbolic structure. I’m here to learn, and to connect with others who approach Tarot as something alive — something that deepens, stumbles, and rebuilds over time. Thanks for letting me step in. — Darrell

Ah. Thank you. I missed this nuance to the discussion. The How Are You question is more honestly answered in reading spaces. In this setting a person *is* more inclined to answer truthfully. Rather than the automated "fine, thankyou" they may say, "i'm going through a bad breakup" [or whatever]. There are nuances. In the context of a reading space the person is more likely to give a real answer to the formulaic "how are you?" Yet we all know that the question the client asks isn't always the question that's REALLY on their minds. Rather than depend on "how are you?" which can mean so many things to so many people--I get straight to the point. Do you have a particular topic or question you want to read on? Or do you want to start general? Depends on your client. Some of my clients would like this. But not all. I love this. OTOH, most of my clients want me to tell them. It's a test. They want to see what I see in a general reading to know if I'm any good. Repeat clients are more likely to say--please read on xyz topic. New clients overwhelmingly don't disclose anything. They want to see what the cards say first.

I seldom use reversals even with RWS. With pips you often can't use reversals with the number cards as they are the same [depending on the deck]. Rather than using reversals--i look at interactions. What I call card yogas. How do the numbers relate? How do the suits relate? Is there a numeric progression from high to low numbers like 6 to 8?? or does the progression go backwards i.e. like a 3 followed by a 2. So this is where i find the nuances which might be shown by reversals. Even Trump cards are still numeric. Empress is 3 for example. So these also can be used in the nuance of observing progressions of the numbers rather than reading reversals to glean these nuances. Hope this makes sense.

Have you tried: "What do I need to be prepared for this day?"

I used to own a Wirth deck, but I think I gave it away a long time ago because I didn't use it. I saw it as similar to the Marseille decks, in terms of content.

Do you use reversals with pip decks? If so, using numbers and suits, do you read a reversal as lacking the qualities of the upright meanings? Or maybe the opposite of these meanings? I'm beginning to see how pip decks could be useful in these reversed circumstances ...but I suppose I would need to be consistent.

@Troll - here's questions for you to ask the Tarot: "What 3 things can I do to improve my dart skills?" "What is my soul's lesson for this life?" "What does Elvis say about his diet when he was alive?" "Who will win the soccer cup / Formula 1/world darts competition? Please Describe the winner by their birthday card (as per the decan wheel)" That's some question examples for you to practise with. I'd be interested to know if Elvis would eat the same 🙂

They are great alternatives. Although we might get slapped with an accusation of cultural appropriation. Then again, they don't feel into the client. I guess my intention in seeking a new "introduction question" is a signpost that will open paths and links. For reading purposes we DO want to ask a question that helps them know what they want help with. The gist of the original post is serving people as advisors, but not as counsellors. But I'm thinking as we move through the world each day we can help people to feel connected, not just when we bring people into the fold for a reading. That's healing in itself - and that enhances our intuition to really benefit people when we do read. It's also a way of perhaps identifying issues for the sitter because they don't feel relaxed enough to ask. For example, imagine an 18 year old child of hard core Catholics who wants to come out of the closet. Barleywine was saying (poorly paraphrased here) is that he wants to feel the pulse, get the feedback and work around the stonewalling. Then he can get into the issue, and let the cards do the talking (but now he's tuned into the right frequency). I guess it's much like determining what a position in a spread is answering, if that makes sense? As I was writing I was thinking about some woo-woo way out ways of querying people: "Hello. Welcome. Come through here. Now I'm going to ask how you feel and ascertain your soul's current question by doing an exercise. Close your eyes and imagine a bright white shining ball of light the size of a tennis ball moving slowly from the crown of your head down the centre of your body all the way to your feet. Notice any changes in the ball of light such as a change in colour or size, and silently point to where on your body that occurs as the light moves down." There's no question, here. Now its so bizarre they'll run straight out the door 🤣 or think they can tell you anything, and it may actually tell you where they're dealing with something without asking any question. "Hello. How is your light shining today on a scale of 1-10?"