Majority of Majors in readings

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Jun 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Trogon	14 Jun 2003
A thread in the "Your Readings" forum made me start thinking abou this again. I tried a few searches and didn't really find it discussed, so thought... what the hey... let's see what people think. What I'm talking about here is, when using a full 78-card Tarot deck, the majority of cards in a reading are Major Arcana. For instance, say 3 or 4 in a 5-card spread, or 5 or more in a 10-card spread. When this happens in a reading which you are doing, does it seem to hold any particular significance for the reading? What are your thoughts on the matter? In Eden Gray's, in "A Complete Guide to the Tarot", she says: "The presence of many of the Major Arcana indicates that the answer to the Querrent's question is largely controlled by other people." To some extent this does seem to be the case when it occurs in readings I'm doing. However, I have kind of modified it in my mind a couple of different ways. On the one hand, it can (and frequently does) indicate that much of what the reading is about is outside the querrent's control (perhaps due to other people, or just other events, such as natural events). These seem to hold true mostly when the reading is about actual happenings in the person's life. When a reading is more about emotional issues, feelings the person is trying to understand or deal with, then I look at a majority of Majors a little different. Then, I usually interpret this type of occurance as indicating that there are major, deep seated issues involved... and that much of what the person is feeling may have been imposed on them by someone else. Now... over the past year + my way of looking at the Tarot and my ways of reading the Tarot have changed dramatically - for the better, I believe. Part of this shift has been that I'm no longer thinking that any given meaning of a card is set in stone. The same goes for this. I use my intuition in determining the significance, if any, of the number of Majors, Suits, Courts, etc, in any given reading. But... having said that... it always catches my eye and makes me take a hard look at the reading with a thought to the above possibilities when most of the cards are of the Major Arcana persuasion... Thoughts?

skytwig	14 Jun 2003
I don't see the Majors as indicative of people, so much as Beings of a Higher Persuasion - Guides, Angels, Spirit. It is highly important, whatever the discussion; a matter that is being overseen by Grand Loving Presence. :)

Diana	14 Jun 2003
In these cases, I see the reading as a very important one. Something that should really make the querent sit up and say "Okay! What did you say again???" If one could consider Life as a book, it would be divided into sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. The sentences are the minors, the paragraphs are the minors all linked to each other telling the story. And the chapters are the Majors. A Major can even indicate the end of Book I, and the start of Book II. And sometimes, only rarely though, do Majors indicate the end of the Book. That is in those rare cases that the Death card indicates the physical death of someone.

catboxer	14 Jun 2003
I'm with Diana. When I see a preponderance of majors in a reading, I immediately conclude that the moment we're in is an extremely significant and portentious time in the querent's life.

punkangelgcm437	14 Jun 2003
I think her "Majors can be end of chapters" type thing is awesome. A good way to look at it. But usually when I do readings and there are a lot of majors (which is pretty rare for me), I see it as some sort of major change. I once did a reading for someone on here (and I cant remember who) and they asked something like 'What new adventures/journeys will be coming in my life'. No majors came up. He (and I still cant remember who grrr) was then a bit worried that no major change was gonna happen. I think sometimes people begin to associate majors with major change, and minors with minor change. And that can be useful. But maybe minors can show a major change too? Can it not? Is that why they were named in such a way? Looks like I've brought up more questions than anwsers. Sorry yall. ~Much Love~ ~Sarah~

Inana	15 Jun 2003
I use to think about more importance of the message when lot of Majors appear, but this makes me feel a bit concerned cause i almost always drop a lot of majors when doing self-readings. Anyways i like the idea of biggest emotional concern when the majors are majority in a reading. This fit quite fine. What i dont like to think is the majors are meaning the issue is out of my control...

WolfSpirit	15 Jun 2003
I agree with what most people already said: many majors indicate a reading of great importance. I like it when there is a lot of majors, it means it is a good time to do a reading, as there are some big issues. I don't think it means it is all out of control, but I would say that also depends on what majors show up. The Emperor or Chariot in the self-position would indicate you are in control. Wheel of Fortune could mean circumstances are controlling you.

Trogon	15 Jun 2003
Great insights everyone, thank you very much. I can see how a large number of Majors can indicate larger issues, bigger changes being indicated in the reading. More Majors indicating more importance in the reading makes a great deal of sense. "Chapter endings"... never thought of it that way Diana... thanks! Very helpful replies from all... No I've got to start thinking again... :eek:

galadrial	15 Jun 2003
I think that a lot of Majors in a reading can indicate that these are recurrent, Major issues in a person's life who's time is ripe for dealing with. In other words, if you consistently don't deal with a Major energy well, a lot of the time the cards may not address that directly. But there will come a point when you are ready and both the difficult Major(s), your shadow, unintegrated, lesson not learned cards, and Majors that will help you deal with these aspects will come up. I think these energies may seem out of one's control because they have not been integrated.

isthmus nekoi	17 Jun 2003
I find getting a majors heavy reading comes in regular cycles. It generally represents a larger theme that will be played out or refined into the minors in the coming weeks until the next infusion of major energy, which indicates a change or development regarding the previous theme. I think of major heavy readings as related to the cycles of lunation (new/full moon) and menstruation.

Trogon	17 Jun 2003
Galadrial and isthmus nekoi... thanks very much also for your replies... I am, after some reflection, coming of the opinion that a reading with a lot of Major Arcana is more likely to indicate that the issues involved are of much importance to the querrent, or have not (as Galadrial mentions) been dealt with yet, but need to be. Isthmus... your ideas seem to fit in with this general feeling I'm getting for this as well. Though I don't think that, for me anyway, they would relate so much to menstruation... as I don't regularly menstruate... being a guy... :D ;) It is something I will keep in mind for the future though. I find all these insights extremely interesting and helpful. The idea of having a "Majors heavy" reading indicating things being outside the querrent's control, never did quite "feel" right to me. So, even though I had that in the back of my mind from reading it in this one book, I never really got a strong feeling for it, nor really interpreted it that way in a reading. This other interpretation has a much better feel to me and is something I will keep in mind in the future. Thank you all again, very much...

sagitarian	17 Jun 2003
I still consider myself still pretty new to tarot, but, regardless of that, here are my thoughts. Someone once advised me that when you have a major arcana card, then it means that something significant is happening in your life. A big change, a relationship that will change you, starting a new career, whatever the case may be, it's important and significant to you in your personal life. If a querent gets a lot of major cards, then I would take that as "whoooo, slow down here buddy, too many things goin on at once, and yup, see look, there's the tower here" as usually if there are an abnormal amount of major arcana, then the tower shows up more times then not. This alone indicates that too many changes are going on at once, and if the person can, try to slow some of this down a bit before they get too wrapped up in everything. (Btw, I find the tower to be usually a good card indicating a change of a way of life where it involves "tearing" down the old, and in with the new). I think honestly, it just depends on the querent and the reader. I've had a lot of major arcana cards come up and think nothing of it as well. Usually, I would see it as a sign that the person needs to slow down some of their projects before they feel overloaded and weighed down (the weight of the world).

dolphinprincess	17 Jun 2003
I am also *very* new to tarot - but I figure there is no time like the present to jump in here.... From the bit of studying I have done, I came under the impression that minors dealt more with the everyday life. They are important (especially as they are happening), but they may not be life changing, or may not be the things you remember as time passes.... Majors to me deal more with life purpose and the whole "why we are here" and "keeping on track"... If I saw a lot of Majors in a spread, I'd probably really study it. To me, it would say that the issue was a significant issue in my life and whay I may be here to do or learn. ... just a few words from a novice :o) thanks!

Tor	17 Jun 2003
I did a reading once where I was surprised by all the majors. 7 of 10 cards were all majors! I predicted a pregnancy in this reading, which was right - and I also told her that the relationship she had (which she asked about) was very important for her life path. I agree that many majors indicate some important stuff. I believe it's about our soul's purpose and our destiny. Or a chapter as Diana says. By the way.....the predicted pregnacy was a result of a combination of The Sun and 10 of coins in longterm future. :)

NeXoRiouS	20 Jun 2003
I know this shouldn't be here but I am interested in knowing Majority of certain cards in readings. What would majority of court cards mean? Not neccesarily representing people but how to differentiate when it is to indicate as a person or not?

raeanne	20 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by NeXoRiouS ... What would majority of court cards mean? Not neccesarily representing people but how to differentiate when it is to indicate as a person or not? Hi NeXoRiouS, When I see lots of court cards I usually ask the question, "why are all these people here?" Sometimes the answer is because they are nosey and they need to get a life of their own. :-) This is really true when the question involves a family issue. Some families just really get into each others lives way too much. But, sometimes lots of Court Cards are to emphasize that what we do has an effect on many other people. For me the Court Cards are almost always people but they may not be a specific person - more of a "mankind" thing as in "people will get hurt if you do this" or "many people will be helped if you take this job". Usually the person I am reading for will be able to identify individuals and Court Cards they can't recognize become "people" in general.

The Majority of Majors in readings thread was originally posted on 14 Jun 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.