From Departure to Ordeal — A Detailed Study of the Major Arcana (Part I): The Fool to The Chariot
Learning to Read Images: The First Lesson in Tarot Study
In the previous chapter, we traversed the full arc of The Fool's journey from a bird's-eye view, gazing from the cliff's edge of card 0 all the way to the laurel wreath of card XXI. That was a sweeping, panoramic vista. But now we must slow our pace, step into the canvas, and linger before each card — carefully examining those deliberately arranged colors, postures, objects, and backgrounds — because the wisdom of Tarot is first hidden within its images.
This is especially true of the Waite-Smith Tarot. As noted in the first chapter, Pamela Colman Smith's great contribution was her creation of a complete narrative scene for every single card. This means the card face itself is an open book — you need not memorize a list crammed with keywords, but rather cultivate a capacity: to read images with your eyes, and to sense the story within the picture through your intuition.
Beginning with this chapter, we will undertake a deep, card-by-card analysis of the first seven cards of the Major Arcana — from The Fool (numbered 0) to The Chariot (numbered VII). Each card's analysis will unfold across four dimensions: Imagery and Symbolism (what we call "detailed image analysis" — what is in the picture, why it is depicted this way, which is the concrete practice of "image reading" as a core skill); Core Meaning (the essential significance of the card on a spiritual and psychological level); Upright Interpretation (the guidance offered when the card stands upright); and Reversed Interpretation (the caution offered when the card is inverted). In other words, "Imagery and Symbolism" is not an abstract semiotic discussion, but a guided walk into each picture — breaking down line of sight, color choices, figure postures, background settings, and object details one by one. This is precisely where the method of "reading images" takes root.
I encourage you, as you read each card's section, to have your own Tarot deck at hand. Draw that card out, place it before you, and resist the urge to read my words immediately — look at the image itself first. Let your eyes wander across it for thirty seconds, a full minute, and take note of the details that first seize your attention. Then come to the text below.
This practice, from this moment forward, will become your most important Tarot discipline.
The Fool — Numbered 0
Imagery and Symbolism
A youth dressed in an ornate, richly decorated robe stands at the very edge of a cliff. His garments are covered in intricate patterns; on his feet are elegant boots ill-suited for a long journey. His left hand lightly holds a slender staff from which a small bundle hangs — his entire luggage. In his right hand he pinches a white rose. His face tilts gently upward, his gaze directed toward the sky rather than the abyss at his feet.
At his side, a small white dog leaps and bounds — is it warning him of the cliff's danger, or joyfully urging him onward? This deliberate ambiguity is precisely the elegance of Waite-Smith Tarot's visual design: it provides no single answer, but instead leaves interpretive space open.
In the background, snow-capped mountain peaks rise in the distance — symbolizing a journey that is long and arduous, yet also signifying that the spiritual summit awaits far ahead. Above him shines a brilliant golden sky, the light of the sun bathing him as though the entire universe were blessing this departure.
In Western symbolic tradition, the white rose represents purity and the pure longing of the spirit. And the small bundle? Some interpreters hold that it carries the accumulated experiences of a past life; others suggest it represents potential latent in the unconscious, not yet opened. Either way, it is light enough to impose almost no burden — The Fool sets out traveling light.
Core Meaning
The Fool's number is 0. In mathematics, zero is the origin of all numbers, and also the intersection of the infinitely large and the infinitely small. It is nothing, and therefore may be anything. This is the essence of The Fool: pure potential, undefined freedom, the infinite instant that precedes the beginning of every journey.
The Fool does not represent foolishness, but rather a courage that transcends worldly cunning and calculation — the leap of faith of one who, knowing the unknown abyss lies ahead, chooses to step forward regardless. He is not without fear because he knows he will not fall; he is without fear because he believes — or more precisely, because he has not yet learned not to believe.
Upright Interpretation
The Upright Fool carries the message of new beginnings. A brand-new journey is unfolding, whether that is a new job, a new relationship, a new project, or a fundamental shift in inner consciousness. The Upright Fool encourages you to embrace the spirit of freedom, to release your grip on the need for certainty, and to meet the unknown with innocent courage. He reminds you: sometimes, not knowing what lies ahead is precisely the finest state in which to depart.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed Fool sounds a different note: has your "fearlessness" begun to slide into recklessness? Are you bravely embracing the unknown, or are you avoiding the responsibility of making committed choices? Reversed, the card may point to a lack of direction, aimless drifting, or a refusal to learn from past experience. It may also suggest a certain frozenness — you stand at the cliff's edge, but cannot bring yourself to step off.
The Magician — Numbered I
Imagery and Symbolism
The Magician stands before a table on which four objects are neatly arranged: a wand, a cup, a sword, and a pentacle — corresponding respectively to the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth. His right hand lifts a white wand toward the sky; his left hand points toward the earth. Above his head floats a horizontal lemniscate (∞); around his waist winds an ouroboros — also a symbol of infinite cyclicality. His red robe represents action and will; his white undergarment represents purity of intention. Red roses and white lilies bloom both above him and at his feet, symbolizing the unity of desire and purity.
Core Meaning
"As above, so below" — this ancient maxim from the Hermetic tradition is the very meaning expressed by The Magician's gesture of one hand pointing to heaven and the other to earth. The Magician is a channel for cosmic energy: he draws in spiritual force from a higher plane and conducts it into the material world. The four elemental tools arrayed on his table demonstrate that he possesses every resource required, while the lemniscate declares this creative power to be boundless.
Upright Interpretation
The Upright Magician represents powerful willpower, creativity, and the ability to marshal and integrate resources. You have everything you need to achieve your goals — skills, opportunities, inner strength. What is now required is to bring them together and take action with clear intention. This is a card about manifestation: turning thought into reality.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed Magician warns of manipulation and deception — you may be deceiving others, or you may be being manipulated. It may also point to wasted talent: you possess every tool on that table and yet leave them untouched. Or your intentions may be impure, and you are attempting to substitute cleverness for sincerity.
The High Priestess — Numbered II
Imagery and Symbolism
The High Priestess is seated between two pillars — the black one on the left is inscribed with the letter "B" (Boaz), and the white one on the right with "J" (Jachin). These are the two columns of Solomon's Temple, symbolizing negation and affirmation, darkness and light, passivity and activity respectively. Behind her hangs a veil embroidered with pomegranates, behind which the faint outline of water is visible — the deep sea of the unconscious. Across her lap rests a partially concealed scroll of the Torah, inscribed with the letters "TORA." Her blue robe flows downward like water to her feet, at which rests a crescent moon. Upon her head she wears a triple crown in the form of a full moon flanked by two crescent moons.
Core Meaning
If The Magician is the act of manifestation in the full light of day, The High Priestess is the silent knowing of the deep night. She represents hidden wisdom, intuition, and the deep waters of the unconscious. The scroll is only half revealed; the veil is only partially lifted — the truths she guards cannot be accessed through rational analysis alone, but require one to grow still, to listen inward, and to wait in silence for them to surface on their own.
Upright Interpretation
The Upright High Priestess invites you to trust your own intuition. There are things you already know — it is only the clamor of the mind that prevents you from hearing the voice within. She represents patient waiting and restraint from hasty action, and suggests that certain truths not yet revealed are on the verge of coming to light — provided you do not attempt to tear the veil open by force.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed High Priestess suggests you are ignoring the guidance of your intuition, relying excessively on rationality or the opinions of others. It may also point to secrets — information being withheld, or a rupture between yourself and your inner self. How long has it been since you sat quietly and listened to your own depths?
The Empress — Numbered III
Imagery and Symbolism
The Empress sits at ease in a lush garden, surrounded by ripe fields of golden wheat, with a clear stream flowing at her feet. She wears a flowing robe decorated with pomegranate motifs — the pomegranate being an ancient symbol of fertility. She holds a wand in her hand; at her side, a heart-shaped shield bears the symbol of Venus (♀) — goddess of love and beauty. Upon her head rests a crown formed of twelve stars.
Core Meaning
The Empress is the embodiment of the archetypal Earth Mother — unconditional nourishment, sensory beauty, and creative abundance. She represents life force itself: all things grow naturally in her garden, requiring no planning or control, only sufficient love, water, and sunlight. She teaches us that creation is not merely a matter of the mind, but of the body, the senses, and of love itself.
Upright Interpretation
The Upright Empress represents abundance, nourishment, and the flowering of creativity. She may point to a loving relationship, the vigorous growth of a creative project, or simply a reminder: care for your body, take pleasure in sensory delight, allow yourself to be surrounded by beauty and tenderness.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed Empress may suggest a creative blockage, over-reliance on others' approval, or the neglect of one's own needs in the course of caring for others. It may also point to indulgence and excess — abundance that has lost all temperance, love that has become suffocation.
The Emperor — Numbered IV
Imagery and Symbolism
The Emperor is seated upon a gray stone throne, whose armrests and back are carved with the heads of four rams — the symbol of Aries, representing the energy of Mars: leadership, pioneering spirit, and decisive determination. He wears armor beneath a red robe, holds a scepter in his right hand — similar to the one held by The Empress yet more rigid in form — and cradles a golden orb in his left. His white beard speaks of age and experience. The background is a landscape of dry, barren orange-red rock formations — not a single tree, not a single stream.
This scene stands in stark contrast to The Empress's lush garden. The Empress's realm is organic, fluid, and naturally growing; The Emperor's realm is hard, dry, and humanly constructed. This is not a deficiency, but the essential quality of a different kind of power — the power of structure and order.
Core Meaning
The Emperor represents authority, order, discipline, and the paternal principle. If The Empress asks "how do we allow all things to grow," The Emperor asks "how do we allow all things to find their proper place." He is the maker of rules, the guardian of boundaries, the antithesis of chaos. He teaches The Fool: freedom is precious, but freedom without structure is mere scatter.
Upright Interpretation
The Upright Emperor represents the establishment of order, the assumption of leadership responsibility, and the exercise of effective, grounded authority. He may point to a moment in your career that demands decisive action, or remind you to build clearer structure and planning into your life.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed Emperor warns of rigidity, excessive control, or the abuse of power. He may represent a tyrannical authority figure in your life, or he may point to an internal issue — are you using control to mask inner insecurity? Or conversely, are you evading the responsibilities and authority that are rightfully yours?
The Hierophant — Numbered V
Imagery and Symbolism
The Hierophant is seated between two gray stone pillars — echoing the two columns of The High Priestess, though The Hierophant's columns are indoors, within the framework of institution. He is clothed in magnificent red vestments, wearing a triple crown upon his head. His right hand is raised in blessing (the index and middle fingers extended skyward, the ring and little fingers folded), while his left hand holds a triple-barred papal cross. Before him kneel two devotees, their robes embroidered with red roses and white lilies respectively. Upon the ground lie two crossed keys — one gold, one silver — symbolizing the keys to knowledge of the conscious and unconscious realms.
Core Meaning
The Hierophant represents tradition, institutionalized wisdom, and the transmission of spiritual inheritance. If The High Priestess's wisdom is secret, personal, and accessible only through silent contemplation, The Hierophant's wisdom is public, systematized, and passed down through ritual and teaching from generation to generation. He is the teacher, the pastor, and the guardian of tradition. What he teaches is not truth arrived at in solitary insight, but the collective wisdom explored and verified by countless predecessors, crystallized into rite and doctrine.
Upright Interpretation
The Upright Hierophant may indicate the appearance of a trustworthy mentor or counselor in your life. It also represents respect for tradition and established institutions — sometimes you do not need to invent an entirely new wheel, but rather to humbly study the methods that have already been proven effective. It may also relate to formal education or participation in a religious or spiritual community.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed Hierophant may suggest that blind adherence to tradition is restricting your growth, or that some institutionalized system — whether religious, educational, or corporate — has become rigid and oppressive. It may also encourage you to walk an unorthodox path, to trust the spiritual authority within yourself rather than relying solely on external dogma.
The Lovers — Numbered VI
Imagery and Symbolism
At the center of the image, a man and a woman stand naked, positioned to the left and right. Behind the woman stands the Tree of Knowledge, laden with fruit, a serpent coiled around its trunk. Behind the man stands the Tree of Life, ablaze with twelve flames. Above them, the angel Raphael — the angel of healing — spreads his arms wide and gazes down from the clouds, his violet cloak shimmering alongside the golden light of the sun.
This image explicitly invokes the story of the Garden of Eden, yet the Waite-Smith Tarot imbues it with an entirely new meaning. Note one crucial detail: the woman's gaze is directed toward the angel, while the man's gaze is directed toward the woman. This forms a chain of sight running from angel to woman to man — the superconsciousness influencing consciousness through the unconscious, spiritual wisdom guiding rational choice through the intermediary of intuition.
Core Meaning
The most common misreading of The Lovers is to interpret it as pertaining solely to romantic love. In truth, its core reaches far deeper and wider than any romantic relationship — The Lovers represents a momentous choice at the level of values. The presence of the angel Raphael suggests this is no casual decision, but a moment of sacred significance: the choice you make here will define who you are and where you are headed. Of course, it does touch on relationship — but a relationship founded on conscious choice, a profound bond of "I see all of you, and I choose you still."
Upright Interpretation
The Upright Lovers represents a moment of important decision, one that calls you to act in alignment with your deepest values. It may also point to a genuine, soul-level relationship — a partner, a close friend, or any connection made through authentic selfhood. The Upright Lovers reminds you: genuine choice requires courage, for it means relinquishing other possibilities.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed Lovers may suggest a conflict of values, imbalance within a relationship, or avoidance of a necessary decision. Are you losing yourself within a relationship? Are you delaying a choice out of fear of the consequences? Reversed, it may also simply point to a breakdown in communication and an erosion of trust.
The Chariot — Numbered VII
Imagery and Symbolism
A young warrior in full armor stands upright within a gray stone chariot. His shoulder guards are adorned with two faces — one smiling, one sorrowful — representing the twin poles of emotion. His breastplate bears a square, symbolizing willpower. Astrological symbols adorn his belt. His right hand holds a wand — yet he holds no reins. In front of the chariot crouch two sphinxes, one black and one white, one facing rightward and one seemingly turning toward the left. They are bound by no harness, nor is there any visible mechanism of control. Above him stretches a canopy of blue, studded with six-pointed stars.
Here lies the most crucial riddle of this card: without reins, how does the charioteer control two sphinxes oriented in opposite directions? The answer is precisely The Chariot's central teaching — he governs them through willpower, not through external reins.
Core Meaning
The Chariot represents the mastery of opposing forces and the achievement of external victory through discipline and unwavering will. The black and white sphinxes symbolize the opposing forces that must be governed — reason and emotion, light and shadow, the impulse to advance and the fear of retreat. The charioteer does not eliminate either side, but employs his will to set both forces moving in the same direction.
Upright Interpretation
The Upright Chariot is a card of powerful victory. It represents determination, decisive action, and the capacity to overcome obstacles. Whatever challenge you are facing, The Chariot tells you: focus your will, harness your inner contradictions, and press steadily toward your goal. This is not a victory of luck, but a success earned through self-discipline and relentless effort. The Upright Chariot is also frequently associated with travel, forward movement, and the breaking of stagnation — it is time to set out, and you are fully capable of reaching your destination.
Reversed Interpretation
The Reversed Chariot points to a loss of control and to defeat. The two sphinxes, pulling in opposite directions, no longer answer to the charioteer's will — they go their separate ways, tearing the chariot asunder. You may be experiencing serious inner conflict: wanting to advance yet being dragged back by fear, ambition and self-doubt exhausting each other in a futile standoff. The Reversed Chariot may also warn of aggression swelling beyond all proportion — you are not "driving" the force so much as being swept along by it, charging recklessly without direction or regard for cost.
It may also suggest obstruction in the outer world: plans stalled, journeys interrupted, competition lost. But remember, reversed is not the final word. The core message of The Chariot Reversed is this: when you cannot move forward, stop first and examine — do you know clearly where you truly wish to go? Are you attempting to crush through brute force the inner energies that ought instead to be understood and integrated? Sometimes, recalibrating your direction demands far more courage than plowing blindly ahead.
A Review of Image-Reading Methods Introduced in This Chapter
Having walked through the seven cards from The Fool to The Chariot, you may have already noticed that within the "Imagery and Symbolism" section of each card, we have repeatedly followed a similar path of observation. Before moving into the next chapter, let us make this "image-reading" methodology explicit, for it will be the most reliable tool at your disposal when you face any Tarot card independently.
Step One: Line of Sight. Where are the figures in the image looking? The Fool gazes upward toward the sky; in The Lovers, the woman looks toward the angel while the man looks toward the woman — the direction of gazes frequently reveals the direction in which energy and consciousness are flowing.
Step Two: The Language of Color. Red represents action and passion (The Magician's outer robe); blue represents intuition and the unconscious (The High Priestess's robe); white represents purity and spirituality (The Fool's rose); gold represents divine power and abundance (the wheat fields of The Empress's garden). Pay attention to the dominant color choices — they often directly announce the emotional keynote of a card.
Step Three: Figure Posture. The Magician with one hand pointing to heaven and one to earth conveys the cosmic law of "as above, so below"; The Emperor seated rigidly upright on his stone throne conveys an immovable sense of order; the charioteer of The Chariot holding no reins suggests governance of direction through will alone rather than through external force. The posture of the body is a silent language.
Step Four: Background and Setting. The Empress is backed by flowing flowers and streams; The Emperor is backed by arid rock — the sharp contrast of their backgrounds presents, more intuitively than any textual explanation, the essential difference between the principle of nurturing and the principle of order. The background is not decoration; it is an extension of the card's meaning.
Step Five: Objects and Symbols. The four elemental tools on The Magician's table, the pair of keys at The Hierophant's feet, the six-pointed stars on The Chariot's canopy — every object is a cipher. When you encounter a symbol you do not recognize, there is no need for anxiety; simply note its position and form. Continued study will steadily furnish you with new interpretive keys.
Step Six: Relational Pairs. Many cards form deliberate mirrors or dialogues with one another: The High Priestess and The Hierophant share the compositional motif of "seated between two columns," yet one guards inner secrets while the other transmits outward teachings; The Empress and The Emperor stand in contrast — one yielding, one firm; one lush, one spare. When you place two related cards side by side, the conversation between them is often richer than any interpretation of either card alone.
These six steps — sight, color, posture, background, objects, relational pairs — need not be executed rigidly in sequence every time. They function more like a checklist: when you face a card and feel at a loss, move through them in order, and you will almost always find a point of entry into the reading.
In the next chapter, we continue our journey along The Fool's path, stepping into the world of Strength, The Hermit, and the Wheel of Fortune. And you already possess the most important tool of all — your eyes, and the image-reading practice you have just begun to cultivate.