Excerpts from A People's Guide to Tarot

Some Major Arcana from my soon-to-be-released book

My latest book, A People’s Guide To Tarot: A Primer For Everyone releases 1 September, 2024. Here are some excerpts from it, specifically The Star, The Moon, The Sun, and Judgement.

Remember that all books (including pre-orders) and courses are currently 30% off at Ritona Books until 1 September. Use code REDESIGN.

XVII, The Star

Hope. Connection to the world, yourself, and sources of inspiration.

Usually, this card is a woman with one foot in a pool of water and the other on the ground, often pouring water from a pitcher back into the place from which it came.

The water in our bodies, the water vapor that forms clouds, the water buried deep in ice packs, and the water in every river and ocean in the world is all the same substance. When raindrops fall into a puddle, they become that puddle, and it would be useless to try to separate them again.

Similarly, it’s said the iron in our blood was originally forged in distant stars. No matter how separate and isolated we might feel, we are each composed of the same elements as ever other living thing on earth.

The Star directly follows The Tower for a very good reason, because it represents the core truths and meaning that persist beyond all our human structures. We are most ourselves and most alive when we feel connection, when all the barriers that separate people from each other and individuals from themselves no longer seem important.

The Star has strong resonances with the astrological sign Aquarius, the Water Bearer. It’s a figure most associated with freedom of thought, universal humanity, and also creativity. There’s also a sense in both Aquarius and The Star of drawing inspiration from deep wells, and then pouring out what is discovered back into the world for others to experience, too.

Just as electricity needs to be connected to both its source and its outlet to be useful, the currents of joy and meaning can only flow through us when we are likewise connected to both the sources of inspiration and outlets for its expression.

The Star is reminding you all this. This may be a moment you need to seek those deep wells, opportunities for expression, or both. If you’ve felt blocked or stagnant lately, find new ways to connect to the world and to return to neglected sources of inspiration, peace, and joy.

XVIII, The Moon

Secrets, things hidden from view. Intuition, the wisdom of the body.

Traditionally, The Moon is associated with our unconscious, with dreams, with hidden knowledge, and especially with the mysterious source of knowledge that we call intuition.

The word “intuition” comes from the same word that became “tutor,” and both originally referred to a helpful guardian that offered advice and watched over a person. Ancient and indigenous cultures — and even Christianity, through the figure of the “guardian angel” — frequently understand intuition as an intimate spirit that gently guides a person, offering advice, warnings, and suggestions in a subtle way, very often through dreams.

Unfortunately, learning to listen to that guidance isn’t a straightforward task. We often keep ourselves too busy to hear these soft whispers, and sometimes even actively ignore warnings that seem obvious in hindsight. People who overwork or spend much of their time on social media or in other distractions are particularly likely to become disconnected from the body. They can then become confused when they get sick from stress, or are injured through not exercising or stretching enough.

Also, when we are not skilled in interpreting these whispers, we can come to the wrong conclusions. Anxiety, for example, can lead us to feel like we are in danger or are being oppressed and insulted by others. However, that anxiety might just be a signal that we need more rest, or need to eat better, or to drink more water.

The Moon is telling you to give attention to these whispers, and also reminding you to interpret them in a cautious way. There’s an endless wealth of knowledge in the body and in our dreams, but it cannot be easily translated into the realm of rational thought. Becoming friends with your intuition is a lifelong process, and you may need to cultivate new skills to learn how to do so.

XIX, The Sun

Joy and innocence. Optimism, with nothing hidden.

We often create false images of ourselves, masks we use to cover up the parts that we don’t like or fear others will not like. Without opportunities to let these masks fall away, we can find ourselves defined by those fears and become paralysed by a sense there’s something unlovable about us.

The Sun is the counterpart to The Moon. It’s the clear illumination of the intellect, rather than the nuanced whispers of intuition. Truths are made brilliantly clear in its light, and we are naked before the world.

This card is very often seen as quite positive, and for good reason. Think on the way that everything feels much easier on a warm, sunny day, how the future seems bright and our problems feel less heavy. Everything seems possible on such days, as if joy and happiness are the default states of life, rather than things we must struggle to find.

Often, this card depicts a naked child on horseback surrounded by sunflowers. Sunflowers — along with an entire category of plants called heliotropes — appear to turn to face the sun as they grow, which is why in French they are called tournesol (“turn-suns”). What actually happens is that such plants grow more on parts facing the sun, and as the sun moves, the areas of growth change in response.

The Sun is urging you to lean into its light, and to let yourself grow in its warmth. There’s a promise of success implied in its appearance — everything needed to become who we are is at hand. The key is in the innocence of the child, naked, unburdened by shame, fear, and self-doubt.

The appearance of this card in a present or any other position is probably telling you to connect to that childlike state and to enjoy the ease and vitality that creates the world. In a past position, it might also be suggesting that you look at a previous situation in a new light, as you may now have a better perspective and more information. And in a future position, things will soon be made clear and a new moment of growth and joy will come, as certain as the day follows night.

XX, Judgement

A turning point. Significant decisions with powerful consequences. The need for self-reflection, an opportunity to change course for the better.

Usually, this card is illustrated with a scene of bodies rising from their graves, called forth by a trumpet blown by an angel. It’s a scene evoking the Christian resurrection, an uncomfortable metaphor that has led many tarot designers to change the card completely.

But Judgement isn’t only a Christian idea, and it is not only at the end of life that we can look at the direction of our lives and the results of our actions. In fact, if we wait until the very end, we’ll have missed countless opportunities and may die full of regrets. Judgement is telling you not to put off these crucial moments of self-reflection.

The previous three cards each refer to sources of knowledge. The Star is the inspiration that comes from connection, The Moon is the intuition of the body and our dreams, and The Sun is the warm light of reason. We need all three to be fully integrated and to see situations as they really are.

Judgement is what is made possible through that integration, as well as all the experience, wisdom, and self-development represented in each of the nineteen previous cards of the Major Arcana.

You may now be at a turning point in your life, with circumstances calling you — as with the angel’s trumpet — to make a decision or a change that will determine what comes next. If this is the case, remember the lessons of The Star, The Moon, and The Sun, and if the possible consequences of your decision seem potentially world-ending, look at the name of the card that follows this one — The World — and laugh.

In fact, there’s a lot of healing represented in this card, especially if you’ve been haunted by earlier trauma or have had a difficult time forgiving others or yourself. In any position in a reading, Judgement might be pointing to this healing.

Judgement is an especially great card to see if you are trying to kick an old habit or to get out of a self-destructive cycle, because it suggests that your conscious efforts will have profound effects.

---

Learn more about A People’s Guide To Tarot: A Primer For Everyone here.