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The Major Arcana (Trumps Major, Major Trumps) of occult or divinatory tarot consists of twenty two cards. The name Major Arcana was first used by Paul Christian. [1] Each Major Arcanum depicts a scene, mostly featuring a person or several people, with many symbolic elements. In many decks, each has a number (usually in Roman numerals) and a name, though not all decks have both, and some have only a picture. The earliest decks bore unnamed and unnumbered pictures on the Majors (probably because a great many of the people using them at the time were illiterate), and the order of cards was not standardized.[citation needed] Nevertheless, one of the most common sets of names and numbers is as follows:
The images on the Major Arcana are often very heavy with symbolism, with far more to the illustration than a mere depiction of the card title. The Major Arcana are usually regarded as relating to matters of higher purpose or deep significance, as opposed to the Minor Arcana which relate to the everyday world and matters of immediate significance.[citation needed]
[edit] In pop culture
- In the manga Earl Cain or Godchild, Earl Cain Hargreaves' father is the head of the organization Delilah, which uses Tarot Cards as ranking.
- The House of the Dead series of light gun games by Sega makes numerous references to the Major Arcana; each of the bosses in the series is named after one of the Major Arcana cards.
- The Silent Hill series of survival horror video-games by Konami are influenced by the Major Arcana. Some characters are based on the Major Arcana trumps. Series official guide - The Book Of Lost Memories - makes various references to the Major Arcana.
- The Megami Tensei Persona games revolve around the major arcana with a variety of mythological figures representing his or her own arcana, such as Satan being of the judgment arcana, Orpheus being of the Fool Arcana, etc.
- In Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django there are items fashioned after tarot cards, such as The Sun, The Moon, The Star, The Tower, The Lovers, etc. The items have effects relative to the cards interpretations, though some variation exists.
- In Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia the player can collect ring accessory items of all of the cards. "Wheel of Fortune" is renamed simply "Fortune".
- The characters in the Magical Drop series are all named after and based upon Major Arcana cards.
- In the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the first set of Stands in the third story arc, Stardust Crusaders, are all derived from the Major Arcana.
- In the game Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, liberating towns and temples allows the player to draw tarot cards, all of which come from the Major Arcana. These cards have various beneficial and detrimental effects on the party that liberates the town or temple.
- Tarot cards and their use play a major role in a Season 4 episode of the television series Supernatural titled "Criss Angel is A Douchebag". The Magician card in particular is featured prominently towards the end of the episode.[2]
- In Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, the charlatan Divination teacher Professor Trelawney successfully predicts the death of Albus Dumbledore when she draws the Tower, which symbolizes upheaval and loss.
- In Yu-Gi-Oh, there is a set of cards based on the Major Arcana.[3]
- In Baroque, all meta-beings that appear in main dungeon are based on major arcana[4].
- In the .hack video game-series for the PS2, there are usable items named after a few major arcana. "The Devil" inflicts Curse, "The Hanged Man" inflicts Paralysis, "The Moon" inflicts Sleep and "The Lovers" inflicts Charm.
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