AUTHOR’S NOTE: More insights from Tarot Reading Explained by James Ricklef. This essay is a rehash of several previous posts on the subject, but I think the common tendency of tarot readers to exaggerate the impact of trump cards in a reading bears further scrutiny, and I received reinforcement for this assumption from my re-reading of Ricklef’s book.

The author observes that the Major Arcana represent “thematic threads” running through our lives rather than major events in their own right. This coincides exactly with the conclusion I reached independently that they symbolize environmental backdrops or overarching themes for the events or circumstances represented by the rest of the cards. When they surface in a reading, they can either wrap us in their benevolent aura or expose a raw nerve that will torment us until we take steps to sooth it. Like all of the cards but on a grander scale, they are “buttons waiting to be pushed” and not looming windfalls or disasters. During fifty years of practice I’ve only occasionally seen them predict extraordinary occurrences on their own merit at the personal level.

The point is, they won’t necessarily land on us with both oversized feet as has been assumed for many years by tarot writers, but will instead create the atmosphere for “something big” to occur without always (or even often) pulling the trigger on it, an eventuality that is left up to a collaborative effort by the rest of the cards in the spread. If it is going to happen, it will be presaged by the testimony of the entire reading. A “good” trump will be welcomed and augmented in its influence, while a “bad”one will be weakened and nullified if possible.

One of the best examples I can think of is the ominous Tower. In my own experience of it showing up several times in a row in my daily pulls, it resulted in only minor aggravation, although one such instance had the potential to be much worse. I’ve decided that it is best to just “take them under advisement” and remain vigilant for any uptick in their significance rather than immediately overreacting to their presence. It becomes a case of “forewarned is forearmed” and not one of a “knee-jerk” response that is exaggerated beyond reason.

What this amounts to in a professional reading is “letting the querent down easy” when an unfortunate trump shows up, or conversely advising against undue optimism when it is more favorable. In one recent instance, Death came up as the “big-picture” or long-range consequences card at the end of the sequence. Rather than dwelling on its dire portent, I pointed to the opportunity it offered to take decisive action in a nasty quarrel with a former friend that had been festering for some time. It had the feel of an “ultimatum” to it, and so I advised my client.

Another reading presented the Sun as the outcome card, and I misjudged it as unequivocally positive when in fact it was revealing aspects of the situation that were hidden in the dark corners and couldn’t stand the light of day. Something had been glossed over that came back to bite the querent. It required finding the right “thread to pull,” but instead of realizing that fact I defaulted to the customary definition. Lesson learned.

Some time ago I was told by a European acquaintance that Continental readers who employ only the 22 trump cards in divination accord them no more importance than the rest of the world gives to the numbered pip cards, and this attitude has inspired my own posture toward the appearance of one or more of the Major Arcana in a spread. While I rarely work with majors-only decks, the message is loud-and-clear: the archetypal “Fool’s Journey” with its psychological and spiritual implications doesn’t add much pragmatic substance to a tarot reading, an awareness I had already acquired through study and practice.

Decades of experience have taught me that this is the most rational way to handle trumps because I have very seldom found them to mean anything more dramatic in the matter at hand unless the rest of the cards bolster that perception. In some cases I have even removed then from the deck before shuffling when the topic of interest is entirely mundane in nature, but the “thematic thread” premise could make me rethink that option. If I keep them in perspective and refrain from over-valuing them, they can be left in.