Majors-as-Minors Method

Although Pythagorean Number Symbolism fits well with the era of when the Marseilles Tarot was created and popularized, it is admittedly an overlay. Some Tarot de Marseille scholars have asserted that the deck needs no overlay to understand the Minors, but may be understood as an internal system unto itself by looking to the deck, itself. In this system, we look to the Majors to understand the Minors.

But, which Majors, exactly?

A logical starting point is to simply line up the Majors in the same way that the Minors are assembled: 1-10, removing Le Mat as unnumbered.

The discerning reader will note that the first ten cards of the Major Arcana have a synchronistic correspondence with the meanings of Pythagorean Number Symbolism. Truly, one could simply stop here, and simply envision the Minor card as the corresponding Major card (of the first 10 Majors) within the corresponding Suit.

For example, the Sept de Coupe (Seven of Cups) is VII-Le Chariot expressed in the Suit of Cups.

	VII Le Chariot			Suit of Cups Les Coupes Water, Emotions, Family, Relationships, Ceremony, Spirituality
		Context of Question The nature of the question molds how the meaning is applied.

 

But, some have wondered why the remaining Majors would have no correspondence in the Minor Pips—that is, why do just the I-X Major Arcana cards correspond to the Minors?

In answer, some Tarot de Marseille authors have asserted that the first ten Majors picture the terrestrial sphere, and the remaining cards picture higher phenomena, like virtues and spiritual themes. Therefore, according to this argument, only the first ten Major cards are relevant for understanding the Minors.

For those dissatisfied with this explanation, there remains precisely how to incorporate the remaining Major Arcana cards into the system of understanding the Minors. We offer two possible systems.

                                                   • Duplicate Number System
                                                   • 2x10 System

The two Systems are hinted at by comparing the iconographic similarities of V-Le Pape and XV-Le Diable.

This synchronicity leads us to ask: Is the Number Five illustrated by these two cards because the number Five (V) is duplicated in V-Le Pape and XV-Le Diable? Or, because they add up to a total of Twenty (5+15=20)? The number 20 is, of course, the double of the number 10, which happens to be the number of Pips for each Minor Suit category.