Liliana Gerardi

My Major Arcana
Introduction

I am not a tarotist or a proponent of the Tarot. I am a visual artist and from this place, the series of My Major Arcana was born. As personal and artistic journey.

A couple of years ago, I began to study Cabala with teacher Ortelio Alberto Roque and later with Letisa Roque at E.F.E.S.O (Escuela de Filosofía Esotérica) in Miami, Florida. By studying the energies of the Hebrew characters, I learned that each of them corresponded to one of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. This strongly inspired me to create a graphic piece of them with their corresponding Hebrew character.

I must say that it was extensive and intensive work that took a great amount of research in an area that was completely unknown to me until that moment. In this process, my teachers Roque (already transcended to a higher plane) y Letisa, provided me with all the support, information and materials necessary for my studies. My most sincere thanks go to them.

In my images, you won’t find a reproduction of other Tarots. This work represents my personal interpretation of the Arcana. I considered this artistic project an exploration of archetypes and symbols. The Arcana are a guide, an inspiration to advance wisely towards our wellbeing as we get to know ourselves better.

I hope you can connect with them in an intuitive and subjective way. Each of them has a message for us, a moment in our spiritual evolution. To get to the end does not mean that we have reached enlightenment, only that we are to begin the cycle again and continue learning.

I have attached a short summary of the symbolism of each of the Arcana. You can individually inform yourselves further if you feel motivated or influenced by each of them.

Thank you.
Liliana Gerardi

0. THE FOOL:

It is the inspiration necessary to commence a new enterprise. The energy and self-confidence for a new project. It is the beginning, the open mind without prejudice. It is forgetting the past. It is optimism.

1. THE MAGICIAN:

It is the ability to attain an objective. It is the result of cumulative learning. The Magician possesses the tools to create real change. It represents dexterity, security and self-determination.

2. THE HIGH PRIESTESS:

She is the symbol of spiritual knowledge. She appears seated between two pillars, one represents strength and the other justice. These are the two principles, active and passive, that compose knowledge. The pillars also represent the portal to a new world. The Priestess dominates passions and is the keeper of knowledge. She is the great initiate who decides who can access knowledge and who cannot.

3. THE EMPRESS:

Embodies practical life, fertility and fecundity. All of the good and delightful of this earthly paradise. It represents economical and physical fecundity. She is the providing mother. She teaches and gifts us the key elements of life.

4. THE EMPEROR:

He is the king and the warrior. He symbolizes authority. He represents the powers of this world. He is the protective guide. He tells us what must dominate reason and the practical sense of our decisions.

5. THE HIEROPHANT:

Highest priest, he is the one who shows us the saint and the sacred. He begins, blesses the one who undertakes the path of knowledge. He illuminates the way. He is a channel of divinity that invites us to reflect, to observe ourselves from the outside and rethink our lives.

6. THE LOVERS:

This Arcana connects us with our capacity to discern, with our subtle and acute perception. The man symbolizes the conscious mind and the woman the subconscious mind. Happiness, health and personal success depend on the harmonious cooperation between these two modalities of mental activity. To ensure this harmony, we must comprehend that they are both the expressions of a superior being. Besides, love is the ideal relationship between these two modalities of consciousness.

7. THE CHARIOT:

It is the symbol of domination of passions and the triumph over internal and external obstacles. It is control over the material world. It represents victory over difficulties, trips, work promotions and merited recognition.

8. STRENGTH:

It is self-awareness and elevation to the divine. It is the conscious energy that takes shape in all things and builds from within. It is the source of all human action. It represents healing and good health, resistance. Diplomacy and patience as a virtue.

9. THE HERMIT:

With her lamp of light and wisdom, he shows us the goal of our hope. It is the supreme will. The cosmic impulse and eternal towards freedom. It represents the spiritual heights of the wise man, he who isolates himself to know himself.

10. THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE:

Symbol of change of luck in men. The wheel of fortune turns and the and the energy transforms over and over. It reminds us that life begins again. Fortune is also influences by human wisdom and divine law. Nothing is stable or lasts forever. Alternating circumstances appear to be accidental, but they are not. All effect is a consequence of a preceding cause and the better we comprehend this law of sequences of cycles, the higher our mastery of future events will become.

11. JUSTICE:

It is about earthly justice, concrete, material. It does not elevate beyond what is human. With a sword in one hand and the scale in the other, she suggests that she is capable of applying force when necessary but with equity and without passion. She guides us to respect moral norms and practice justice in our world and contribute in its betterment.

12. THE HANGED MAN:

Far from being a martyr, he is a contemplative character. He is the one who stops to reflect and change perspective to focus on the spiritual aspect of the self, in this way reaching a higher level of wisdom.

13. DEATH:

Symbol of transformation, sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter, but always for our own good even when we do not know to see it that way. She is complete renovation of the self that will benefit us. She is liberation. The end of a cycle and the start of a better one.

14. TEMPERANCE:

It completely connects earthly life with the spiritual life. It teaches us to leave the extremes, to be purely rational and ascetic. Only tempering both aspects of personality will we be able to reach the wisdom of who we are and where we are going. It shows us the equilibrium in relationships and prudence in our actions. Adaptation is its key word.

15. THE DEVIL:

He represents a stage of conscious captivity. He personifies the mistaken concept that man is tied to material conditions, that he is a slave and depends on chance. He tells us that to free ourselves, we must know our limitations and defects. The devil brings us renovation, it allows us to know where our mistake is in order to overcome it and obtain freedom.

16. THE TOWER:

It is the continuation of the previous Arcana. If we don’t recognize our dark side, we will continue to be the prisoners of our passions. But if we understand that we are attached to a false structure of thought, if we are capable of advancing towards wisdom, we will destroy the tower of lies and we will reach the wisdom of good.

17. THE STAR:

It is an Arcana of profound spirituality. It guides us in the search of our own path. It is the great cosmic star that brings us all the energy to realize our spiritual work. It submerges us in a period of search and investigation. It is the light of your soul searching for its path.

18. THE MOON:

This is an archetype of feminine energy. It takes us to the deepest part of the unconscious. Here is our superior wisdom and our instincts, she calls us to be intuitive. It moves our emotions, our dreams and imagination.

19. THE SUN:

It is the power that reaches its supreme manifestation in self-awareness. It is an Arcana full of happiness and brightness. The sun is a source of life. It is the symbol of resurrection. We have defeated our fears and have reached purity and wisdom.

20. JUDGEMENT:

It represents the final state of personal consciousness. It is the conclusion, resolution and termination of the cycle of self-awareness. The human being hears the spiritual call and if he follows, he will receive a reward for his actions. It is the overcoming of all tests. We free ourselves to face any challenge with success.

21. THE WORLD:

Also called UNIVERSE, it represents cosmic consciousness. The fusion of self-conscience and subconscious with the superconscious. It is Nirvana. He who receives it experiments the perfect union with the regent power of the universe. This Arcana represents what you are and what the cosmos is in reality. The universe is a dance of life. Your immortal self, that is the eternal dancer.