I have to admit that I am, generally, from the school of thought that believes a Tarot deck should only have 78 cards. In cases where there are extra Major Arcana cards, like the Daughters of the Moon (extra Lovers and Pan) or the Osho Zen (the Master), I remove them from the deck. I think, though, that the extra Major Arcana cards in the Steele Wizard Tarot are exceptionally well thought out and add a great deal to the standard Tarot archetypes.
I laid out all the Major Arcana and arranged them in four rows of seven cards, placing the Fool at the very end. I then looked at each row using Mary K. Greer’s suggestion of reading the rows as Body, Mind and Spirit. That left me with the row of new Majors plus the Fool to deal with. Here’s what I came up with:
- The Weaver – recognition of destiny/required life lessons
- The Universe – communication with and acceptance of the great Divine Beings/Forces
- Truth – realization of Truths governing life
- Soul Twins – acknowledgment of all parts of self, including the divine
- Evolution – experience of change and growth in all things
- I AM – understanding we are all ONE
- The Fool – innocence and openness
I decided to title this series Divinity, as I feel it is one step beyond Spirit.
I also thought about what astrologically associations these new cards should have. My ideas:
- The Weaver – Chiron (healing through karma)
- The Universe – Earth element (solidness and connection)
- Truth – Neptune (cloudiness cleared, or preserved if reversed)
- Soul Twins – Pluto (eruptive change as a result of this acknowledgment of self)
- Evolution – Uranus (shock as the result of this experience)
- I AM – Spirit (total integration)
As for the extra Minor Arcana cards, the Maidens, I haven’t tackled them yet.