Energy Balances & Imbalances of the Major Arcana

by Paris Finley



Much can be learned by asking, "What is the energy underlying this card?"

Even more can be learned by asking, "What happens if there is too much of that energy?

And finally, we can learn even more by asking, "What happens if there is too little of that energy?

By asking these questions, we arrive at a place where we can ask the most important question of all, "What can we do to fix the energy imbalance?"

card name card energy too much energy too little energy (Rx) in balance What the card says
0 The Fool moving forward with no fear;
"ignorance is bliss"
heedless; careless;
blind to what lies ahead
fooling oneself
timid; cautious moving ahead successfully
aware and unafraid
"I don't know, but I like it!"
I The Magician performing magic on a worldly level;
creation by willpower and desire
confusing the trick with real magic;
using illusion and trickery
inept in performance
unskilled in manifesting what
is needed or wanted
skilled and capable;
handles all the tools;
knowing the difference
between trickery and magic
"I have an idea!"
II The High Priestess possessing psychic powers,
intuition and secret knowledge;
a librarian of the arcane
too secretive and private;
addicted to the accumulation of arcane
knowledge for its own sake
unable to keep a secret;
no sense of one's mystery or
one's own subconscious motives
secret knowledge used for good
"I have a secret!"
III The Empress able to produce;
fecund, fertile, mothering;
giving birth; creating new life;
"the Great Mother"; Gaia
overgrowing, smothering,
suffocating, crowding out;
workaholic, overproductive
starving, bare, infertile;
wasteland; barren, unproductive
appropriate growth;
appropriate productivity
"I give birth!"
IV The Emperor Leadership, command,
fathering
Overbearing, bossy;
a martinet; strict; tyrannical; impatient; controlling
leaderless, rudderless;
lacking direction, motivation
or discipline
moving with authority;
leading without ordering; fatherly and charismatic
"I rule! I command!"
V The Hierophant symbolizing organized religion;
providing and ensuring
a community's moral leadership;
inspiring; "putting clothes on
God
preachy; overly moral;
extremist; fundamentalist;
zealot; literal; resistant
to change
morally leaderless;
hypocritical; feet of clay;
lacking inspiration; betraying
the community trust
inspiring and exemplifying
one's expressed standards
"I keep the faith!"
VI The Lovers
(The One Who Loves)
being in love and
gaining the attention of
the object of one's affection;
choosing
clinging; doting;
driving away one's love by
too much attention;
wanting something too much
loving secretly;
unable to express one's feelings; shy; unable to make a choice
stating or showing
one's affection appropriately
"I choose you to love!"
VII The Chariot moving forward and winning
by harnessing disparate energies
crushing; rolling over people
forcing; prizing winning over all else;
moving too fast
weak, immobile, unable to
organize; tending to sit and wait;
missing opportunities to bring
different points of view together
moving ahead successfully
aware and unafraid
"I move ahead against all obstacles!"
VIII Strength using both inner and outer
strength or forces
to gain one's way
forcing; imperious
dominating
weak, ineffective,
lacking leadership
conciliatory
using just the right amounts
and kinds of healthy force
leading by example
"I use strength to serve,
not to dominate!"
IX The Hermit making one's way alone
finding out truths for oneself
"me, myself, and I"
reclusive, misanthropic
secretive, unsociable
dependent upon others
lacking self-reliance
incapable of making it alone
unable to keep secrets
knowing when to go it alone
and when to ask for help;
can be trusted with secrets
balancing introversion with extroversion
"I trust my own thinking!"
X The Wheel the natural cycle of change
"what goes around comes around"
chaotic upheaval;
unable to keep up;
too much change all at once
staid, stuck, in a rut
out of rhythm, unlucky
in the flow
taking advantage of the natural
cycles of life, lucky
"This, too, shall pass!"
XI Justice fair and equal
well-adjusted
"what's good for the goose
is good for the gander."

hypercritical, judgmental
picky, nagging, needing
adjustment and balance (?)
inequality, unfairness
"good" karma,
fair and even-handed
in one's dealings
"I am just!" I'm a fair person.
XII The Hanged Man having a different perspective;
a suspension of the usual;
turning inward
"hearing the inner voice"
"go on retreat"
"it's a vision thing"
betray as a result of seeing
things differently
lost in one's own world;
blind to what is around
self-deluded into betraying
lacking inner strength,
intuition or psychic ability;
blindly obedient
able to "go within";
outer and inner needs both met;
having perspective and vision;
having the courage of one's convictions
"I see things differently!"
XIII Death ending life
"death comes to all things"
war, famine, disease;
too many losses
fear of endings;
eternal
moving forward to accept
a loss knowing something
awaits beyond
"I am sorry for (your/my) loss!"
XIV Temperance balancing
"walk in balance, walk in beauty"
afraid to step off the path;
never "going to extremes"
wildly out of balance;
excessive, addictive
balance within reason
"I walk in balance!"
XV The Devil attachment, addiction;
dependency; over-reliance; base desires
addiction;
slavery, going overboard; 7 deadly sins(?)
anarchy, isolation,
(see The Hermit)
no sense of "earthiness"
social adherence;
correctness; manners
"I behave, but not all the time!"
"I obey..." "I serve..." "I wanna do right, but not right now"
XVI The Tower energy from outside
shakes things up
"bolt from the blue"
chaos, destruction
loss, ruin, despair
boredom, decay, rot a little change, a little bad luck
just enough to shake things up
"I will rock you!"
XVII The Star moving toward a distant goal
"eyes on the prize"
obsessed; goal-oriented
blind to what is around one
rudderless; short-sighted moving ahead successfully
aware of surroundings
but with vision
"Follow your dream!"
XVIII The Moon creativity, imagination
"mystery by moonlight"
delusion; addiction;
lost in dreams
prosaic, worldly;
lacking imagination
balancing the real
and the dream world to
advantage
"Add a little mystery
to your life!"
XIX The Sun warm blessings
"the sun is smiling on you"
burned, dessicated;
too much of a good thing
luckless; in shadow moving ahead successfully "I shine on you!"
XX Judgement rebirth, resurrection;
starting over
"second chance"
always starting, never finishing;
unable to break the old pattern; unable to start anew beginning again when needed;
leaving behind what must be
"I am the resurrection!"
XXI The World moving forward with no fear
"ignorance is bliss"
heedless; careless
blind to what lies ahead
timid; cautious moving ahead successfully
aware and unafraid
"the card says!"
(c) Paris Finley, 2011