I’ve thought long and hard about what I wanted to talk about in this book and what I didn’t. The study of Tarot can easily become, if you are anything like me, an all-consuming obsession. What I had to decide was what I wanted to contribute as, not an expert, but a passionate student of Cartomancy. So, I decided to talk about the things I like to do. I like to read cards. I enjoy the act of translating pictures into words. I also find human behaviour fascinating. I always have done. Ever since I was a child, and was dragged to church every Sunday by my parents, I would ignore most of what the priest said, and instead just watch people. Then, as I grew up, I soon realised that people rarely tell the truth. It’s a sad fact, but in my experience, you encounter few people in life who are 100% transparent. Later in life, having been through the trials and tribulations of many psychologically abusive relationships, I found a way to get to the truth. I found a way to enhance my psychic abilities, which had always been there, just as my stomach muscles have always been there, but I couldn’t see them until I started exercising in my early thirties. Unfortunately, I stopped exercising as I approached 40 and haven’t seen them since! But, luckily, I have the photos to prove they are there! I got proof. I’m laughing to myself but, at the same time, I hope this analogy will show you what my chief aim was and still is: to prove that psychic abilities are real, and, I suppose, to prove that there is so much more to us than I was led to believe when I was ten years old, sitting in that church, watching those people. You see, I knew. I knew there was more. No matter how many times I was told that Magick wasn’t real and that I wasn’t psychic, I was just mentally ill, I knew. I could feel it, but more than that, I had this voice in my mind, this voice that spoke to me like a dear friend. And I knew it wasn’t the God that my parents talked about, or the priest talked about, or my teachers talked about, because this voice was part of me, not separate from me, judging me. This voice was me, my true voice, my inner voice, my inner guide.
Why am I telling you all this when we’re supposed to be talking about the role of the Major Arcana in Tarot? Well, you see, what started as the study of Cartomancy, became the study of me, and a journey to discover why I am here, what my purpose is, and what I’m supposed to do, what role I am supposed to play? Have I had a spiritual awakening? I don’t know? I don’t really know what a spiritual awakening is, or if I’d like to categorise what I have experienced over the past few years of my life. What I do know is that I feel like The Fool, card 0, setting out on the journey of a lifetime. Sometimes I feel like The Magician, and sometimes I feel like The Hermit. Actually, mostly I feel like the Hermit these days. Being a Virgo, it’s a suitable card! I suppose what I’m trying to say is that The Major Arcana is me, my life, its ups and downs, its highs and lows, its successes and failures. It teaches me how to be more here than there. More present, and more aware of this amazing, incredible, beautiful, insightful, profound, joyous, spectacular experience of life, that, before all of these books, and all of this study, and all of this learning, I completely and utterly took for granted. But now, shining with such beauty and clarity as the Sun, I see why I chose all of this. To learn. That’s all. To learn. And I hope to end this cycle of rebirth once and for all, depicted in The Wheel of Fortune, and to reach my destination wherever that may be. The World looks like a portal, a gateway, but what’s on the other side of that gateway? I don’t know. A place where all of time and space is one, and all of us become one, without judgement, without malice, without pain, without prejudice, without hatred, where the illusions of this physical world melt away and become star dust. The path I have chosen has led me to where I am today.
The path you choose will lead you to where you need to be, and the knowledge will be there waiting for you. I wouldn’t dream of telling you what these 22 cards ‘mean’, because their meaning is incomprehensible to all but the person who becomes the Fool and who walks their own path. However, what I can write about is the role the Major Arcana have in the context of this book. They have no greater value than any other card. They are just pictures, just cartoons. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less. The Chariot is no more important than the Two of Pentacles, The Tower is no more important than the Seven of Swords, The Moon is no more important than the Six of Wands. Now, those of you who have read other books on Tarot will be screaming and no doubt angered by this statement, and you’ll exclaim, “But, you’re wrong! What about the 22 paths on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life? What about Astrology? What about the Major life changes and deep spiritual lessons? What about The Book of Thoth and The Golden Dawn! What about the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet?” And you’d have a valid argument, which I would not dispute whatsoever! If we were to look at the Major Arcana through a Kabbalistic lens, then yes, these 22 cards have tremendous meaning, in fact, layer upon layer upon layer upon layer upon layer of meanings. The Wheel of Fortune holds significant importance in spiritual advancement and awakening, believed to be a path to ending the suffering depicted in the game.
Far from representing a lucky win at a casino, it often symbolises evolution or a lack thereof. In the grand scheme of my soul, the Wheel of Fortune is akin to the Wheel of Suffering, with endless cycles of rebirth that Eastern Mysticism is all too familiar with. These lessons, beliefs, and practices transcend the earthly limitations of the ego and consciousness, ultimately leading to enlightenment. This faith is evident in the ancient city of Varanasi, nestled on the banks of the sacred Ganges. For millennia, pilgrims have journeyed there to die, believing that cremation and the scattering of their ashes in the river lead to moksha and ultimate liberation.
But I am a mere student. I am not here to teach you the path to enlightenment. I’m here to share my ideas about how to speak more confidently when doing a Tarot reading. And so, when I look at cards such as The Chariot and The Lovers, I think to myself, “What direction is this relationship heading in?”. And so, far from talking about ‘Victory, overcoming obstacles, success, ambition, determination, willpower, control, self-discipline, hard work and focus’ and ‘Love, soulmates, kindred spirits, perfect unions, partnerships, relationships, major choices, romance, desire, sexual connections, shared values’, these cards simply become parts of a sentence. In fact, two nouns mainly, one being the noun ‘direction’ and the other being the noun ‘relationship’.
The reason I’m sharing this with you, dear reader, is that I once did a sort of joint Tarot reading for a young man who was struggling with anger. The other reader was just beginning to learn Tarot and drew the following cards – The Knight of Swords, The Star RX, The Nine of Wands, and talked about the need for healing and self-love. I, on the other hand, asked why he was always rushing into battle, and feeling so defensive, and suggested that perhaps it was because his mother had experienced sexual abuse when she was younger. It turned out that was indeed the reason for his anger and the many issues he’d had with the police over the years, in one case leading to jail time, if memory serves, but as if the abuse hadn’t been bad enough, his mother had been raped by her own father.
Now, I’m sure you can see how these two readings are perfectly valid and acceptable, but as far as I’m concerned, The Devil is in the details, and if you want to stand out from the crown and impress the person you are reading for, you’ll do well to avoid standard Tarot card meanings and pointless platitudes. According to my friend Google, ‘A platitude is a trite, commonplace remark or statement, often offered as if it were profound or original, but which is ultimately meaningless due to overuse. It’s a statement that has lost its impact because it’s been heard so many times before, and this perfectly sums up my experience of listening to Tarot readings on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
Perhaps it is my passion for Psychology and people watching, which began 37 years ago, as little 10-year-old Xand West sat in that drafty old church, trying to ignore the fire and brimstone, certain there had to be more to this life, that has shaped and moulded the way in which I talk about Tarot. In any case, for me, these 78 cards are just nouns, verbs, and adjectives. It’s what we do with them that makes all the difference. A child can paint with the exact same colours as a grand master, but the finished paintings will surely be very, very, different.
by Xand West Thursday 16th Oct 2025
The Psychic Studio 