The Hero's Journey in the Major Arcana: Campbell Meets Tarot

BY NICOLE LAU

Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey—the monomyth that appears in every culture's stories—maps perfectly onto the Major Arcana. The 22 cards are not random symbols but a complete narrative arc, a mythic journey from innocence through trials to enlightenment and return. Understanding this structure transforms how you read tarot—not as isolated cards but as chapters in the soul's epic journey.

The Three Acts of the Hero's Journey

Campbell identified three major acts in the Hero's Journey: Departure, Initiation, and Return. The Major Arcana follows this same structure:

Act I: Departure (Cards 0-7): The hero leaves the ordinary world, crosses the threshold, and begins the adventure. This is the Fool through the Chariot—leaving innocence, gaining tools, preparing for the real journey.

Act II: Initiation (Cards 8-14): The hero faces trials, descends to the abyss, dies and is reborn. This is Strength through Temperance—the deep work, the shadow integration, the death and transformation.

Act III: Return (Cards 15-21): The hero integrates the lessons, faces the final tests, and returns to the world transformed. This is the Devil through the World—confronting shadow, finding hope, achieving enlightenment, and completing the cycle.

Act I: Departure - The Call to Adventure

The Fool (0): The Innocent in the Ordinary World
Every hero begins in innocence, unaware of the journey ahead. The Fool is you before the adventure—full of potential, naive to danger, ready to leap.

The Magician (1): Supernatural Aid
The hero receives tools, meets a mentor, gains power. The Magician is the moment you realize you have everything you need—the four elements, the connection between heaven and earth, the power to create.

The High Priestess (2): The Call to the Unconscious
The hero hears the call—often from the feminine, the mysterious, the hidden. The High Priestess is the voice that says "There is more. Descend. Discover."

The Empress (3): The Nurturing Mother
Before the journey, the hero is nurtured, prepared, given abundance. The Empress provides the resources, the love, the foundation you'll need for the trials ahead.

The Emperor (4): The Father's World
The hero must leave the father's kingdom, the structured world, the known order. The Emperor represents what you're leaving behind—safety, structure, authority.

The Hierophant (5): The Threshold Guardian
Every hero faces a guardian at the threshold—a teacher, a test, a tradition to honor or reject. The Hierophant is the last voice of the old world, offering wisdom before you cross.

The Lovers (6): The Choice
The hero must choose—between the old and new, between safety and adventure, between who they were and who they're becoming. The Lovers is the moment of commitment to the journey.

The Chariot (7): Crossing the Threshold
The hero crosses into the unknown, leaving the ordinary world behind. The Chariot is the moment of no return—you're committed, you're moving forward, the adventure has truly begun.

Act II: Initiation - The Road of Trials

Strength (8): The First Trial
The hero faces the beast—external or internal. Strength is learning that force fails, that gentleness succeeds, that the monster is integrated, not destroyed.

The Hermit (9): The Mentor in the Cave
The hero withdraws, seeks wisdom, meets the wise elder (often themselves). The Hermit is the solitude that brings clarity, the withdrawal that brings wisdom.

Wheel of Fortune (10): The Goddess/Tests
The hero faces the turning of fate, the ups and downs, the realization that some things are beyond control. The Wheel teaches surrender to larger patterns.

Justice (11): The Meeting with the Goddess/Atonement
The hero faces truth, balance, the weighing of the heart. Justice is the moment of reckoning—have you lived in alignment? Are you worthy to continue?

The Hanged Man (12): The Abyss/Sacrifice
The hero must surrender, sacrifice, hang in the void. The Hanged Man is the voluntary death, the ego sacrifice, the surrender that precedes transformation.

Death (13): The Death and Rebirth
The hero dies—the old self, the old identity, the old way of being. Death is the necessary ending, the transformation, the crossing from who you were to who you're becoming.

Temperance (14): The Sacred Marriage
The hero integrates opposites, achieves balance, marries the inner masculine and feminine. Temperance is the alchemical union, the integration that follows death.

Act III: Return - The Journey Home

The Devil (15): Temptation/The Shadow
The hero faces the final temptation—to stay in the underworld, to refuse the return, to remain in bondage. The Devil is the shadow that must be integrated, not escaped.

The Tower (16): The Final Ordeal
The hero's false structures are destroyed, ego is shattered, everything built on lies falls. The Tower is the final death, the complete destruction that precedes final rebirth.

The Star (17): The Goddess Returns/Hope
After the ordeal, hope appears. The Star is the first light after darkness, the promise that healing is possible, that the journey was worth it.

The Moon (18): The Magic Flight
The hero navigates the uncertain path home, guided by intuition not sight. The Moon is the journey through mystery, trusting what cannot be seen.

The Sun (19): Rescue from Without/Enlightenment
The hero emerges into light, clarity, joy. The Sun is the arrival, the achievement, the moment when everything becomes clear and you remember why you journeyed.

Judgement (20): The Crossing of the Return Threshold
The hero is called back to the world, resurrected with new purpose. Judgement is the trumpet that says "Return. Share what you've learned. Your work is not done."

The World (21): Master of Two Worlds
The hero returns, transformed, able to live in both worlds—ordinary and extraordinary, human and divine. The World is the integration, the wholeness, the completion that is also a new beginning.

Reading Spreads Through the Hero's Journey Lens

When you understand the Major Arcana as the Hero's Journey, every reading becomes a narrative:

Where are you in the journey? Are you at the beginning (Fool-Chariot), in the trials (Strength-Temperance), or returning (Devil-World)? Each phase requires different approaches.

What stage is calling? If you're stuck in the Hermit's cave, maybe the Wheel is calling you back to engagement. If you're forcing with the Chariot, maybe Strength is teaching you gentleness.

What's the narrative arc? In a multi-card spread, look for the story—departure, trial, return. The cards aren't isolated—they're chapters in your epic.

The Spiral, Not the Line

Here's the crucial insight: The Hero's Journey is not linear—it's a spiral. You don't complete it once and you're done. You complete it at one level, return to the Fool at a higher level, and begin again.

Each time through the Major Arcana, you integrate more, understand deeper, become more whole. The World leads back to the Fool—but you're not the same Fool. You're the Fool with the World's wisdom, beginning the next spiral of the journey.

The journey is eternal. The spiral continues. The hero's path is yours to walk.