Interpretation of the Major Arcana in a disappearance case

[Magna_Lupus]

Well, as the title says, I’d like some help from anyone who has at least a little experience with the tarot.

I’ve had this deck for a while now, and I didn’t know much about the Major and Minor Arcana, so I went with the cheapest option (which only included the Major Arcana).

However, since then I’ve made very little progress in understanding it, and I’ve only recently started taking a greater interest— that’s why but I have some doubts about the answers, and I’d like some help with this.

The point is this:

My cousin has been missing since September 12. He was last seen on the evening of that same day, when he had gone to pay off some debts at a place where he usually buys drugs, and then returned to the square where his mother was.

When he got there, he told her he was going home to take a shower, and after that, there was no further word from him.

His brother said that, around 11:00 p.m., he heard movement in the house downstairs, where my cousin lives, but didn’t think anything of it and didn’t pay it any mind, assuming it was him.

The local police have already been notified, but so far there’s no word on him. My aunt suspects he may have run away to another city, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

I’m also most worried that he might have run away somewhere to commit suicide — something he tried a month ago but failed to do.

Seeking answers through the tarot is the first step I plan to take, before a series of other things I have in mind, so I’d like to hear your opinions.

The first question I asked was:

What happened to him?

The cards I drew were: The Tower (reversed), The Hierophant (reversed), Death, and The Hermit.

When I saw The Tower, it was almost impossible not to think of another suicide attempt, since jumping off the house was what he had done before, but I pushed that thought aside—the meaning couldn’t be that literal (or could it?).

The Hierophant, from what I’ve researched, could signify some institution or group looking for him;

Death could signify the end of a cycle or a new beginning, and The Hermit would mean that he might need to isolate himself.

Next question:

Will he be found?

The Moon, The Sun, The Lovers, and The Chariot.

Honestly, my interpretations (along with the card’s actual meaning) of these cards were very confusing, and I don’t know exactly what I meant

Is he okay?:

The Hanged Man, Judgment, The Star, and The Fool.

A new cycle will begin. Looking at the image on the Judgment card, things have returned to their rightful place; the Star would mean that this troubled situation would end and that good times are coming— in other words, he’s going through something right now, but he’ll be fine soon. The Fool would also represent a new beginning; I think it means he’s trying to improve himself, perhaps seeking to overcome his addiction.

I didn’t mention The Hanged Man card because I couldn’t make sense of it, in reality id just confused me even more regarding its meanings.

My interpretations are a bit muddled, but I think I might be right about one thing or another

[Mulberry]

What spread did you use - what did the card positions represent? It’s pretty important for an interpretation and maybe you said but I don’t see it.

At first glance - he’s dead, his body will be found, and he’s passed on (to the stars/faced his final judgement/returned to innocence)

But I pulled for you (Quareia deck)
Blood Ancestor, Disease, Resources
Meaning possibly - he has guidance, he’s in trouble and is sick, but he’s got resources for now.

[Magna_Lupus]

I forgot to mention, but the deck I use is the Black Tarot. As for the readings, I rely a bit on the manual that came with it, as well as some websites, always filtering out what has some basis in fact, understanding tarot is still a bit strange to me.

I think I’m also relying too much on what people say the meanings are, rather than striking a balance with what I see myself in the cards themselves.

(The first two cards aren’t reversed because I adjusted them…)

Well, I avoided asking directly if he might be dead, because I read that the Tarot doesn’t work that way, that it’s kind of uncertain to know such things, and also so I could hold onto some hope…

If that’s not what you were referring to, then I’m sorry — this whole thing has been stressful, and I made a huge effort to push negative thoughts aside while interpreting the cards, to maintain a “neutral mindset.”

In any case, thank you for your reply; it helped me reflect more calmly on the matter itself

[Mulberry]

@Magna_Lupus

I think I’m also relying too much on what people say the meanings are, rather than striking a balance with what I see myself in the cards themselves.

That is ideal, yes. Generally, that first impression you get before you 2nd guess yourself or talk yourself out of it, is the right one. And you’ll get a feeling for when a card is relating to another.

So what I man by “spread”:..

Normally, a “spread” gives a context to each card position. Like, a 3 card spread is usually Past. Present Future in that order of what you pulled, A 4th card might represent the subject (that’s him).

As another example, a more detailed spread is the Celtic Cross, which includes a “final outcome” card that represents the culmination of all the other cards, if the conditions stay the same.

This one ^ has pretty standard meanings that have been like this for decades

But the 4 card I don’t know personally I never use it.
is it…

or…

or..

or..

Etc etc - there are more, this one can be almost anything as it’s more modern and kind of made-up. Which is fine, but the you have to keep your intention clear when reading, as you do not have a well-forged path in the astral like a groove in reality to help steer you.

This matters a lot when you have heavy-hitting cards like the tower or death. death is better as it mostly means change of state. The tower means destruction. But of what? Destruction of the past, is a very different thing than destruction of the subject. So you do want to take heed of what each card’s position means as well as the card.

[Confirm_Advise]

@Magna_Lupus

What happened to him?

The cards I drew were: The Tower (reversed), The Hierophant (reversed), Death, and The Hermit.

To me this reads as resisting change, resisting The Tower, so resisting a painful but necessary ending. This stands in contrast with Death which means letting go of something that must be let go of. Hermit is the card par excellence of introspection and Hierophant reversed would indicate a break in tradition, opposition to some authority, structure or group. To me this feels like there is something he can’t let go of and he is letting go of something else that must cease to be. All that through introspection and rebellion. To me it reads like he felt treated unfairly, or something of the sort and is going through an existential crisis which unlocked something, while keeping something more ominous intact. I favour the running away interpretation, perhaps not even to another city, just somewhere secluded where he could get away from what bothers him and stay alone with his own thoughts.

@Magna_Lupus

Will he be found?

The Moon, The Sun, The Lovers, and The Chariot.

The Moon is a card of anxiety and illusion. The Sun is of presence, being seen, innocence and joy. These two combined seem to me to point towards a lot if tribulation, especially emotionally, throughout the process of looking for him. The Lovers is the portal card, the connector between the higher and lower principles, or the One and the Physical. It’s a card of choices, especially choices we take up in regard to our destiny. It’s also a card which calls to embrace our True Will. Chariot is of action and courage, determination and confidence. These two are somewhat ambivalent to me. It seems like some sort of aligned action, perhaps spiritually, is needed for him to be found. What is unclear is wheter this is an action someone else should take, or he himself.

@Magna_Lupus

Is he okay?:

The Hanged Man, Judgment, The Star, and The Fool.

Willing sacrifice, absolution, balance and ascension, new beginnings and optimism. This to me reads very much like he is going through Absolution, Catharsis. Like what he is going through now is serving to clear his consciense, his soul, the burdens that have burdened him so far.

Altogether it reads to me like he has run away due to some sort of existential crisis, likely tied to some internal contradiction of his. Wheter he will be found depends on his, or someone elses choice and action, but the search will be fraught regardless. Ultimately this is for his best.

This could also mean that he is dead, though. Death, especially for someone who has a life of suffering, can often be a freeing and cleansing experience. A new beginning no doubt. But I would be sure, at least, that if he is dead, he moved on past the second death swiftly and won’t suffer as a ghost.

I suspect that the deck and reading being done on only Majors can skew the result. I read it as if it were on Rider-Waite as I have them memorised and know them very well, but I must admit that the deck you’ve used is rather ominous, especially in combination with the question and the situation itself.

I decided to pull a simple 3-card spread for his past, present and future state.

The past came out as The Magician - manifestation, decision, acting in alignment with oneself.

The present as the King of Wands - will, especially delegating ones will, determination, can signify in relationship with others.

The future as Death - this could be literal or figurative, but I have some sense it is literal.

All this together reads to me like he has been thrown into some sort of mental crisis, he made up his mind and is now mustering his will, perhaps in collusion with someone else. The endpoint is death, so I suspect he is preparing himself to commit suicide, or perhaps he is now looking for a way to delegate his suicide, wheter it be to a different human, some tool, or an aspect of himself.

I don’t want to be too optimistic, but it is also possible that he is resolving something major, perhaps this contradiction that jumped out at me at the very beginning of your reading, possibly with help of someone else.

Reading into the Sephira that come through in this reading I see that this relates to the 9th, 6th, and 3rd more than others. 9th is of the subconscious and dreams, 6th is of alignment, higher will, choices, 3rd is of constriction, limitation, pain. This supports the interpretation that some he is making some grand choice, that there is grand pain that he is facing through it and that it affects him at every level.

If I may remark so, it is very intense and meaningful, whatever is actually happening.

[Caessium]

You did a reading using just the Major Arcana, it would seem — unless, by some incredible coincidence, you pulled just them from the full deck. It’s not bad per se, but then it’s far too many cards. There’s only 21 Major Arcana, and you pulled 12. That’s more than 50%.

The less cards you use and the more you draw, the probability of each particular card being drawn rises. With you take 12 out of 21, for every single card it’s more likely it would be pulled than that it wouldn’t.

[Magna_Lupus]

With all this excellent explanation, I realize that I’ve always underestimated the cards’ predictions a little; I think I might have had some doubt about whether they were real or not, and perhaps that was the reason I couldn’t “see beyond” and ended up with only a superficial interpretation.

The destruction of the tower, one of my thoughts, would mean that he might have wanted to cut ties with his family, specifically with his mother, which is why he would have run away to find himself. My fear is that this “escape” might be literal.

To provide a little more context—in a somewhat summarized way, and to be perfectly frank — the catalyst for all of this is his mother’s current husband.

He hates my cousin, a feeling that’s mutual, and is always humiliating him in front of anyone who’ll listen.

My cousin doesn’t like him because he simply treats his mother badly (he’s not agressive, but he treats her like she’s just a servant and caregiver for his disgusting father), and she kind of doesn’t care. She hasn’t had good marriages, so I don’t think she understands what a toxic relationship is.

And I say this because she recently found out he’d cheated on her, separated from him, and after a while got back together with him — and even criticized everyone who was supporting her in that decision.

Maybe because my aunt agrees with her husband and defends him, my cousin may have started to harbor these negative feelings inside, that nobody likes him or cares about him.

He had already come to our city to start over, far from the turmoil of the other city, and witnessing all of this has probably only made his situation worse.

But I’m going to follow your advice and take a look at the forum posts, and start practicing more often to improve.

[Magna_Lupus]

I’m going to respond to each part of the comment in order, since I still don’t understand how to reply separately to someone else’s comment

I believe that too, even if it’s just so I don’t have to believe that he might have committed suicide in a remote place, far from anyone who could have saved him again. The existential crisis might be related to what I said above — maybe he believes that no one loves him or cares about him, which isn’t true.

Maybe his mother doesn’t understand him, but there are people in our family who love and understand him, regardless of whether he’s addicted or not. He just couldn’t see that. Something to take into consideration is that, when he was younger, he had already run away from home and stayed away for three days. I hoped he might have returned to that place. However, when I asked my mother about it, she told me that the place had already been searched recently and there were no clues as to his whereabouts.

I think that maybe this action is waiting for a response from him, but he doesn’t know what to do and that’s why he’s waiting for something or someone.

In any case, I took the liberty of acting on his behalf; I’ll do whatever it takes so that he, wherever he may be, understands that it’s safe to come back, and that he’ll have the help he needs to recover from his addiction and his mental health issues.

I only regret not having acted sooner…

I honestly don’t know what to think about this, it makes a lot of sense, and that’s exactly what makes me feel bad.

What he’s going through isn’t easy, and I really wish he had just run away to try to start his life over, not to end it. Even though I deeply understand his desire to run away.

I don’t condemn him for having attempted suicide (I know you weren’t referring to that) or for wanting to try again, but I hold out hope that he’ll realize this might not be the solution to his problems.

It’s a bit silly of me to speak for him, but I know the feelings of injustice and loneliness he’s going through, and maybe that’s why I thought he could overcome those feelings too, in a better way than what I did, if he comes home.

And that’s another reason why I doubt my own readings, my partiality and self-deception.

I actually didn’t take the lack of the Minor Arcana into account when I bought this deck—something I regret now that I know a little more about the tarot itself and the importance of having all 78 cards.

At the time, I chose this deck precisely because of its “dark” appearance—another thing I regret, since, in cases of such a delicate nature, I’m unable to view the answers in a “positive” light. There’s always something else to be wary of and fear, which was the case with The Tower card; my first thought was that it signaled a new suicide attempt.

Your help with this interpretation was very important to me, as was your other reading, and I’m grateful for that.

[Magna_Lupus]

I wasn’t really following any “rule” or something fixed, you know? I just thought it would be better to draw more than just two cards, just to be extra sure, since I tend to doubt myself a little. And this was the first time I’ve used this deck for something more “serious” and meaningful; the other times were just tests and a way to connect with the deck itself.

I’m going to buy a new deck with all 78 cards, to improve my skills and because I feel the questions would be more “precise and easier to understand”, well, at least that’s what I think about the Ride Waiter version, in terms of how easy it is to interpret the images

[Magna_Lupus]

I feel like I can still help him find himself, that he hasn’t made any drastic decisions yet, but that time is running out.

So, I’m going to use everything I know to help him.

I’ll be back as soon as I have new information about him, but I don’t mind if other people chime in to offer help

[Caessium]

What I mean is that drawing too many cards limits how much information you can get.

Let’s suppose you decide to draw 21 cards from a deck limited to the Major Arcana. You see the Empress there. Is it significant? No, because when you draw 21 cards from a 21-card deck, you guarantee the Empress would be among the cards drawn. As with every other Major Arcana. You can still get some information from the order they appeared in, or whether they were reversed, but you ensured the cards’ content has no meaning.

Taking 12 cards out of 21 isn’t an extreme example, but it’s still more than half of the deck. When drawing 1 card from 78, you have about a 1.3% chance of getting it instead of any of the remaining cards. When you draw 12 out of 21, you’re more likely to draw a particular card (for example, the Tower) than not.