The associates and links of the cards go both horizontally and vertically. The three, seven card rows all have different meanings as the souls journeys through the Major Arcana and then there are links with the seven vertical rows as well.

There is a lot written about the three stages of the souls transition (horizontally) and I may write about it later with my reflections but I was drawn to the vertical links and it got me thinking.

So here are the first three cards.

1. The Magician – Card 1
2. Strength – Card 8
3. The Devil – Card 15

So what do these cards all have in common?

What I came up with was MASTERY.

Mastery as defined in the dictionary means:
1. Possession of consummate skill.
2. The status of master or ruler; control: mastery of the seas.
3. Full command of a subject of study: Her mastery of economic theory impressed the professors.

So each of these cards represents something that we all experience the need or want to master or control in our lives as some point.

The Magician is the master of his Tools, the elements and his own will power. He is an impressive expression of the male archetype. We all learn how to master tools, whether it be a for our profession, study or daily life. To drive a car we must learn and get our licence, to use the Internet and other technologies requires us to study and gain skills. This is an action card, an outward expression and to me the Magician always comes across as being in control and confidant.

Strength is the master of discernment to know when it is best to push and when it is best to sit back and be passive. When external strength is needed and when internal strength should be exercised. Strength knows force and power well but also knows that just because you can doesn’t mean you should. For some strange reason Obi Wan Kenobi just popped into my head, he would be a good representation of Strength.

The Devil gives us the opportunity to master our own primal self and sometimes-harmful addictions. The Devil is about the material world and the chains it can so easily claim us with, this card is also about lust, power and abuse. This is not to say that The Devil is an all-together negative card, it is like magic itself, it just is, and it is the intent behind it that provides the final outcome. It is okay to enjoy the material world, to have some lust in your life and to have a good time but it is about keeping the balance, about knowing your limits and mastering your reaction to temptations. The Devil card is also about consciousness, are we in control are we the master of our actions, did we decide with active consciousness to act on our want or did it control us? Who is the real Master?

So the first of the seven lessons is Mastery, for me anyway. For those people who are familiar with the three major lessons of the Major Arcana here are the other correspondences for the cards.

The Magician – The Physical – Unconscious
Strength – Emotional – Subconscious
The Devil – Spiritual – Super Conscious