Destiny and Choice
The Major Arcana cards are sometimes known as the "Destiny Cards" of the Tarot deck. In general, the appearance of these cards indicates major issues or events that are your destiny to experience. Many often perceive destiny as an event or course in life that is set in stone and not alterable by one's actions. But what role does choice play in fulfilling or in not realizing one's destiny?
The typical basic Tarot Reading will include a Major Arcana card or two along with a couple of Minor Arcana cards. The Major Arcana cards are your destiny as long as you perform the recommended actions or attitude changes of the Minor Arcana cards. Essentially, the cosmos or whatever you believe in is recommending a path by which you can achieve the promise of your own destiny.
If we fail to take the prescribed path to that destiny, we are likely to miss it.
A woman selects the World card, the Lovers card, and the two Wands in her reading. Wands frequently occur in business contexts and represent tools or weapons. The cards themselves indicate that she will achieve all that she hopes for (the World card) in the romantic realm (the Lovers card) when she applies herself to seeking the lover that is fated to her.
However, her pursuit of romantic love is limited to watching episodes of "Sex in the City." She does not go out with friends, does not go to clubs, does not engage in personals, or do anything else to assist in finding the man whom fate has reserved for her.
If she continues to not act (the message of the Wands), there will still be a man out there destined to be hers, but he will probably remain unfound. The cards, then, very often contain the strategies that we ought to use to fulfill our destiny. Choosing to not take the necessary path may result in unfulfilled destinies.
Further choices that impact on our destiny:
1) Timing - We often hear that "God's timing is not our timing." This generally means that when we do not receive what we hope for immediately, it may still be our eventually.
But what about the reverse situation when something good presents itself and we decide to not accept and embrace it? Perhaps we adopt ready excuses for not taking advantage of opportunities in career or love. We often give up on perfectly good, growing relationships out of some vague, emotional anxiety that plagues us. We excuse our desertion of the relationship with the justification, "I am just not ready yet."
Choosing to be ready is our responsibility, as adults, to fulfill our destinies. Part of the progression through life, as it is symbolized in the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot, is the idea that we are growing in responsibility and character throughout our lifetime. A mature adult will be both patient and ready to receive and act on the plans that God or the cosmos have for us.
2) Receptiveness - Negative attitudes toward money, relationships, health, or life in general will cause us to miss out on our destiny. A person who has grown so accustomed to poor health that he/she has lost the ability to function without some chronic sickness is not going to receive complete healing - no matter what his or her destiny may be. In fact, if a legitimate health issue is resolved, this same person may manufacture a further affliction in her or her own mind.
We should always make peace with our current circumstances to the extent that we are able. If we are sick, or poor, or alone, we trust that we can fulfill our duties and find some measure of fulfillment even in the worst of circumstances. To benefit from a promising destiny, we must choose to have hope and to be receptive to greater things and the resolution of our problems.
3) Morality - How we choose to live our life does have an impact on our destiny. A person, who faces an imminent curse due to poor life decisions, may avert a destiny of curse or judgment by changing the behavior of attitudes that will bring about the negative result.
Alternatively, if a person who has led a well-lived life likely to lead to a blessing suddenly begins making poor life decisions; he/she may end up missing out on the great promises of destiny.
Destiny cards are valued in a reading because they provide a base for the Tarot reading and provide hope. But we must always realize that destiny and choices are always intertwined, and our choices have, and always will, influence the realization of our destiny.
From the Blog of "TarotProphet" a Tarot Advisor on Keen