The first documented example of Tarot cards were created around 1428. Within The larger 78 card deck was a smaller subseries of 22 greater trumps known as 'The Major Arcana'. Growing from archetypes and themes of the popular culture, the trumps reflect common human experience.

For years the Tarot has been used as a tool for divination by many, however, for the serious student it has also been used as a tool to examine spiritual development. While teaching classes and workshops about the Tarot I began to notice how the Tarot not only reflects the spiritual process, but also illustrates a chronicle of common human development.

Following William Blake's concept of a soul's movement from innocence to experience and its return to experienced innocence; I have divided the 22 trumps into three levels on the journey through life and the Major Arcana.

The Fool is the soul which walks this path The first level is the physical stage, from the Magician to the Chariot, representing the period from birth into adolescence. The second level, the emotional stage, from Strength to Temperance, symbolizes the period from adolescence to adulthood. The final level, the spiritual stage, moves from the Devil to the World. This is the period from adulthood to maturity and enlightenment.

Not all people complete this entire cycle, as with any other model of developmental theory, each step on the journey may act as a vehicle leading the soul to the next level, or it may become a home where one dwells for a lifetime. Generally most average humans will complete the first tier of this model and move from the dependency of infancy to the independence of adolescence. Many humans will continue into the second tier of emotional development from adolescence to adulthood, but not all people will complete this and graduate to the final tier.

I think it is important to note that it is important that we are careful not to regard this model from a linear perspective. Progress must not be gaged exclusively by how many stages a soul has moved through. This journey through Major Arcana can be experienced and integrated on multidimensional levels. Each journey is different and within a lifetime one might experience this process many times at varying degrees. Every point represents a vital process which in and of itself will lead a soul to spiritual integration. Thus as we examine this path may we remember thatall roads lead to home.