An arcana is something hidden or secret.
The Latin word arcānus came to Spanish as arcane . The concept can be used as an adjective or as a noun .
The term is used to describe what is secret . Something hidden is called arcane, which is kept secret so that people do not become aware of it.
An arcane, between myth and reality
At a general level, a great mystery is mentioned as arcane. There may be multiple theories and versions about the thing in question, but there is no reliable evidence to prove its existence.
Precisely that difficulty of access is what defines an arcana. By remaining outside the knowledge of the population, it becomes an enigma .
Arcana are generally associated with military initiatives . The authorities of a country can promote projects that are not made known to society for strategic reasons or those linked to national security, which makes these undertakings arcane.
The example of Area 51
Reality and fantasy (or, at least, what is not proven or demonstrated) come together in many cases that can be considered arcane. This occurs at the Nellis Air Force Base of the US Air Force . There, in the Groom Lake area, is the place known as Area 51 .
In this detachment located in the state of Nevada , research and exercises are carried out that are protected as top secret by the United States government . For many people, evidence of the existence of extraterrestrials is hidden in Area 51.
Therefore, although Area 51 exists, it is an arcane in terms of its activity. It is even said that alien creatures were held captive there and teleportation and time travel were experimented with.
Tarot cards are divided into minor arcana and major arcana.
The arcana in the tarot
Tarot cards, on the other hand, are divided into major arcana (formerly called trump cards ) and minor arcana . In total, of the 78 cards, 22 are major arcana and 56 are minor arcana.
The major arcana are the Magician , the High Priestess , the Empress , the Emperor , the High Priest or Pope , the Lover , the Chariot , Justice , the Hermit , the Wheel of Fortune , Strength , the Hanged Man , Death , Temperance , the Devil , the House of God or Tower , the Star , the Moon , the Sun , Judgment , the World and the Fool .
The minor arcana, meanwhile, are segmented into four suits. These cards are numbered from 1 to 10 , plus three figures per suit (the Knight , the Jack , the King and the Queen ).
Game and divination
It is important to indicate that the concept of tarot can refer specifically to the deck that contains the arcana. In fact, that is the first meaning of the term that is mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ).
Tarot is also the name of the game that can be played with these cards. Since approximately the 14th century , in addition, a divination practice carried out with these cards has been called tarot.
The tarot reader , in this framework, is the one who claims to be able to make predictions from the reading of the cards that appear. This person, according to the arcana that appear, develops interpretations of the spread and transmits the “forecasts” .