Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For today’s Tarot Tuesday blog post, I will be examining the Major Arcana of The Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot Deck!   I thought the time between Halloween and the Yuletide season would be the ideal time to discuss this deck in more detail.   As always, with these Major Arcana Analysis posts, I will be going through each card along the Fool’s Journey and examining how they pulled from this iconic Holiday Classic film to align with the cards!

0. The Fool: JACK AND ZERO IN THE HINTERLANDS

~Jack and Zero are pictured from early on in the film, when Jack is exploring the Hinterlands (which is what the area between lands, where the Circle of Holiday Trees is located, is called in the Pumpkin Queen continuation novels).   This is the ideal moment in the film to use to exemplify the beginning of the Fool’s Journey, as Jack is quite literally beginning on a new journey, which will lead him to attempt to take over Christmas!   

I. The Magician: THE WITCH SISTERS

~Two of the Witch Sisters from the film are pictured on the Magician card.   Obviously, in Halloween Town, the Witches are the exemplars of Magician energy, as they are the ones who cast the spells, and the Magician is the active aspect of the magickal process!

II. The High Priestess: SALLY

~Sally is the ideal figure to have on the High Priestess card, as she quite literally received a vision to warn of Jack’s oncoming failure during Christmas!   Sally truly serves as the receptive aspect of the magickal process here, having a deep connection with the spiritual realms.

III. The Empress: THE UNDEAD MOTHER

~The guidebook calls her the Corpse Mom, and she is the character who leads her child around on a leash in the film!   The maternal aspect of the Empress is certainly in play when we look at this choice.    The Empress is all about abundance and prosperity, so the ability to have children is certainly an ideal way to symbolize this, making this minor character a good choice!   This is especially true, as there was obviously a desire to use as many characters from the film as possible (rather than just the most popular ones).

IV. The Emperor: SANTA

~There could not have been a better character to use in the Emperor position, as Santa in this film is truly placed in the very positive Divine Masculine position.   He is there to help set things right when they go awry during his Holiday!

V. The Hierophant: THE MAYOR

~The Mayor is a very sensible character to put on the Hierophant card, as this card is most commonly associated with hierarchy (especially Religious hierarchy).   However, the deeper meaning of this card is the energy of teaching and being one to teach spiritual topics, in particular.   So, yes, the Mayor fits into the hierarchy aspect, but he is not a teacher.   This makes him a good choice for the baseline meaning of the card!

VI. The Lovers: JACK AND SALLY

~There is no better way to show the Lovers card energy in this film!   Jack and Sally finally find their way to each other at the end of the film, realizing they were ‘Simply Meant To Be.’   What I love most about this choice is that Jack and Sally truly balance one another and are stronger together than apart, which is very much in line with the Lovers card energy!   

VII. The Chariot: JACK AND HIS SLEIGH

~This is another ideal choice, as Jack riding off in his Sleigh pulled by Skeleton Reindeer and led by Zero is very much him leaving on a mission he believes will end in triumph, as this card symbolizes.   He is in a go, go, go mentality, also aligned with this card’s energy.   Of course, he does not succeed, but the moment depicted is at a time when he believes success is assured!

VIII. Strength: THE BEHEMOTH (THE CHARACTER WITH AN AXE IN HIS HEAD)

~This minor character is often seen lugging things around Halloween Town in the film, making him an ideal choice for the Strength card.   He also seems to be rather gentle, as he is very helpful.   So, even if his appearance is scary on the outside, he seems to be much softer on the inside, and that shows the balance of different types of Strength which this card represents! 

IX. The Hermit: THE CREATURE UNDER THE STAIRS

~I like the choice of the Creature Under the Stairs for the Hermit card.   Like the Hermit’s introspective nature, the Creature hides under the stairs, being at home in the darkness.   This nature of being at home in the dark relates to the willingness to confront your own Shadow, and that is very important to the Hermit energy!

X. The Wheel of Fortune: SKELETON ON OOGIE’S ROULETTE WHEEL

~This is an evocative image from the film, as we see it in Oogie’s Lair.   The ever-turning nature of the Wheel does quite a good job of showing the ever-turning Wheel of Fate and Fortune, which the card represents!

XI. Justice: JACK AT THE TOWN MEETING

~The scene of Jack trying to convince the other Halloween Town residents of the joys of Christmas is a good choice to show the card of ultimate balance and the importance of truth.   He has to lie to get the residents excited, which is what leads to his downfall, so we see that without that lie, he may not have gone on obsessing so much that he tried to steal another Holiday!   It is interesting, as this scene shows a warning about why truth and justice are important.   

XII. The Hanged Man: SANTA HANGING IN OOGIE’S LAIR

~This was an obvious choice, but also a bit of a lucky one, as there was literally a character who was hanging in the film.   Santa does not free himself, but instead needs Jack and Sally’s help, which does deviate from the knowledge the card offers that ultimately we are the ones who can free ourselves.   However, the energy of gaining wisdom through the time of the Hanged Man (like Odin hanging from the World’s Tree to gain knowledge of the Runes) is there, as Santa learns why all of this has happened!

XIII. Death: THE CEMETERY

~A simple choice, and a good one, as they could have chosen any aspect of Halloween Town to represent Death, but went with the most obvious one.   The Cemetery is where the Dead are most honored.   The Death card is so oft misunderstood, but it is really a time of transformation, also making the Cemetery ideal, as Jack walks through this location right before entering the Hinterlands for the first time.   That act is indeed full of great transformation in the film! 

XIV. Temperance: SALLY POISONING DR. FINKLESTEIN

~I like this depiction of Sally brewing her potion, as we know she used it to poison Dr. Finklestein, and that led to her being able to try and help in the town.   This is a form of balance, which is what this card represents, a reminder not to live life to the extremes.   Sally gets a small amount of freedom through her potion, increasing the sense of balance in her life!

XV. The Devil: OOGIE BOOGIE

~Oogie Boogie is the ideal choice for the Devil card, as he is literally the Boogie Man!   He embodies the oft misunderstood positive side of this card with his wild nature, as this card appears to remind us to embrace the wildness within.   He also perfectly encapsulates the dangers of this card, as if you give into wildness too much, you may be bound by addictive behaviors, which we can argue is where Lock, Shock, and Barrel come in (as they are far too aligned with Oogie, and do horrible things on his behalf)!

XVI. The Tower: JACK’S TOWER (HOME)

~Jack’s home is shown from the outside during the height of his obsession.  The Tower card is about sudden change and cleansing destruction.   So, this point in the film is very much aligned with the Tower card energy, as it is Jack’s obsession with Christmas that will lead to cleansing destruction and his reinvigorated love for Halloween!

XVII. The Star: ZERO WITH HIS JACK O’ LANTERN NOSE

~Zero helps Jack take off on Christmas by guiding the Sleigh with his Jack o’ Lantern nose.   This gives Jack a renewed hope for his version of Christmas, and the Star card is definitely one of hope!   So, I do like this choice.

XVIII. The Moon: JACK ON SPIRAL HILL

~Jack on Spiral Hill with the Full Moon in the background is ideal visually for this card.   It is also ideal thematically, as the Moon card is a very intuitive card, but also one of confusion and uncertainty, as the Moon only provides a half-light.   Jack is very uncertain of his role as Pumpkin King when he first walks up Spiral Hill in the film, aligning well with the Moon card’s energy!

XIX. The Sun: JACK WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS IN HIS EYES

~I think this is one of the most inspired choices for the deck!   It is a bit difficult to think exactly where the Sun card energy would appear in a film so connected with the night, from the Spookiness of Halloween Town to the Nighttime Ride of Santa (or in this case, Jack).   However, the Christmas Lights from when Jack first learned of Christmas are perfect, because they give him that warmth and joy within that the Sun card symbolizes!

XX. Judgment: SANTA’S NAUGHTY OR NICE LIST

~The Judgment card is all about renewal and rebirth, so Santa’s List makes a lot of sense.   Each year, children get a renewed chance to get a present by being nice.   Beyond that, Santa is literally judging them as either naughty or nice!

XIX. The World: THE HINTERLANDS CIRCLE OF HOLIDAY TREES

~The final card of the Fool’s Journey is about culmination and triumph, before a new journey begins.   The Circle of Holiday Trees certainly embodies this, as this grove of trees is something that the whole plot of the film hinges on.   Plus, they are literally a cycle of different Holidays being represented, showing how we are always the Fool on the Journey at one point or another!

~I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts about the Major Arcana of The Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot Deck.   What is your favorite Major Arcana Card of this deck?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the deck cover.   I found the artwork on https://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Before-Christmas-Tarot-Guidebook/dp/1683839692.    

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries 

Further Reading

• The Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot Deck by Minerva Siefel, Illustrated by Abigail Larson
• Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw
• Hour of the Pumkin Queen by Megan Shepherd