arcana
/ɑːˈkeɪnə
/plural noun [treated as singular or plural] (singular arcanum)
1Secrets or mysteries: the arcana of his profession...
- The first class, today at 9: 30, is Federal Jurisdiction, the law school course most known for mystery and arcana.
- So she's methodically built up a comfort level with national security issues, joining the Armed Services Committee and spending countless hours mastering military arcana.
- But anyone wanting to get a job as a graphic designer is probably claiming to be detail-oriented, aesthetically aware, obsessive about getting things perfect, and tuned to the arcana of graphic design.
2Either of the two groups of cards in a tarot pack: the twenty-two trumps (the major arcana) and the fifty-six suit cards (the minor arcana).Gresham organizes each chapter along the twenty-two minor arcana of the Tarot, a device used by later authors such as Robert Anton Wilson and Umberto Eco....
- It's a euphemism for the Tarot major arcana, based on the myth that the Egyptian god Thoth's wisdom was written down in the eponymous book, for magicians to discover.
- We've been through various mappings to the major arcana of the tarot.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Latin, neuter plural of arcanus (see arcane).