The Tarot deck consists of 78 cards, each with its unique design, meaning, and story. In addition, the 22 Major Arcana cards reflect life’s karmic and spiritual teachings. They represent a spiritual self-awareness journey and the various stages we go through as we seek more significant purpose and insight. This is why you should familiarize yourself with the tarot card meaning list.
In this regard, the Major Arcana cards provide precious spiritual lessons. The 56 Minor Arcana cards symbolize the daily trials and tribulations humans endure. These Tarot cards focus on the more practical aspects of life and can refer to current concerns with a temporary or negligible influence.
The Minor Arcana contains 16 Tarot Court Cards, each representing one of the 16 possible personality qualities we can exhibit at any particular time. There are also 40 numbered cards arranged into four suits – Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands – each with ten cards representing various circumstances we confront daily. Are you ready to decipher the meaning of each tarot card?
We’ve got you covered! In this article, you’ll learn about:
- Tarot Card Meanings in your Tarot Deck
- Tarot readings and tarot suits: how to understand them
- Understanding the significance of the four tarot suits and the major arcana
- Using your understanding of the major arcana to give yourself a tarot reading
Table Of Content
What do the Tarot Cards mean to you?
The Major Arcana is a group of 22 cards in the Tarot deck. This set is regarded as the deck’s most crucial and fundamental component. On the other hand, the Major Arcana is where the deck’s archetypal significance shows the most. This isn’t to mean the rest of the deck is without it.
The plot these cards follow tells of the spiritual journeys undertaken, beginning with The Fool’s childish wonder and progressing to The World’s oneness and satisfaction. In other words, these cards may contain the story of humanity’s spiritual development from ignorance to enlightenment and individuation.
As we follow the Fool’s journey, we can see parallels between our stages of life and those in the cards, with each card imparting a particular lesson and a topic to ponder as we advance through the deck. Because they constitute the foundation of the Tarot, readings can be performed solely with the Major Arcana.
The tarot is a book that narrates the tale of our life; it is a window into our souls and a portal to our hidden knowledge. The 78 Tarot cards reflect every spiritual lesson we encounter during our lives. As a result, receiving a tarot reading might be beneficial when looking for solutions to life’s questions.
If we consult the Tarot, we will be told the exact lessons we must learn and master to live an inspired life. It is akin to looking in the mirror at oneself to penetrate your subconscious mind and access the knowledge (and answers) that every one of us possesses.
What does the Major Arcana mean for you?
The Major Arcana Tarot cards represent the lessons of your life, karmic influences, and huge archetypal themes. Its card interpretations are beautiful and profound. These Tarot cards reflect human consciousness and contain prior life lessons. There are 21 numbered Major Arcana cards and one unnumbered card (the Fool).
The Fool is the main character of Major Arcana, as he journeys through each card, meeting new teachers and learning life lessons until he arrives at the World card. The Fool’s Journey assists in understanding the Major Arcana Tarot card readings. A Major Arcana card in a Tarot reading draws attention to current life lessons and themes.
The Major Arcana card establishes the tone for the entire Tarot reading, with the other cards referencing it. Major Arcana cards represent life-changing events with long-term consequences. To grow spiritually and personally, you must learn critical lessons. If any of the Major Arcana Tarot cards are reversed, it may indicate that you are not paying close enough attention to life lessons and must master them before moving on.
What does the Cups Suit in the Minor Arcana mean?
Cups Tarot cards are associated with love, emotions, relationships, and connections. Cups signify water, which is both fluid and agile, as well as strong and formative. It may be relaxing, like crashing waves on the beach, or ferocious, like a rushing river. Water symbolizes emotion, intuition, connections, healing, and purification.
It is feminine and represents women’s gentle strength. Adaptable, receptive, purifying, and flowing Cups are equivalent to Hearts in playing cards. Tarot Cups cards reflect both spontaneous and habitual reactions to situations. Cups represent fantasy, romanticism, and imagination. Being overly emotional or distant, having unrealistic expectations, and speculating about the future are all negative Cups attributes.
Common symptoms include repressed emotions, difficulties expressing oneself, and a lack of imagination. Cups Tarot cards are associated with Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio. Cups Court Cards are frequently associated with Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio. Cups are emotional, inventive, artistic, and compassionate. Their emotions provide them with energy. If the Cups cards dominate a Tarot reading, you’re looking for answers to emotional problems, personal encounters, love affairs, emotions, and creativity.
What does the Sword Suit mean in the Minor Arcana?
The Swords Suit Tarot cards represent intelligence and thinking. Swords express your views, beliefs, and thoughts. The Suit of Swords represents the balance of knowledge and might, which can be used for good or evil. Swords must be balanced by the spirit (Wands) and feeling to be effective (Cups).
Swords are associated with air. Intangible, unseen air is always moving. Still, the air might become a gentle breeze or a strong wind. It’s vital and energizing. Air represents knowledge, action, power, and transformation. This secret masculine spirit can lead by force and power. In playing cards, Swords correspond to Spades.
The Suit of Swords is associated with action, change, force, power, oppression, ambition, courage, and struggle. It is possible to take both positive and harmful activities. The negative aspects of the Suit of Swords are anger, guilt, harsh judgment, lack of sympathy, and verbal and emotional abuse. Swords Tarot cards represent air signs Aquarius, Libra, and Gemini.
Swords Court Cards are frequently associated with Aquarius, Libra, and Gemini. Intelligent, intelligent, logical, and reasonable Swords are excellent communicators. They enjoy studying and analyzing the world around them. Swords are cruel, domineering, belligerent, and rigorous.
If the Swords dominate your Tarot reading, you’re looking for answers to mental troubles, confrontation, and decisions. There may also be arguments or violence. Swords can send negative or forceful messages, but they can also warn you to be cautious.
What does the Pentacles Suit mean in the Minor Arcana?
The Pentacles Suit Tarot cards reveal information about your health, finances, job, and creativity. They are concerned with how we construct, shape, modify, and grow our surroundings. Pentacles represent the ego, self-esteem, and self-image. Pentacles represent Earth. The earth is palpable and earthy. It feeds and nurtures plants and trees, allowing the planet to develop and prosper.
The Earth is stable and fertile. It is a feminine, receptive element that collects nutrients and sunrays to sustain life. In playing cards, Pentacles are Diamonds. The Suit of Pentacles protects work, business, trade, property, money, and other material goods. Pentacles are associated with manifestation, realization, proof, and good fortune.
Being possessive, egotistical, overly materialistic, overindulging and not exercising, and poor financial management are all negative aspects of the Suit of Pentacles. It is often important to return to nature to regain perspective to counteract these negative traits. Pentacles Tarot cards are often associated with Earth astrology.
Pentacles Court Cards are associated with Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Pentacles are practical, career-focused, grounded, and generous. They prefer the physical, concrete world. Their senses and yearning for wonderful, rich activities bind them together. If the Pentacles dominate a Tarot reading, you’re looking for answers to material problems, financial concerns, and career and work issues.
What does the Wands Suit mean in the Minor Arcana?
Wands symbolize primal energy, spirituality, inspiration, determination, strength, intuition, creativity, ambition and expansion, original thought, and life’s seeds. Wands represent fire. Fire is fierce, unpredictable, and energizing. It can be creative, like cooking or building tools, or destructive, like a bush or house fire.
Fire represents passion, energy, enthusiasm, and sexuality. It’s masculine and represents strong drive and willpower. Wands are Clubs in playing cards. Additionally, Wands Tarot card meanings connect with spirituality and reflect your underlying values. They address your personality, ego, excitement, self-concept, and internal/external energy.
Negative elements of the Wands suit include delusion, egotism, impulsiveness, and meaninglessness. Wands Tarot cards represent Leo, Sagittarius, and Aries. Also, Wands Court Cards frequently represent Leo, Sagittarius, or Aries.
Wands are gregarious, loving, and spiritual. If Wands cards dominate a Tarot reading, you’re seeking remedies to mental or early-stage concerns. You may seek purpose and significance in your life and want to know what inspires and energizes you.
Final Word:
You must grasp the tarot card meanings in your decks. Also, you may move forward with your tarot reading since you know what each tarot card signifies.
Can you see the bigger picture now when you get a tarot reading?
Share your ideas in the comments section below!
About the Author:
Rosina Warner is a writer at Individualogist.com. She has been writing for years on a variety of topics including astrology, spirituality, tarot, healing crystals, and archetypes. She enjoys reading books that contain poems, as well as stories that are either fictional or historical while she is not writing. Her main interests in New Age spirituality revolve around astrology, tarot, and healing crystals.
