Tarot Card Meanings – A Guide to all 78 Tarot Cards |
Learn Tarot Card Meanings. Every Tarot card in the deck has its own unique meaning. When you know what each Tarot card means, you can understand the messages and advice they are trying to send you! Click on any Tarot card below to learn its meaning.
The Tarot Deck – 22 Major Arcana Cards
The simplest tarot deck that a novice can use is the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Through practice, you can then move on to a more complex set. The tarot deck is divided into two categories: the major and the minor arcana. The terms reflect the weight of each group. The major arcana cards represent energies that are strong, deep and decisive, whilst the minor arcana cards are more general. Each card in the tarot deck has a different meaning and some of the basic meanings for the major arcana cards are discussed below.
When reading a tarot deck, always bear in mind that what the tarot card reveals is not written in stone. The future is the result of one’s actions and decisions. The tarot reading offers insights into what the future may be, based on your current actions. The reading of the tarot deck should never guide your actions; it just provides insights on what to do to ensure a better future.
Tarot Symbolism – Minor Arcana Suits
The bulk of a tarot deck consists of the 56 Minor Arcana cards. This is where tarot symbolism gets a little complicated. Like a deck of playing cards, Minor Arcana is classified into 4 suits: Pentacles, Wands, Cups, and Swords. Each aspect of the human milieu is represented in this tarot symbolism. Dividing the deck into 4 suits gives us a full interpretation of the human being and can only be achieved by a deeper understanding of the tarot symbolism. The four suits of the tarot are as follows:
Tarot Wands
Tarot Wands: Spirit, Creativity, Divinity
The tarot symbolism considered as the muse of the deck is the Wand. Wands represent creativity, spirit and divinity. This card speaks about human passion and enthusiasm. It celebrates beauty, arts and innovations that uplift the human spirit to its utmost. In tarot symbolism, all attempts to reach the highest possibilities of the human race are considered an attempt to communicate with the divine.
Wooden rods, staves or twigs represent Wands and its element is fire. Wood has been considered as a sacred medium of god and divine knowledge. Many cultures who have been worshipping trees believe in messages encrypted within its bark – the rings. Wood is also highly revered because of its ability to transform into fire, which symbolizes progress, innovation, ingenuity, and inspiration.
Tarot Cups
Tarot Cups: Emotion, Heart, Psyche
The tarot symbolism of Cups is the most difficult to interpret, as it depends highly on emotions. It means that, when trying to interpret the tarot cups, you have to rely on your intuition and affection to develop a more relevant reading. The Cups express their meanings through the heart and not the mind.
In Greek mythology, Psyche represents the human soul in the form of a beautiful maiden with whom Cupid, the god of love himself, fell deeply in love. The Cup, therefore, represents Psyche, or the human soul, and water, its ruling element, represents love. To satisfy the human soul is to fill it with love.
Tarot Swords
Tarot Swords: Mind, Perception, Observation, Ego
The Sword is often misunderstood because of its wicked value. What is the main purpose of a Sword but to take life? The Sword, on the other hand, represents a much deeper meaning than that. It is ruled by air, which is unseen but existing, and that represents thought and mind. If the Pentacle is in the physical realm, the Sword is tarot symbolism of the window to the intangible realm.
The interpretation of the Sword is that it symbolizes the twists and turns of the mind, which is prone to corruption and deceit. The mind is a double-edged Sword and it requires a pure heart to balance its use with temperance and wisdom.
Tarot Pentacles
Tarot Pentacles: Health, Money, Homestead
The Pentacle, represented by coins and discs, conveys the material or the physical world. It is often mistaken as being the least important suit. The truth is that this tarot symbolism is the last suit, because it is regarded as the result of the combination of the elements from all the other suits. Simply put, it is the physical manifestation of the spirit (wand), emotion (cup), and thought (sword).
The scope of the Pentacles is anything tangible, which is basically health, money, and home. It does not mean that this tarot symbolism is purely superficial. There is a deeper interpretation of the Pentacles that gives the reader and the querent vital lessons in life. When you spread the 14 cards in order, you will be amazed how the complete suit tells a realistic story of the human ordeals on earth. It values the concept of faith, charity, bounty, equality, dedication, responsibility, humility, and determination. Keep in mind that the element of the Pentacles (earth) is the basis of nature and life.
Tarot suits are seen to be the crucial cards in tarot reading, as an interpretation would depend a lot on the interpreter. The most important thing to remember is that personal interpretations have to be guided by a full understanding of tarot symbolism and an acknowledgement of a divine power that guides our inner being.
Tarot Card: Knowing the Basics |