While a deck of tarot cards might seem mysterious as well as mystical, it is actually very organized!
A tarot deck is divided into two arcana. The first of these is the Major Arcana. These cards are known as the “trump” cards of the tarot deck—when they appear in a reading, you need to pay special attention to their messages. The other is the Minor Arcana.
The Minor Arcana, in turn, is divided into four suits, similar to a normal deck of cards, except the suits have different names. These are Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. Each suit has fourteen cards, and these cards are grouped because they have similar associations and meanings.
Wands
The Wands are the suit of creativity. Inspiration, dreams, goals, and creation are all associated with this suit.
The suit of Wands often relates to a creative project, the process of taking a dream or spark of inspiration and turning it into something tangible. Wands offer guidance for turning a goal into reality, but they primarily focus on the internal processes that go into creating something truly great.
The element associated with Wands is fire. If there are a lot of Wands in your reading, the situation is mostly in your mind and has not been manifested in the external world yet.
Cups
The suit of Cups is the suit of emotion. Relationships, connections, love, and friendship are some words associated with Cups.
We are all in relationships: with our significant others, our family, our friends, and ourselves. The suit of Cups tells us how these relationships form, flourish and fracture. Someone who gets a lot of Cups cards in their tarot readings might be very emotional, focused on a relationship, or extremely empathetic.
The element associated with the suit of Cups is water. A reading with a lot of Cups means the situation primarily involves the heart.
Swords
Swords can be a tricky suit to get a feel for because it primarily deals with things going on in your head. Intellect, action, and reaction, making choices, making changes, conflict, and power are all associated with this suit.
Because the Swords cards have many intense associations, seeing a lot of them in your tarot reading can be intimidating. It’s important to remember that while the imagery of many of these cards might signal danger, the danger often lies in how you think about things. A situation might be negative, but Swords often point to how you make a bad situation worse by dwelling on it, replaying it again and again in your mind.
The suit of Swords is associated with the element of air. A reading with many Swords signals distress, turmoil, and anxiety.
Pentacles
The suit of Pentacles deals with material possessions, finances, and the physical world. Career, money, the home, prosperity, greed, and generosity are some keywords associated with Pentacles.
Compared with the other three suits, Pentacles are very grounded in the material world. These cards often point to money: how we acquire it, spend it, share it, or save it. A person who frequently sees Pentacles in a reading might be concerned with the practical matters of day to day life.
The element associated with Pentacles is earth. If there are many Pentacles in a reading, the focus is mostly on material things.
If you’re new to tarot and are looking for a place to start, choose whichever suit you feel most drawn to, and start looking at the cards in that suit. Starting with a specific suit is a great way to dive into tarot without feeling overwhelmed by the large number of cards a full deck has. You can even start doing readings with just one suit of cards, adding more as you learn them!
Image Credits: Feature, 1, 2, 3, 4