How a tarot deck is built
Before memorizing anything, learn the layout. Once you know where a card sits in the system, you can make a decent guess at it even with no notes.
Two halves
A standard deck has 78 cards. The Major Arcana are 22 numbered cards, from The Fool (0) to The World (21), and stand for big themes and turning points. The Minor Arcana are 56 cards in four suits and cover daily life.
Four suits, four elements
| Suit | Element | Area of life |
|---|---|---|
| Wands | fire | drive, creativity, ambition and the urge to start |
| Cups | water | feelings, relationships, intuition and the inner life |
| Swords | air | thought, words, conflict and decisions |
| Pentacles | earth | money, work, the body and everyday life |
This is the most common pairing. A few decks, especially some Thoth-style ones, swap elements or rename suits; follow your deck's guidebook.
The numbers tell a story
- Aces: a seed or first chance
- Twos and threes: choices and early growth
- Fours: a pause or stable base
- Fives: friction
- Sixes and sevens: adjusting and testing
- Eights and nines: momentum and near-completion
- Tens: the cycle at its fullest
Court cards
Each suit has a Page, Knight, Queen and King (some decks use Princess, Prince or other titles). Read them as a person in your life, a role you are playing, or a style of acting.
Reversed cards
Some readers read cards that land upside down differently, often as blocked, delayed or turned-inward versions of the upright idea. Others ignore reversals. Pick one approach and stay consistent while you learn.