If you’ve ever had a tarot card reading or have been interested in learning how to do psychic readings yourself, this guide is for you. We’re going to discuss the different types of tarot cards that exist, their meanings, and their significance.
Our aim is to clear up any common misconceptions about tarot throughout this guide, putting you in a more knowledgeable position about the different types of tarot cards used in practice.
What are Tarot Cards?
Tarot cards are a deck of 78 cards, which is made up of 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards. Each card has its own unique imagery, which is used to interpret its meaning.
Importance of Knowing Different Types of Tarot Cards
There are a number of reasons why you should know the difference between the types of tarot cards in a deck. This includes understanding symbolism, choosing the right deck, customizing readings and enhancing intuition.
1. Understand Tarot Card Symbolism
It’s important to know the different types of tarot cards in order to understand each card's symbolism. By understanding the types of tarot cards available, it makes it easier for the psychic reader to interpret the cards accurately when carrying out a reading.
2. Choosing the Right Deck
It’s best to choose the deck that best resonates with the person having a reading based on their personal beliefs and interests. An expert tarot card reader will have a lot of different decks depending on the type of reading, yet some only specialise in one type of reading. It’s important to go with the deck you feel is best for each reading, and listen to your intuition.
3. Customizing Readings
Another benefit of knowing different types of tarot cards, is the ability to customize psychic readings. This allows a reader to tailor readings to specific questions and situations. Some decks are better for tarot readings for life management and career advancement, and others are more ideal for tarot card love readings.
4. Enhancing Intuition
In order to enhance psychic reader intuition, knowing each card, and it’s meaning is essential. As a reader becomes more familiar with tarot cards and their meanings, it should become easier to pick up on subtle nuances during readings, providing more accurate interpretations.
Major Arcana Cards
What are Major Arcana Cards?
There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a 78 card deck, and they’re the most recognized. The purpose of these cards is to help guide people during times of need and challenging situations that we all face.
Major Arcana cards are the most impactful cards in a tarot deck. Each Major Arcana card carries a different meaning, for example the 7th card is called ‘The Lovers’, this card can help a psychic when carrying out a Major Arcana card love reading.
With cards representing new beginnings, stability, change, justice, courage, obsession and more, the 22 Major Arcana cards help guide people through a wide variety of challenging life situations.
Examples of Major Arcana Cards
Here are the names of the 22 different Major Arcana cards and their meanings:
- The Fool - New beginnings, free-spirit, Novice
- The Magician - Manifestation, Inventive, Powerful
- The High Priestess - Mystic, Divine lady, Intuition
- The Empress - Feminism, Nurturing, Generous
- The Emperor - Order, Stability, Fatherly Figure, Authority
- The Hierophant - Higher Wisdom, Spirituality, Tradition
- The Lovers - Love, Mutual relationships, Choices, Passion
- The Chariot - Control, Dominance, Progress
- Strength - Courage, Power, Affection, Impression
- The Hermit - Solitude, Self- Introspection, Inner calling
- The Wheel of Fortune - Good luck, Destiny, Breakthrough
- Justice - Fairness, Balance, Law, Justice
- The Hanged Man - New perspective, Surrender, Pause
- Death - End of phase, Change, Transformation
- Temperance - Patience, Motive, Balance, Moderation
- The Devil - Destruction, Obsession, Addiction, Power loss
- The Tower - Demolition, Release, Sudden change
- The Star - Hope, Goals, Renewal, Faith
- The Moon - Deceit, Subconscious, Intuition, Dreams
- The Sun - Success, Joy, Happiness, Wellness
- Judgment - Inner voice, Absolution, New phase, Revival
- The World - Celebration, Joy, Fulfillment, Travel
Minor Arcana Cards
What are Minor Arcana Cards?
There are 56 Minor Arcana cards in a typical tarot deck, these are split into four suits of fourteen cards. The four suits are - the Suit of Cups, the Suit of Pentacles, the Suit of Swords and the Suit of Wands.
A collection of Minor Arcana cards are able to represent different parts of an individual’s personality. When they are pulled out by a psychic during a reading, it can answer a lot of questions for the individual having the reading.
The four suits also relate directly to the four elements:
- Suit of Cups - Water element
- Suit of Pentacles - Earth element
- Suit of Swords - Air element
- Suit of Wands - Fire element
Examples of Minor Arcana Cards
Here are the 56 Minor Arcana cards, split via their house:
| Suit of Swords | Suit of Cups | Suit of Wands | Suit of Pentacles |
|---|---|---|---|
| King of Swords | King of Cups | King of Wands | King of Pentacles |
| Queen of Swords | Queen of Cups | Queen of Wands | Queen of Pentacles |
| Knight of Swords | Knight of Cups | Knight of Wands | Knight of Pentacles |
| Page of Swords | Page of Cups | Page of Wands | Page of Pentacles |
| Ace of Swords | Ace of Cups | Ace of Wands | Ace of Pentacles |
| Two of Swords | Two of Cups | Two of Wands | Two of Pentacles |
| Three of Swords | Three of Cups | Three of Wands | Three of Pentacles |
| Four of Swords | Four of Cups | Four of Wands | Four of Pentacles |
| Five of Swords | Five of Cups | Five of Wands | Five of Pentacles |
| Six of Swords | Six of Cups | Six of Wands | Six of Pentacles |
| Seven of Swords | Seven of Cups | Seven of Wands | Seven of Pentacles |
| Eight of Swords | Eight of Cups | Eight of Wands | Eight of Pentacles |
| Nine of Swords | Nine of Cups | Nine of Wands | Nine of Pentacles |
| Ten of Swords | Ten of Cups | Ten of Wands | Ten of Pentacles |
Court Cards
What are Court Cards in Tarot?
Court cards in Tarot are divided into four suits, and each suit has a King, Queen, Knight and Page. There are 16 court cards in a typical tarot deck.
It is useful to look at court cards as a family, e.g. the King represents the father, the Queen is the mother, the Knight is the teenager and the Page is the child. One thing to consider is that the age and characteristics of these cards are not set it in stone, i.e. if a Queen is pulled out during a reading, it doesn’t necessarily relate to an older woman.
Examples of Court Cards
There are 16 court cards in a typical tarot deck, they are split into four suits and there are four cards per suit:
- The Suit of Cups - King, Queen, Knight and Page
- The Suit of Pentacles - King, Queen, Knight and Page
- The Suit of Swords - King, Queen, Knight and Page
- The Suit of Wands - King, Queen, Knight and Page
Characteristics and Meanings of Court Cards
The Suit of Cups
Linked to the element of water, the Suit of Cups provides guidance on love, relationships and feelings.
The Suit of Pentacles
Linked to the element of Earth, the Suit of Pentacles provides guidance on money, prosperity and work-life.
The Suit of Swords
Linked to the element of air, the Suit of Swords provides guidance on decision-making, logic and intellect.
The Suit of Wands
Linked to the element of Fire, the Suit of Wands provides guidance on instinct, passion and creativity.
Tarot Card Guide
There are many different types of tarot cards that exist including Major Arcana, Minor Arcana and Court cards. All of these cards help tarot readers provide accurate and useful readings for their clients. They aim to help people work through difficult periods of their lives where they have lots of questions.
With 78 tarot cards in each deck, and each card having a different meaning, it’s important that psychic readers learn all the different meanings of tarot cards. These cards provide psychic readers with the tools they need to offer accurate psychic readings to their clients.
