Tarot: The Minor Arcana

As a whole, the traditional tarot deck is made up of a total of 78 cards. 22 of these cards are within the Major Arcana, while the other 56 are in the Minor Arcana. Clearly, the Minor Arcana has many more cards than the Major Arcana.

You may be wondering why the Minor Arcana has so many more cards. One reason is that the cards found within the Major Arcana are about major transitions and turning points in life, while the Minor Arcana cards focus more on our day-to-day experiences. Although we have a few life-changing events happen in our lives, we have much less of them than we do normal, day-to-day events.

Another reason for the Minor Arcana having many more cards is that it has four suits within it, while the Major Arcana doesn’t have any suits. These suits reflect those day-to-day experiences, with each suit having a different focus. The suits are called the Suit of Wands, Suit of Cups, Suit of Swords, and Suit of Pentacles.

The Four Suits of the Minor Arcana

Each suit not only focuses on different areas of life, but they also symbolically match an element. Water, for example, is symbolically tied to emotions and intuition. Cups hold water or liquid. Therefore, the Suit of Cups is based on the water element and regards our emotions.

Cups — Water — Emotions, Intuition, Dreams, Feelings, Feminine wisdom, etc.

Wands — Fire — Passion, Creativity, Brute Force, Willpower, Determination, etc.

Swords — Air — Mental Agility, Thought Process, Communication, Intelligence, etc.

Pentacles — Earth — Work Ethic, Physical Reality, Money, The Body, Health, etc.

Numbers of Cards in Suits

In the four suits, there are fourteen total cards in each one. Ten of those fourteen cards are simply numbered Ace through Ten, while ace is synonymous with one. The other four cards are called Court Cards. Court cards always come after the first ten cards, and they are the Page, Knight, Queen, and King.

With that being said, we now understand that there are a total of four aces, four nine cards, and so on. Likewise, this means that there is a Queen of Cups, Queen of Wands, Queen of Swords, and a Queen of Pentacles, for example. This helps us to determine the similarities among the qualities of specific cards have to each other when they’re not in the same suit.

So, as we’ve learned, the Suit of Swords and all the cards contained within it are about our thoughts and communication. Then, how do we possibly know which one is which is they’re all the same basis of meaning? At this point, we know the difference based on the number or which Court Card it is.

While the Three of Swords depicts communication within a group, the Three of Wands involves group creativity. Therefore, all the Threes are revolving around group activity in some way. Sometimes, it can be helpful to remember that “threes a crowd” or there being a “third-wheel,” but it is usually not in a negative sense.

This works the same way with each of the numbers of the cards in the suits. Aces suggest beginnings or something new. Fives are often about conflict. Kings are masters of whatever suit they’re in.

To summarize, the Minor Arcana has 56 cards within it, which can further be divided up into four parts called suits. Each of those suits regard an important part of daily, human life. In each suit, there are fourteen cards, with ten being numbered, while four are Court Cards.

That’s the Minor Arcana!

If you would like to go further into the meanings of the numbers within each suite, click here.

If you would like a deeper understanding of the court cards, click here.