Tarot 101 with Clare!
The Tarot Deck: An Introduction
A tarot deck comprises of 78 cards – 22 Major Arcana cards, and 56 Minor Arcana cards. Some decks will have extra cards in their Major Arcana like in the Prisma Visions Tarot or in the Moonchild Tarot, and some decks may rename the cards or its associations in the deck. But this series, we would be looking at the 78 cards by using their traditional names and study their meanings.
Major Arcana
This comprises of 22 cards. We start at 0. The Fool, which is before the beginning (1. The Magician). And we end at 21. The World, which is the culmination of the entire Major Arcana.
Personally, I think the Major Arcana cards sometimes herald intense energies surrounding the situation or is about to enter your life. Many readers believe that the Major Arcana can represent huge immovable energies or energies that become the theme of your life for a period of time, whereas the Minor Arcana are more of the day-to-day energies.
When you see plenty of Major Arcana cards in your reading, you may want to pay attention to the patterns and trends and what it points to.
I find the explanation in the moon child tarot quite helpful to categorise the Major Arcana as well. Danielle Noel explains that the Major Arcana are archetypes that we would experience on our journey to self discovery and when we search for meaning in our lives:
The Physical/Material Plane: The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot
The Mental/Psychological Plane: Justice, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, Strength, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance
The Spiritual/Astral Plane: The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, The World
Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana is split into 4 Suits with 14 cards per Suit – the Suit of Wands, the Suit of Cups, the Suit of Swords and the Suit of Pentacles. Each Suit contains 10 cards and 4 Court cards (the Page, Knight, Queen and King).
Wands
The Suit of Wands represents fire, passion, energy, creativity and is often associated with Spring (the same way it is associated with new life). The Wands Suit are usually associated with fire signs – Aries, Leo, Sagittarius. This Suit is the next fastest moving Suit in the deck (amongst the rest of the Minor Arcana cards).
Cups
The Suit of Cups represents water, emotions, intuition and is often associated with Summer. The Suit of Cups is usually associated with water signs – Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
Swords
The Suit of Swords represents air, thoughts and being analytical and is often associated with Autumn. The Suit of Swords is usually associated with air signs – Aquarius, Gemini, Libra. Sometimes, this Suit is seen as the fastest moving Suit in the deck (amongst the rest of the Minor Arcana cards).
Pentacles
The Suit of Pentacles represents earth, the material world, finances and is often associated with Winter. The Suit of Pentacles is usually associated with earth signs – Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. This Suit is the slowest moving Suit in the deck (at least amongst the rest of the Minor Arcana cards).
Court Cards
It is important to note that the Tarot is not gender binary – a King of Wands may not always refer to a male person, it may refer to someone who exhibits the traits of the King of Wands as well. You need to remember that these are energies. And in my deck, 90% of people depicted are women!
The Page usually is depicted as someone who is young, playful and sometimes immature. They may sometimes embody a free-spirit and new beginnings. The Court cards can sometimes represent people in one’s life too!
The Knight usually is depicted someone who is ambitious and a “go-getter”. In traditional tarot, the knight is depicted as a knight on a horse – the speed of the Knight can sometimes be depicted by their horses – the Knight of Swords being the fastest moving Knight is rushing in on his horse, whereas the Knight of Pentacles is seen standing still with his horse. But these Knights also represent messengers and forward movement.
The Queen and King are usually depicted on their thrones, and represent a mature person or energy. It could represent a state of mind to embody as well.
Reversed
I usually do not read reversals but when it does pop up as reversed, I would take it as there might be a message that is there for the recipient. Reversed cards can sometimes mean that the energies are still not quite there yet, like if you receive a card that symbolise communication, but it’s reversed, it could mean that this person is thinking about communicating with you but is not quite ready to do so yet. Reversals don’t often mean the reverse of what is being talked about in the card, but it can talk about blockages that is present.
Reading Tarot: Some Concluding Thoughts
Reading tarot doesn’t just require you to understand the meanings of the cards, it sometimes requires you to understand the illustrations on the deck as well as to tune into your intuition. This will take time, and you need to be patient with yourself! To me, tarot is a way which I can tap into my intuition – to connect with what I already know. Sometimes, tarot is a way for access the wisdom from the Universe or the energies of the situation.
Tarot takes practice, and I would suggest using a tarot journal too (one that you can make yourself at home). There are plenty of ways which you can learn tarot, you need to find one that is suited for you!
Also, this blog would not be going into how one cleanses their deck or how to shuffle etc or reading for yourself and for others, as I think that can be a post for another time. I am still thinking of whether I should include it into the booklets that I have in my upcoming deck, so let me know whether I should!
With that being said (and after all my ramblings), tune in next week for interpretations on the Fool!
NB: The links in this post are not a form of paid promotion, they are a reference to websites which you can also refer to during the course of your tarot study.