Tarot card meanings: all 78 cards
The full deck, in plain language. Twenty-two Major Arcana for the turning points, fifty-six Minor Arcana for everyday life — each with an upright and a reversed reading.
Major Arcana
Wands
fire — drive, creativity and the will to act
Cups
water — feeling, relationship and intuition
Swords
air — thought, truth and conflict
Pentacles
earth — money, body and material craft
The structure of the deck
Every tarot deck is two decks in one. The Major Arcana run from The Fool to The World and describe the large arc of a life: beginnings, love, loss, collapse, recovery, completion.
The Minor Arcana are closer to a playing-card deck: four suits, Ace through Ten, plus four court cards. Learn the suit and the number and you can read any of the 56.
- Wands — fire: drive, creativity, ambition
- Cups — water: feeling, relationships, intuition
- Swords — air: thought, truth, conflict
- Pentacles — earth: money, body, craft
Frequently asked questions
How many tarot cards are there?+
Seventy-eight: 22 Major Arcana numbered 0 to XXI, and 56 Minor Arcana split into four suits of fourteen cards each.
Do I need to memorise all 78 meanings?+
No. Learn the four suit themes and the ten number stages and you can read any Minor Arcana card. The 22 Major Arcana are the ones worth learning individually.
What is the difference between Major and Minor Arcana?+
Major Arcana describe large forces and turning points in a life. Minor Arcana describe everyday circumstances — the texture of the weeks around those turning points.
Keep exploring
Draw your cards now
One card or a full spread, read by AI in seconds.
Start a tarot reading