The purpose of this page is to provide a comprehensive guide to understanding Tarot card meanings. This Tarot guide will be completely free of charge and available to all. I am not hiding anything in a book or paid webinar. It is all going to be available on this website, free for everyone to use at their convenience.
My goal is for you to under Tarot card meanings at their deepest, symbol level so that your intuition has a solid foundation for your own Tarot practice.
Without symbolism, your intuition is empty. Without intuition, symbolism is blind.
What is the Tarot?
“THE TAROT is a pack of seventy‐eight cards. There are four suits, as in modern playing cards, which are derived from it. But the Court cards number four instead of three. In addition, there are twenty‐two cards called “Trumps”, each of which is a symbolic picture with a title itself. At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated, as will appear later, by the structure of the universe, and in particular of the Solar System, as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah. This will be explained in due course.” (Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth)
“The Tarot is a pictorial representation of the Forces of Nature as conceived by the Ancients according to a conventional symbolism.” Aleister Crowley, on the Ordo Templi Orientis card that comes with the Thoth Tarot deck
“[The Tarot] is, in truth, a monumental and extraordinary work, strong and simple as the architecture of the pyramids, and consequently enduring like those – a book which is a summary of all sciences, which can resolve all problems by its infinite combinations, which speaks by evoking thought, it is an inspirer and moderator of all possible conceptions, and the masterpiece perhaps of the human mind.” Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic, London, 1958, 3
“[T]he Tarot, viewed philosophically, is a teaching device intended to assist in the subjective journey of consciousness from one objective center of energy to another.” (Robert Wang, The Qabalistic Tarot, p. 46)
Structure of the Tarot
78 cards total
22 Trumps or Major Arcana (Major Secrets)
56 pips or Minor Arcana (Lessor Secrets), which breaks down to:
- Ten cards of each suit: Wands (Fire), Cups (Water), Swords (Air), Pentacles (Earth)
- 16 Court cards, four of each suit
- Page
- Knight
- Queen
- King
How to Learn the Tarot Card Meanings
“THE TAROT is a pack of seventy‐eight cards. There are four suits, as in modern playing cards, which are derived from it. But the Court cards number four instead of three. In addition, there are twenty‐two cards called “Trumps”, each of which is a symbolic picture with a title itself. At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated, as will appear later, by the structure of the universe, and in particular of the Solar System, as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah. This will be explained in due course.” (Crowley, The Book of Thoth)
Similar to famed Tarot teacher Rachel Pollack, my approach to the Tarot is “structural.” By understanding the essential symbolic structure of the Tarot and how it relates to other Symbolic Systems such as astrology or Qabalah, one can begin to understand the deeper meaning of each Tarot card and how they relate to the entire Fool’s Journey.
Theoretical Approaches to Tarot Card Meanings
Deleuzian Metaphysics and the Tarot
Tarot Card Meanings [In Progress]
The Major Arcana
0 – The Fool
1 – The Magician
2 – The High Priestess
3 – The Empress
4 – The Emperor
5 – The Hierophant
6 – The Lovers
7 – The Chariot
8 – Strength
9 – The Hermit
10 – The Wheel of Fortune
11 – Justice
12 – The Hanged Man
13 – Death
14 – Temperance
15 – The Devil
16 – The Tower
17 – The Star
18 – The Moon
19 – The Sun
20 – Judgement
21 – The World
The Minor Arcana
Tarot Card Meanings in the Court Cards
The four suits of the minor arcana are wands, cups, swords, and pentacles, corresponding to a deck of playing cards as clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds, respectively.
Astrology of Minor Arcana
The general pattern in the Minor Arcana is this:
| 2,3,4 | Cardinal |
| 5,6,7 | Fixed |
| 8,9,10 | Mutable |
Which therefore leads to the following pattern:
| 2,3,4 Wands | Cardinal | Fire | Aries |
| 5,6,7 Wands | Fixed | Fire | Leo |
| 8,9,10 Wands | Mutable | Fire | Sagitarius |
| 2,3,4 Cups | Cardinal | Water | Cancer |
| 5,6,7 Cups | Fixed | Water | Scorpio |
| 8,9,10 Cups | Mutable | Water | Pisces |
| 2,3,4 Swords | Cardinal | Air | Libra |
| 5,6,7 Swords | Fixed | Air | Aquarius |
| 8,9,10 Swords | Mutable | Air | Gemini |
| 2,3,4 Discs | Cardinal | Earth | Capricorn |
| 5,6,7 Discs | Fixed | Earth | Taurus |
| 8,9,10 Discs | Mutable | Earth | Virgo |
The Court Cards in the Rider-Waite-Smith
When you arrange the Knights of the RWS deck in their proper order (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles) you can see some of the brilliance of Pamela Coleman Smith:
Wands: leaping outwards, in motion
Cups: looking inwards, away from Wands, guided by emotion
Swords: facing away from Pentacles, attacking Cups with the sword
Pentacles: looking outward, opposite of Wands, planted firm. Grounded
Tarot Court Card Naming Conventions
| Book T | RWS Tarot | Thoth Tarot | Hermetic Tarot | Element | Suit | Family | Qabalah |
| Knight/Lord | Knight | Knight | Knight | Fire | Wands | Father | Chokmah |
| Queen | Queen | Queen | Queen | Water | Cups | Mother | Binah |
| King/Prince | King | Prince | King | Air | Swords | Son | Tiphareth |
| Knave/Princess | Page | Princess | Princess | Earth | Coins | Daughter | Malkuth |
Tarot Card Meanings in the Court Cards
Wands
Page of Wands
Knight of Wands
Queen of Wands
King of Wands
Cups
Page of Cups
Knight of Cups
Queen of Cups
King of Cups
Swords
Page of Swords
Knight of Swords
Queen of Swords
King of Swords
Pentacles
Page of Pentacles
Knight of Pentacles
Queen of Pentacles
King of Pentacles
Tarot Card Meanings: The Aces and Pip Cards
Wands
Ace of Wands
2 of Wands
3 of Wands
4 of Wands
5 of Wands
6 of Wands
7 of Wands
8 of Wands
9 of Wands
10 of Wands
Cups
Ace of Cups
2 of Cups
3 of Cups
4 of Cups
5 of Cups
6 of Cups
7 of Cups
8 of Cups
9 of Cups
10 of Cups
Swords
Ace of Swords
2 of Swords
3 of Swords
4 of Swords
5 of Swords
6 of Swords
7 of Swords
8 of Swords
9 of Swords
10 of Swords
Pentacles
Ace of Pentacles
2 of Pentacles
3 of Pentacles
4 of Pentacles
5 of Pentacles
6 of Pentacles
7 of Pentacles
8 of Pentacles
9 of Pentacles
10 of Pentacles