T H E
B a s i c s
You're probably anxious to get to know
your new deck. In this section you'll find a brief introduction
to the structure of the deck. This will help you
understand the meanings of the cards in general terms.
The later sections will help you provide more in-depth
interpretation. Think of this as the outline for the card
meanings. The details and nuances will come in time.
The Cards
Remember that the tarot is very personal and that the
cards are packed with many meanings. Use this text as
a guidebook, but let your own intuition be the final
word. If something here does not make sense, discard
it. Divination is not a hard science. Use the exercises
provided to help flesh out the meanings that you'll use
for your own readings. A journal or notebook will be
especially handy in keeping all your notes and observations
in order. Throughout this book, there will be exercises
to help you solidify your understanding of the
cards.
Seventy-eight cards may seem like a lot to learn.
Dividing the deck into sections makes it easier. The
first main division is in two parts: the Major Arcana
(twenty-two cards) and the Minor Arcana (fifty-six
cards).
Arcana means "secrets"-so the Major Arcana
are the "big secrets." In practical terms, these are the
cards that represent important milestones, major
changes, events beyond our control, and spiritual
growth. The Minor Arcana, "lesser secrets," generally
depict events, situations, or people related to everyday
life. An important characteristic of the Minor Arcana
is personal control-that is, they represent aspects of
your life over which you have the control.
The Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana are usually very simple to understand
because most people are familiar with the structure
already. Think of a pack of playing cards: four
suits (clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds), with each
suit having ten pip cards numbered ace through ten
and three court cards (King, Queen, Jack). The Minor
Arcana is just like that, with the addition of one court
card for each suit. The court cards of the tarot reflect
their medieval roots: King, Queen, Knight, and Page.
The suits have different names and symbols but still relate
directly to the suits of playing cards [alternative
names are in brackets]:
WANDS [Rods, Batons, or Staves] = Clubs
CUPS [Chalices] = Hearts
SWORDS = Spades
PENTACLES [Coins, Disks, or Stones] = Diamonds
In addition to relating to playing-card deck suits,
the tarot suits are associated with the four elements.
This helps define the suit's relation to our daily lives.
The illustration below shows the four suits, and the list
below it reveals each suit's elemental association and
the aspects of life it represents.
WANDS (left). Fire or Air. Career, projects, inspiration.
CUPS (top). Water. Emotions, relationships, creativity.
SWORDS (right). Air or Fire. Challenges, intellect,
ways of thinking.
PENTACLES (bottom). Earth. Physical world,
money, resources.
Each Minor Arcana suit is associated with an area
of life. All the cards are numbered as well; each of
these numbers has meanings.
ACES: New beginnings, opportunity.
TWOS: Balance, duality, a crossroads or choice.
THREES: The full expression of the suit,
achievement.
FOURS: Structure, stability, stagnation.
FIVES: Instability, conflict, loss, opportunity
for change.
SIXES: Communication, problem-solving,
cooperation.
SEVENS: Reflection, assessment, motives.
EIGHTS: Movement, action, change, power.
NINES: Fruition, attainment.
TENS: Completion, end of a cycle.
Using this information, you can already get a sense
for a card's meaning. For example, the Seven of Pentacles
could represent an assessment of resources or
property. This card shows a woman looking at the fruit
on a tree. She might be contemplating the work invested
and comparing it to the harvest gained by that
investment. The Three of Cups could indicate the
achievement of relationships. This image shows three
woman celebrating the joy of their friendship.
While the numbered cards show different situations
of everyday life, the court cards bring personality to
these situations. They can represent other people or the
querent (the person asking the question). Because real
people are complex, the court cards usually represent
just a facet of a person-the part of the person engaged
in the particular situation being inquired about.
PAGES: Novices, eager and enthusiastic but sometimes
shallow; can indicate a message that the
querent will receive.
KNIGHTS: Extremists, very focused (like a knight
on a quest); can be unbalanced or fanatical; may
represent a fast-moving situation.
QUEENS: Mature and reflective; one who nurtures
others; can be prone to obsession.
KINGS: Mature and expressive; one who organizes
and controls external matters, sometimes at the
expense of internal or personal matters.
Exercise 1
Put your Minor Arcana cards in numerical
order. Look at each one and connect the image on
the card to the associations of the suit and the number
as described above. Write your observations in a notebook.
Note whether the connections were obvious or
subtle. Also note whatever details grab your attention.
Write down why a particular image intrigued you and
how it affects the meaning of the card for you.
Exercise 2
Lay out your court cards. Think about
the personality represented on each card. Match that
card with someone in your life, noting the particular
behaviors, characteristics, or habits that caused the
connection in your mind.
The Major Arcana
The Major Arcana are made up of twenty-two cards,
numbered zero through twenty-one. Just as the minor
suits have an elemental association, so does the Major
Arcana; it is connected with the element of Spirit. In
addition to being numbered, the Majors are also
named as follows:
0 The Fool
I The Magician
II The High Priestess
III The Empress
IV The Emperor
V The Hierophant
VI The Lovers
VII The Chariot
VIII Strength
IX The Hermit
X Wheel of Fortune
XI Justice
XII The Hanging Man
XIII Death
XIV Temperance
XV The Devil
XVI The Tower
XVII The Star
XVIII The Moon
XIX The Sun
XX Judgement
XXI The World
The names give some indication of the meaning. For
example, the Hermit means taking time to retreat from
the world and look inward. The Star brings hope and
guidance, a light to follow through otherwise dark
times.
Exercise 3
List the meanings or associations that
come to mind simply based on the name of each Major
Arcana card.
The Fool's Journey
Just as dividing the Minor Arcana into suits and learning
about the suit and numerological associations provide
a brief overview and introduction to these cards'
meanings, learning the Fool's journey helps introduce
us to the Major Arcana. The twenty-two Major Arcana
cards depict a journey through life, a journey of
self-development and spiritual growth. We all start as
the Fool, the first card of the Major Arcana, though all
our journeys are different.
To visualize the Fool's journey, lay out the cards,
placing the Fool alone at the top. Then lay out the rest
of the cards, in numerical order, underneath the Fool in
three rows of seven (1-7, 8-14, and 15-21).
1. The first row shows the steps we go through in our
basic development from birth to young adult and in
learning how to live in society.
2. The second row illustrates the universal laws or
rules of society that we must confront, question,
and come to terms with; it also is about discovering
who we are.
3. The final row is our spiritual development.
THE FOOL: The Fool marks the beginning of the
journey as an archetypal child, unformed and unlearned,
innocent and eager.
THE MAGICIAN: The Magician represents the male
principal or
animus. This is our active or outgoing
energy, our skills and abilities in terms of the outer
world. In basic terms, it is how we do things and
how we learn.
THE HIGH PRIESTESS: The High Priestess embodies
the female principal or
anima. This is our passive
or introspective energy, our skills as they relate to
our inner world and self-reflection. In short, this is
how we think or feel about things and what we
know intuitively.
THE EMPRESS: The Empress represents the Mother
archetype and our experience with mothering, nurturing,
emotions, and our creative impulse.
THE EMPEROR: The Emperor represents the Father
archetype and our experience with authority, reason,
and logic.
THE HIEROPHANT: The Hierophant is our formal
education within our society, including school, religious
training, and cultural traditions.
THE LOVERS: In a word, adolescence-our experience
of hormones, sex...
