A standard deck of tarot cards consists of 78 cards in total. These 78 cards are further divided into 2 sections consisting of the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana with the Court Cards taken from the Minor Arcana.
Major Arcana cards are said to represent the more spiritual side of things, the bigger picture of what is happening or deep psycological/internal issues. A predominance of cards from the Major Arcana indicates that the Seeker's question may be extremely significant and powerful. The hand of Destiny may be controlling the matter rather than the Seeker.
The Minor Arcana cards represents the daily life of the individual. These minor arcana can be further divided into the 4 suits which are similar to a regular deck of playing cards.
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Wands (Clubs) - Fire - Summer Wands represent our ability to drive into our work world, our ambition, growth, and development. These are the cards of our enthusiasm for life and our enthusiasm for living it. |
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Swords (Spades) - Air - Fall Swords represent our mind and mental ability, including how we think, our logic and reasoning, and our ability to know what to do through the use of good, old-fashioned common sense. At the same time, Swords can be symbolic of strife or aggressive behavior; but remember, these too start in the mind. |
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Cups (Hearts) - Water - Spring Cups stand for how we perceive our emotions. Here's where we find our feelings and sensitivity for others, our joys, our artistic selves - and a good, old fashioned cry. Cups indicate matters of the heart. |
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Pentacles (Diamonds) - Earth - Winter Pentacles represent our connection to the material world and focus us on financial issues and goods, on shelter and on earthly things, including clothing, home, and financial success. Pentacles can indicate material gain and abundance of the land, or they can represent difficulties with handling finances - it all depends on the cards and their placement. |
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The Court Cards are the people in our life. They can also indicate a part of our own personality. A mother - typically represented by a queen - can also be a king if she is in a management position or runs her own business. Just as a mature man - as represented by a king - can also be a page (the student/youth) if he is learning new skills in his life.
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| Kings | Represent mature men (over 35 years of age) or people in a leadership position.. |
| Queens | Represent mature women (over the age of 18-21). |
| Knights | Represent young men between 18 to 35 years of age. |
| Pages | Represent youth of both sexes 18 years or younger. They are also the "messengers" that give you information that affects you according to the suit. |
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