The tarot's Minor Arcana: cups, coins, swords and wands

Why the Minor Arcana matter

Of the tarot's 78 cards, 56 are Minor Arcana. Many people start with the Major Arcana alone, which are more striking. That's a pity: where the Majors describe the great stages of a life, the Minors describe how they are lived day to day — a conversation, an expense, an argument, a project getting under way.

The Minors are divided into four suits of fourteen cards: ten numbered cards from Ace to Ten, followed by four court cards.

The four suits and their elements

• Cups (water): emotions, love, friendship, what you feel and what you share.
• Coins, also called Pentacles (earth): the body, money, practical work, material security.
• Swords (air): thought, decisions, conflict, words that cut through.
• Wands (fire): energy, desire, creation, the drive to act.

A simple tip: when one suit dominates a reading, it shows the ground on which the question is being played out. Lots of Swords in a question about love? The issue may lie less in the heart than in misunderstandings.

The numbers, from Ace to Ten

Each number carries a meaning shared by all four suits:

• Ace: the seed, pure potential, a beginning.
• Two: meeting, choice, a balance to be found.
• Three: first achievement, creativity, growth.
• Four: stability, structure, sometimes standstill.
• Five: a test, a novelty that shakes things up.
• Six: harmony regained, exchange, pleasure.
• Seven: action, effort, perseverance.
• Eight: order, refinement, skill acquired.
• Nine: maturity, taking stock, the end of a stage.
• Ten: the completion of a cycle, before moving to the next.

Then simply combine number and suit. The Three of Cups speaks of shared joy; the Three of Coins, of work that begins to pay off; the Nine of Swords, of a worry going round in circles.

The four court cards

• Page: discovery, learning, a still hesitant approach.
• Knight: movement, the messenger, what is arriving or leaving.
• Queen: inner mastery, receptiveness, lived experience.
• King: outer mastery, authority, responsibility taken on.

Depending on the context, a court card may stand for someone around you or for an attitude you are adopting yourself. It never points to a specific gender: a Queen can describe anyone showing that kind of mastery.

Bringing them into your readings

To start, you can keep the two decks apart: three Major Arcana for the heart of the question, then one Minor under each for the "how". Little by little, shuffle all 78 cards together: the balance of Majors and Minors will itself become a clue.

Tarot remains a tool for reflection: it sheds light on a situation and never decides for you. You can practise with a tarot reading, or ask one of our psychics for a detailed reading.