The difference at a glance
| Major Arcana | Minor Arcana | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of cards | 22 | 56 |
| Numbering | from 0 (The Fool) to XXI (The World) | Ace to Ten + 4 court cards in each suit |
| What they describe | big life themes, archetypes, lessons | everyday events, feelings, actions |
| Weight in a spread | an important, fateful moment | details and context of the situation |
“Arcana” is the plural of the Latin arcanum — “secret”. The split into “Major” and “Minor” Arcana comes from 19th-century occult tradition; in the 15th-century Italian game they were simply trumps and suits. More in our article on tarot history.
The Major Arcana: the Fool’s journey
The Major Arcana are often read as one story — “the Fool’s journey”. The Fool (0) is us at the start of the road: open, naive, ready for adventure. Every card that follows is a meeting, a lesson or a test, all the way to The World (XXI), which completes the cycle. It helps to split the journey into three stages of seven cards.
I–VII: the outer world
From The Magician to The Chariot: we learn to act and discover intuition, care, authority, tradition, love and willpower. These are the lessons of growing up.
VIII–XIV: the inner world
From Strength to Temperance: looking inward — courage, solitude, the cycles of fate, justice, sacrifice, endings and the search for balance.
XV–XXI: the spiritual world
From The Devil to The World: facing the shadow, the collapse of illusions, hope, the fears of the subconscious, joy, awakening and wholeness.
If a spread has many Major Arcana, the situation matters: it is about big changes and lessons, not small things. You can walk all 22 cards step by step in the Mystical Journey in the Numen app.
The Minor Arcana: four suits
The Minor Arcana look like an ordinary deck of playing cards: four suits, each with cards from Ace to Ten plus four court cards. Every suit corresponds to an element and an area of life.
| Suit | Element | Area of life | Playing card suit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wands | Fire | will, creativity, ambition, action | clubs |
| Cups | Water | feelings, love, intuition | hearts |
| Swords | Air | thoughts, decisions, conflict, truth | spades |
| Pentacles | Earth | money, work, the body, home | diamonds |
What the numbers mean
Each number shares a meaning across all suits. Combine it with the suit’s area of life and you get the core of the card. A five, for example, is conflict or loss: emotional in Cups (Five of Cups), material in Pentacles (Five of Pentacles).
| Number | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ace | beginning, seed, new potential |
| 2 | choice, balance, partnership |
| 3 | growth, collaboration, first results |
| 4 | stability, foundation, stagnation |
| 5 | conflict, loss, challenge |
| 6 | harmony, recovery, generosity |
| 7 | testing, reflection, strategy |
| 8 | movement, mastery, change |
| 9 | culmination, nearly there |
| 10 | end of a cycle, completion |
The court cards
The Page, Knight, Queen and King can stand for real people, traits of your character or stages of growth. Each combines the energy of its rank with the element of its suit.
- Page — the student and messenger: news, curiosity, first steps. The Page of Cups is an emotional message or a creative idea.
- Knight — movement and action, often extreme: the Knight of Wands charges ahead, while the Knight of Pentacles moves slowly but surely.
- Queen — inner maturity, care, the ability to feel: the Queen of Swords is clarity and honesty.
- King — outer mastery, responsibility and authority: the King of Pentacles is abundance and reliability.
How this helps in a reading
- Many Major Arcana — an important life stage; small decisions matter less right now than the overall direction.
- Many cards of one suit — the answer lies in that area: Cups — feelings, Swords — thoughts, Wands — action, Pentacles — material matters.
- Many court cards — many people are involved, or it is worth thinking about your own role.
- Repeated numbers — a shared theme: three fours speak of stability or stagnation in several areas at once.
These hints work in any spread, from Past, Present, Future to the Celtic Cross. The meaning of all 78 cards is in our tarot card meanings library.
