The Tarot consists of two parts: first comes the Major Arcana. This set is 22 cards long that span from The Fool (zero) to The World (twenty-two. Usually the Major Arcana represents over-arching themes in our lives that can span months and sometimes years. When a Major Arcana card is present, the focus should automatically move towards its message as it represents a larger theme. And when a spread consists mostly of Major Arcana cards, this typically means that a huge shift is happening in a person’s life.

Next is the Minor Arcana, which are 56 cards in total.

Unlike the Major, the Minor Arcana tends to represent everyday trends that typically lasts for a few days up to some months. Another way to understand this, especially if you happen to want to be a psychic or intuitive tarot reader, is to see the Minor Arcana as the mundane, with the Major Arcana being more spiritual in nature.

As previously stated, the 56 Minor cards are further divided into four parts, called Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles. Different decks will label these with different names. The alternative name for the Wands suit is Rods, while the Cups can also be seen as Chalices. Other Tarot deck creators have come up with extremely creative ways to rename these traditional suits.

For example, a very cute, yet macabre deck uses knives, cigarettes, bottles and pills rather than swords, wands, cups and pentacles. In this case, it’s best to reference the creator’s guidebook to know what their own symbology means.

Regardless, most Tarot decks will follow the same formula when it comes to the Minor Arcana, which means that it will be helpful to separate the four parts by the elements they represent.

Pentacles

The suit of pentacles is represented in most Tarot decks with a star encircled by a golden disc like so:

Memorizing one of the most important meanings of this suit is easy because most people associate the color yellow with gold. And because pentacles are shaped like a circle, it’s no wonder why golden coins are the first thing people think of when they see a card from this suit. In fact, this suit was originally called Suit of Coins, not Pentacles.

In terms of the element, pentacles represents the earth element. It will be important for you to create your own associations, but some of the most popular are:

• Femininity
• Fertility
• Stability
• Abundance
• Growth
• Wealth

This element is passive and classically feminine. The direction it represents is north and it is most closely associated with archangel Uriel.

Cups (or Chalices)

The suit of cups is typically shown as a golden goblet or chalice in most Tarot decks. In a discontinued deck, I once saw this suit represented by perfume bottles, rather than the traditional cup.

However, below are two examples of how the Cups are typically depicted:

The imagery of this suit can be a bit tricky. I’ve seen some students assume that the cups are an award, a statue, a flower pot or sometimes even a gift of gold bars or an incense holder! Look at the difference in presentation between the Ace of Cups and Six of Cups above to see what I mean.

However, once they realized that the suit of cups depicts an ancient drinking tool, the association with liquid comes right away.

So the suit of cups represents the element water. Some keywords associated with water are:

• Emotions
• Creativity
• Cleansing
• Spirituality
• Healing

Water is another passive element that is classically feminine. It is associated with the western direction and archangel Gabriel.

Wands (or Rods)

The suit of wands is usually shown in the shape of large wooden sticks. In most cards the sticks – or rods – are bare, but in some cards, green leaves can be seen growing on and falling away from them, like so:

There is some debate over whether or not the leaves shown with some of the wands is of import. However, when thinking of the wands as a creative energy, it makes sense to take into account any greenery that is shown in these cards as they could provide a clue on whether the outcome of a question will be fruitful or not.

Having said that, the suit of wands represent the fire element, which can be destructive as well as creative. So in my opinion, it’s best to keep this duality in mind when reading. So, some keywords associated with fire are:

• Life
• Passion
• Creation & Destruction
• Sex
• Masculinity
• Fertility

Fire is an active element that represents the virulence of masculine energy. It is associated with the southern direction and archangel Michael.

Swords

The suit of swords is nearly always represented by large, English style broadswords like this:

The expressions in the cards of this suit ranges from placid to severe and sometimes angry. The reason for this is because the sword represents our thoughts which, as I’m sure you know, can run the gamut. Because of this wild variation with the sword suit, these cards have a bad reputation within Tarot, but they essentially represent the thought processes and mental breakthroughs we can go through on any given day.

As you learn the Tarot, you may realize that this may not be your favorite suit, however, it’s imperative to remember that without thought, there can be no action. So in actuality, the swords suit is the most important of the minor arcana, given that every creation is brought about first via thoughts.

The swords suit represent the air element. Some keywords associated with air are:

• Intelligence
• Communication
• Imagination
• Strategy
• Logic & Reasoning
• Mental Stress & Breakthrough

Air is another active element that is associated with masculine energy. It is more lighthearted than fire and represents the eastern direction and archangel Raphael.

Conclusion

There are many ways to view the Minor Arcana, with the most basic being by the elements they represent. When you understand a card’s element, it may be easier for you to intuit the meaning of the card in general.

There are other ways that a card can be viewed. For example, by one of the four seasons, astrological clusters and even numerology. However, everyone has their own system of association, so it’s best for you to develop your own ideas about this with time. There are many established systems that can help you with this, like the Golden Dawn, however it’s my belief that you should develop your own after gaining some reading experience.

Now that the preliminary information about the cards have been detailed in the last few blogs, it’s time to dive into definitions. So next time I will start with our first card, the Ace of Pentacles.

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Ciao!