Tarot Guide

Meanings of all 78 tarot cards: a guide to reading the arcana

What does a tarot card mean, and how can its image lead to a thoughtful interpretation? This tarot card guide brings together 78 entries to help you recognise symbols, compare readings and find a card by name. Browse the major arcana, minor arcana and court cards after a spread, or study a whole family to develop your practice.

A meaning is not a fixed answer. It depends on your deck, question and the card’s position. These entries offer reference points for reflection, not promises about future events.

The 22 major arcana: images, symbols and meanings

From the Magician to the World, alongside the Fool, the 22 major arcana depict figures, situations and transitions. Start with what you can see: gestures, gazes, objects and landscapes. Connect those details with the interpretations rather than reducing an entire image to one keyword.

The meaning of the Moon, for example, invites reflection on uncertainty and imagination without treating doubt as evidence of deception. Read a card’s opportunities and difficulties together: they offer different perspectives on the same dynamic.

The 56 minor arcana and the four tarot suits

The minor arcana comprise four suits of fourteen cards: Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. Each contains Ace to Ten, followed by Page, Knight, Queen and King. The sixteen court cards are included in the 56 minors, not added to them.

Many contemporary readings connect Wands with action, Cups with relationships and emotions, Swords with thought and tension, and Pentacles with practical resources. These are not universal rules. The Two of Cups, for instance, may suggest a friendship or working partnership rather than romance alone.

Tarot de Marseille and Rider-Waite-Smith: compare without conflating

A shared card name does not make every deck equivalent. Marseille pip cards mainly show arrangements of suit symbols, while Rider-Waite-Smith gives them narrative scenes. Looking at two people meeting is different from reading two cups and their ornaments.

Names and some numbers also vary: Bateleur or Magician, Mat or Fool, and the numbering of Strength and Justice. Identify your card by its image and title first. Where an entry distinguishes traditions, keep their correspondences in context instead of combining them into a single supposedly ancient truth.

Upright cards, reversals and combinations in a spread

A reversed card does not automatically mean the opposite of an upright one. Depending on your method, it may suggest difficulty, restraint or excess; some readers do not use reversals. Choose a consistent convention before drawing, then consider the position and neighbouring cards.

Reading a combination means relating images, not adding two definitions. The Sun in tarot can prompt reflection on clarity and visibility, but does not guarantee a project’s success. Distinguish a card’s suggestions from conclusions supported by facts.

Learn tarot by connecting the entries with practice

Start by observing one card, noting a few details and then reading its entry. Compare your first impression with the text: which symbols support it, and which did you miss? Revisiting cards helps build a personal vocabulary without mechanically memorising 78 definitions.

To choose a layout and understand its positions, explore our guide to tarot spread methods. If you have already drawn your cards, enter them in the free tarot interpretation tool for a position-by-position reading. The directory, methods and workshop complement each other: understand the card, place it in context, then consider the whole spread.