While the Major Arcana represents major life themes and spiritual initiations, the Minor Arcana explores our day-to-day experiences our emotions, challenges, desires, relationships, and practical realities. The Minor Arcana is divided into four suits: Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles. Each suit reflects a different aspect of human life, and each card within the suit (Ace through 10, plus four Court Cards) carries a specific energetic signature.
Understanding the Minor Arcana gives depth and nuance to your tarot readings, helping you interpret real-world situations through a spiritual lens.
The Four Suits and Their Energies
Each suit corresponds to an element, a realm of life, and a mode of experience:
Cups – The Realm of Emotion
Element: Water
Keywords: Feelings, relationships, intuition, love, creativity
The suit of Cups reflects your emotional life your heart, intuition, and inner world. These cards speak to your connections with others, your ability to give and receive love, and the emotional flow within any situation.
When Cups appear: emotional healing, love, family, romance, intuition
Shadow aspects: emotional overwhelm, co-dependence, escapism
Swords – The Realm of the Mind
Element: Air
Keywords: Thought, communication, truth, intellect, conflict
Swords represent the mental realm. These cards reveal how we think, speak, and perceive truth. They often highlight moments of decision, clarity, tension, or transformation through communication.
When Swords appear: mental clarity, arguments, truth-telling, boundaries
Shadow aspects: overthinking, anxiety, manipulation, harsh words
Wands – The Realm of Passion
Element: Fire
Keywords: Energy, inspiration, ambition, action, spirituality
The suit of Wands ignites passion and forward movement. These cards represent our drive, goals, creativity, sexuality, and personal power. They’re often associated with leadership and initiating change.
When Wands appear: motivation, career growth, personal will, breakthroughs
Shadow aspects: burnout, impatience, ego, scattered energy
Pentacles – The Realm of the Material
Element: Earth
Keywords: Money, health, home, work, security, manifestation
Pentacles bring us back to the physical world. These cards reveal your relationship with money, the body, family, stability, and long-term efforts. They show the results of what you’ve planted and nurtured.
When Pentacles appear: finances, career, home life, physical wellness
Shadow aspects: greed, scarcity, stagnation, over-attachment to comfort
The Numbers: Aces to 10 (and Their Symbolic Roles)
Every suit contains cards from Ace (1) to 10, followed by Page, Knight, Queen, and King (the Court Cards). Here’s a quick symbolic map of the numbered cards:
Number Symbolic Meaning
Ace (1) New beginning, potential, pure energy
Two Duality, balance, decision, union
Three Growth, collaboration, expansion
Four Stability, structure, foundation
Five Conflict, challenge, change
Six Harmony, giving, recovery
Seven Reflection, reevaluation, strategy
Eight Mastery, movement, momentum
Nine Attainment, intensity, near completion
Ten Completion, fulfillment, full cycle
Each card gains flavor from its suit and meaning from its number. For example:
Five of Cups = emotional loss or grief
Five of Swords = mental conflict or betrayal
Five of Wands = competition or tension
Five of Pentacles = financial hardship or isolation
They all share a “Five” energy (change, challenge), but express it through different life lenses.
The Minor Arcana forms the intricate web of your everyday experience mirroring your emotions, mindset, energy, and material world. When reading Tarot, understanding the suit and the number helps you decode the layers behind a card’s message. Whether you’re navigating a breakup, career shift, or spiritual awakening, the Minor Arcana gives you practical and emotional insight to move forward with clarity.