Home / Knowledge hub / Tarot
Tarot
What do the 78 tarot cards mean?
Short answer: A tarot deck has 78 cards: 22 major arcana for life's big themes (from The Fool to The World) and 56 minor arcana in four suits — Wands (fire, drive), Cups (water, feelings), Swords (air, thought) and Pentacles (earth, home and money). Each card has an upright meaning and a reversed one, usually a blocked or inward version of the same theme.
How the deck is built
The major arcana are often read as 'the Fool's journey', a story of growing up and growing wise, from innocence (0, The Fool) to completion (XXI, The World). The minor arcana are everyday life: each suit runs Ace to Ten, then four court cards — Page, Knight, Queen and King.
Numbers carry meaning across the suits: Aces are beginnings, Fives are challenges, Tens are endings and completions. Once you know the suit and the number, you can read most minor cards without a book.
Reading reversals
A reversed card is not 'bad'. Most readers treat it as the same energy delayed, blocked, turned inward or overdone. Some readers ignore reversals entirely; both are traditional.
Tarot as reflection
We present tarot as a tool for reflection and conversation with yourself, not prediction or professional advice.
Related from the shop
More questions
How many tarot cards are there?
78: 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana in four suits of 14.
What is the difference between tarot and oracle cards?
Tarot follows a fixed 78-card structure; oracle decks have any number of cards and their own themes. See our tarot vs oracle guide.
Which tarot deck is best for beginners?
A Rider–Waite–Smith style deck, because most books and websites, including ours, use its imagery and meanings.
Ask Starseed
Try: