Different Types of Tarot Cards - Guide

If you’ve ever had a tarot card reading or have been interested in learning how to do psychic readings yourself, this guide is for you. We’re going to discuss the different types of tarot cards that exist, their meanings, and their significance.

Our aim is to clear up any common misconceptions about tarot throughout this guide, putting you in a more knowledgeable position about the different types of tarot cards used in practice.

What are Tarot Cards?

Tarot cards are a deck of 78 cards, which is made up of 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards. Each card has its own unique imagery, which is used to interpret its meaning.

Importance of Knowing Different Types of Tarot Cards

There are a number of reasons why you should know the difference between the types of tarot cards in a deck. This includes understanding symbolism, choosing the right deck, customizing readings and enhancing intuition.

1. Understand Tarot Card Symbolism

It’s important to know the different types of tarot cards in order to understand each card's symbolism. By understanding the types of tarot cards available, it makes it easier for the psychic reader to interpret the cards accurately when carrying out a reading.

2. Choosing the Right Deck

It’s best to choose the deck that best resonates with the person having a reading based on their personal beliefs and interests. An expert tarot card reader will have a lot of different decks depending on the type of reading, yet some only specialise in one type of reading. It’s important to go with the deck you feel is best for each reading, and listen to your intuition.

3. Customizing Readings

Another benefit of knowing different types of tarot cards, is the ability to customize psychic readings. This allows a reader to tailor readings to specific questions and situations. Some decks are better for tarot readings for life management and career advancement, and others are more ideal for tarot card love readings.

4. Enhancing Intuition

In order to enhance psychic reader intuition, knowing each card, and it’s meaning is essential. As a reader becomes more familiar with tarot cards and their meanings, it should become easier to pick up on subtle nuances during readings, providing more accurate interpretations.

Major Arcana Cards

What are Major Arcana Cards?

There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a 78 card deck, and they’re the most recognized. The purpose of these cards is to help guide people during times of need and challenging situations that we all face.

Major Arcana cards are the most impactful cards in a tarot deck. Each Major Arcana card carries a different meaning, for example the 7th card is called ‘The Lovers’, this card can help a psychic when carrying out a Major Arcana card love reading.

With cards representing new beginnings, stability, change, justice, courage, obsession and more, the 22 Major Arcana cards help guide people through a wide variety of challenging life situations.

Examples of Major Arcana Cards

Here are the names of the 22 different Major Arcana cards and their meanings:

• The Fool - New beginnings, free-spirit, Novice
• The Magician - Manifestation, Inventive, Powerful
• The High Priestess - Mystic, Divine lady, Intuition
• The Empress - Feminism, Nurturing, Generous
• The Emperor - Order, Stability, Fatherly Figure, Authority
• The Hierophant - Higher Wisdom, Spirituality, Tradition
• The Lovers - Love, Mutual relationships, Choices, Passion
• The Chariot - Control, Dominance, Progress
• Strength - Courage, Power, Affection, Impression
• The Hermit - Solitude, Self- Introspection, Inner calling
• The Wheel of Fortune - Good luck, Destiny, Breakthrough
• Justice - Fairness, Balance, Law, Justice
• The Hanged Man - New perspective, Surrender, Pause
• Death - End of phase, Change, Transformation
• Temperance - Patience, Motive, Balance, Moderation
• The Devil - Destruction, Obsession, Addiction, Power loss
• The Tower - Demolition, Release, Sudden change
• The Star - Hope, Goals, Renewal, Faith
• The Moon - Deceit, Subconscious, Intuition, Dreams
• The Sun - Success, Joy, Happiness, Wellness
• Judgment - Inner voice, Absolution, New phase, Revival
• The World - Celebration, Joy, Fulfillment, Travel

Minor Arcana Cards

What are Minor Arcana Cards?

There are 56 Minor Arcana cards in a typical tarot deck, these are split into four suits of fourteen cards. The four suits are - the Suit of Cups, the Suit of Pentacles, the Suit of Swords and the Suit of Wands.

A collection of Minor Arcana cards are able to represent different parts of an individual’s personality. When they are pulled out by a psychic during a reading, it can answer a lot of questions for the individual having the reading.

The four suits also relate directly to the four elements:

• Suit of Cups - Water element
• Suit of Pentacles - Earth element
• Suit of Swords - Air element
• Suit of Wands - Fire element

Examples of Minor Arcana Cards

Here are the 56 Minor Arcana cards, split via their house:

Suit of Swords	Suit of Cups	Suit of Wands	Suit of Pentacles
King of Swords	King of Cups	King of Wands	King of Pentacles
Queen of Swords	Queen of Cups	Queen of Wands	Queen of Pentacles
Knight of Swords	Knight of Cups	Knight of Wands	Knight of Pentacles
Page of Swords	Page of Cups	Page of Wands	Page of Pentacles
Ace of Swords	Ace of Cups	Ace of Wands	Ace of Pentacles
Two of Swords	Two of Cups	Two of Wands	Two of Pentacles
Three of Swords	Three of Cups	Three of Wands	Three of Pentacles
Four of Swords	Four of Cups	Four of Wands	Four of Pentacles
Five of Swords	Five of Cups	Five of Wands	Five of Pentacles
Six of Swords	Six of Cups	Six of Wands	Six of Pentacles
Seven of Swords	Seven of Cups	Seven of Wands	Seven of Pentacles
Eight of Swords	Eight of Cups	Eight of Wands	Eight of Pentacles
Nine of Swords	Nine of Cups	Nine of Wands	Nine of Pentacles
Ten of Swords	Ten of Cups	Ten of Wands	Ten of Pentacles

Court Cards

What are Court Cards in Tarot?

Court cards in Tarot are divided into four suits, and each suit has a King, Queen, Knight and Page. There are 16 court cards in a typical tarot deck.

It is useful to look at court cards as a family, e.g. the King represents the father, the Queen is the mother, the Knight is the teenager and the Page is the child. One thing to consider is that the age and characteristics of these cards are not set it in stone, i.e. if a Queen is pulled out during a reading, it doesn’t necessarily relate to an older woman.

Examples of Court Cards

There are 16 court cards in a typical tarot deck, they are split into four suits and there are four cards per suit:

• The Suit of Cups - King, Queen, Knight and Page
• The Suit of Pentacles - King, Queen, Knight and Page
• The Suit of Swords - King, Queen, Knight and Page
• The Suit of Wands - King, Queen, Knight and Page

Characteristics and Meanings of Court Cards

The Suit of Cups

Linked to the element of water, the Suit of Cups provides guidance on love, relationships and feelings.

The Suit of Pentacles

Linked to the element of Earth, the Suit of Pentacles provides guidance on money, prosperity and work-life.

The Suit of Swords

Linked to the element of air, the Suit of Swords provides guidance on decision-making, logic and intellect.

The Suit of Wands

Linked to the element of Fire, the Suit of Wands provides guidance on instinct, passion and creativity.

Tarot Card Guide

There are many different types of tarot cards that exist including Major Arcana, Minor Arcana and Court cards. All of these cards help tarot readers provide accurate and useful readings for their clients. They aim to help people work through difficult periods of their lives where they have lots of questions.

With 78 tarot cards in each deck, and each card having a different meaning, it’s important that psychic readers learn all the different meanings of tarot cards. These cards provide psychic readers with the tools they need to offer accurate psychic readings to their clients.