Tarot cards and their meanings
What each of the 78 tarot cards means, how the suits and numbers work, and how to do a reading with the wheel.
What’s in a tarot deck
A tarot deck has 78 cards. The 22 Major Arcana, numbered 0 to 21 from The Fool to The World, stand for life’s big themes and turning points. The 56 Minor Arcana deal with everyday matters: four suits of 14 cards each, Ace to Ten and four court cards. Every slice on the wheel is the same size, so each card has the same 1 in 78 chance, and each spin uses your browser’s cryptographic random numbers.
Major Arcana meanings
- 0 · The Fool
- New beginnings, a leap of faith, spontaneity
- 1 · The Magician
- Skill, willpower, making things happen
- 2 · The High Priestess
- Intuition, secrets, inner knowing
- 3 · The Empress
- Abundance, nurturing, creativity
- 4 · The Emperor
- Structure, authority, stability
- 5 · The Hierophant
- Tradition, teaching, shared beliefs
- 6 · The Lovers
- Love, harmony, an important choice
- 7 · The Chariot
- Determination, control, moving forward
- 8 · Strength
- Courage, patience, gentle power
- 9 · The Hermit
- Solitude, reflection, looking within
- 10 · Wheel of Fortune
- Cycles, luck, change beyond your control
- 11 · Justice
- Fairness, truth, cause and effect
- 12 · The Hanged Man
- A pause, letting go, a new point of view
- 13 · Death
- Endings, transformation, making room (rarely literal)
- 14 · Temperance
- Balance, moderation, finding the middle way
- 15 · The Devil
- Temptation, bad habits, feeling trapped
- 16 · The Tower
- Sudden upheaval, revelation, the old falling away
- 17 · The Star
- Hope, healing, renewal
- 18 · The Moon
- Uncertainty, dreams, things not as they seem
- 19 · The Sun
- Joy, success, warmth
- 20 · Judgement
- Reckoning, rebirth, answering a calling
- 21 · The World
- Completion, wholeness, a journey’s end
The four suits
Each suit of the Minor Arcana belongs to an element and an area of life:
- Wands · fire
- Drive, passion, ambition and creative projects
- Cups · water
- Feelings, love, friendship and intuition
- Swords · air
- Thoughts, words, conflict and hard truths
- Pentacles · earth
- Money, work, health, home and the material world
Numbers and court cards
A Minor Arcana card means its suit plus its rank:
- Ace
- A new start, the suit at its purest
- Two
- Choices, balance, partnership
- Three
- Growth, first results, teamwork
- Four
- Stability, rest, holding on
- Five
- Conflict, loss, a challenge
- Six
- Harmony restored, help, moving on
- Seven
- Tests, doubts, standing your ground
- Eight
- Movement, effort, a change of pace
- Nine
- Nearly there, resilience, fulfilment
- Ten
- Completion, the end of a cycle, a full load
- Page
- Curiosity, news, a beginner’s eagerness
- Knight
- Action, pursuit, going all in
- Queen
- Care and mastery turned inward
- King
- Leadership and mastery turned outward
So the Three of Cups is growth in feelings, friends coming together to celebrate, and the Ten of Swords is a painful way of thinking finally ending.
How to read tarot with the wheel
- Card of the day: think of the day ahead and spin once.
- Three-card spread: spin three times for past, present and future (or situation, obstacle, advice). Choose Remove from wheel after each card so it can’t come up twice.
- Major Arcana only: pick Major Arcana in the list beside the wheel for a reading about the bigger picture, or untick cards and suits you want to leave out.
- Reversed cards: after each card, spin the Yes or No Wheel. No means the card is reversed: its meaning is blocked, delayed or turned inward.
Tarot is for reflection and fun. It doesn’t predict the future and isn’t a substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.