What Is the Minor Arcana?
The Minor Arcana consists of 56 cards divided into four suits — Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. While the Major Arcana speaks to life's big themes, the Minor Arcana reflects the everyday events, challenges, and opportunities that make up our day-to-day experience.
Understanding the four suits is essential to becoming a skilled Tarot reader. Each suit governs a specific area of life and corresponds to one of the four classical elements.
The Four Suits of the Minor Arcana
Wands – Fire Energy
Wands represent passion, creativity, ambition, and action. They govern career, projects, motivation, and spiritual energy. When Wands dominate a spread, life is calling you to act, create, and pursue your goals with fire.
Cups – Water Energy
Cups represent emotions, relationships, intuition, and the inner world. They govern love, family, creativity, and dreams. A reading full of Cups points to emotional themes needing attention.
Swords – Air Energy
Swords represent the mind, communication, conflict, and challenges. They govern thoughts, beliefs, decisions, and truth. Swords can be uncomfortable — they cut through illusion and reveal hard truths.
Pentacles – Earth Energy
Pentacles represent the material world — money, work, health, home, and practical matters. They govern abundance, security, and physical well-being. A spread rich in Pentacles points to practical, tangible areas of life.
The Numbers in the Minor Arcana
Each suit runs from Ace to Ten, plus four Court Cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King). The numbers carry their own meanings — Aces signal new beginnings, Fives often bring conflict or change, Tens represent completion.
Putting It All Together
A skilled Tarot reader reads the suit, the number, and the imagery together to create a layered, nuanced message. This is why Tarot reading is both an art and a skill — one that takes years of dedicated practice to master.
Ready to Learn Tarot?
If you want to learn Tarot reading from scratch, I offer structured Tarot courses online for beginners to advanced students across India. Or if you prefer a professional reading, book a Tarot card reading with Shruti today.