What Kinds Of Tarot Cards Exist?

This article provides a comprehensive list of all 78 Tarot card meanings organized by suit, including 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards. The traditional Tarot decks, such as the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, are the most widely recognized and commonly used. These decks consist of 78 cards, divided into two categories: the Major Arcana (22 cards representing significant life themes) and the Minor Arcana (56 cards, split into 4 suits).

The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Card Meanings is the only Tarot reference guide you’ll ever need, providing deep, accurate card interpretations for every type of reading, from career to love, spirituality, and personal well-being. Each card in the deck has its own unique meaning, and understanding these meanings helps you understand the messages and advice provided.

Tarot decks typically consist of 78 cards, divided into two distinct categories: the major arcana and the minor arcana. Court cards are page/knight/queen/king in the RWS, Princess/Prince/Queen/Knight in the Thoth, and many decks have unique sequences. The standard modern tarot deck is based on the Venetian or Piedmontese tarot, consists of 78 cards divided into two groups: the major arcana, which has 22 cards representing significant life themes, and the minor arcana, which has 56 cards representing life themes.

Receiving or performing a reading can be a great way to dive deep into one’s own psyche, and five tarot card readers and astrologers share the best tarot and oracle card decks, how to choose one, and the history of the practice.

Are tarot cards against Christianity?

The Bible warns against sorceries, divination, soothsaying, fortunetelling, mediums, and spiritists. Tarot cards can be used for divination and fortunetelling, but they can also be used for meditation or exploring archetypes. The modern Tarot began as tarocchi, sets of playing cards and learning devices, and fortunetelling was not involved. Early Biblical mentions against such practices include not eating pork, trimming beards, getting tattoos, cutting hair, eating oysters, going to church within 40 days of giving birth, working on the Sabbath, eating fat, touching a goat, or selling land permanently. Some scholars believe these rules were put in place to prevent women from having an active role in spiritual leadership.

In modern American churches, an attitude against astrology is common. Genesis 1:14 indicates that God’s people are meant to use heavenly bodies as signs, guides, and portents. The practice of astrology involves using stars as signs, as the three wise men used this practice to follow the Star in the East.

What is the most emotional Tarot card?

The Queen of Cups is a tarot card that symbolizes compassion, emotional depth, and intuitive wisdom. It represents a mature instinctual female with qualities of love, kindness, and sensitivity. The King of Cups, a powerful figure in the Tarot deck, represents emotional balance, compassion, and wisdom. Its upright and reversed meanings, symbolism, and impact on various aspects of life are explored. The King of Cups is profoundly significant within the Tarot deck, offering insights into emotional intelligence, relationships, and personal growth.

It invites us to embrace our inner wisdom and find harmony between our hearts and minds, whether it appears upright or reversed. This journey of self-discovery is a captivating realm of the King of Cups.

What are the 22 main tarot cards also known as?

The Major Arcana are the named cards in a cartomantic tarot pack, typically numbered from 0 to 21. These cards correspond to the trump cards used for playing tarot card games, but the term “Major Arcana” is rarely used by players and is associated with divination by occultists. The Minor Arcana, consisting of 56 unnamed cards, corresponds to the contemporary standard 52-card deck. Before the 17th century, tarot cards were primarily used for playing games, with the Fool and 21 trumps having simple allegorical or esoteric meanings.

The occult significance began to emerge in the 18th century when Swiss clergyman Antoine Court de Gébelin published two essays on Tarot in his encyclopedia, Le Monde Primitif. Court de Gébelin assigned Egyptian, kabbalistic, and divine significance to the tarot trumps in his first essay, “Du Jeu des Tarots”.

What do you call a person who uses tarot cards?

A tarot reader is an individual who employs a combination of divination and prognostication to ascertain future events.

What is the luckiest card in the tarot?

The Wheel of Fortune card, part of the Major Arcana, is a symbol of destiny, fortune, success, elevation, luck, and felicity. It is often depicted in a six- or eight-spoked wheel, often attended by an individual dressed in an Egyptian-style headdress. In some decks, such as the AG Müller, the wheel is also attended by an individual wearing a blindfold. The wheel is not always inscribed with any lettering, but the letters T-A-R-O (clockwise) or T-O-R-A (counter clockwise) can be found aligned against four of the spokes, which can also be interpreted as R-O-T-A, the Latin word meaning “wheel”.

In some decks, such as the Waite, the wheel is inscribed with additional alchemical symbols representing the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These emblems can also be seen on the Magician’s table in the Magician card (Card I).

What is the most popular tarot?

The Rider Waite Smith Tarot is a popular deck for tarot card reading, first published by the Rider Company in 1909. It was based on the instructions of academic and mystic A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The deck has been published in numerous editions and inspired a wide array of variants and imitations. Over 100 million copies circulate across 20 countries.

The images in the deck are simple but feature abundant symbolism. Some imagery remains similar to earlier decks, but overall, the Waite-Smith card designs are substantially different from their predecessors. Christian imagery was removed from some cards and added to others, such as the “Papess” becoming the “High Priestess” and the “Lovers” card resembling naked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Minor Arcana is illustrated with allegorical scenes by Smith, unlike earlier decks.

Symbols and imagery in the deck were influenced by 19th-century magician and occultist Eliphas Levi and the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. To accommodate astrological correspondences taught by the Golden Dawn, Waite introduced several innovations to the deck, such as changing the order of the Strength and Justice cards to correspond with Leo and Libra, and based the Lovers card on Italian tarot decks.

What is the 5 major tarot card?

The Hierophant (V), also known as The Pope or The High Priest, is the fifth card of the Major Arcana in occult Tarot decks. It was initially identified as the Pope in early decks like the Tarot of Marseilles, but modern decks like Rider-Waite Tarot may use the term hierophant. The Hierophant is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of something holy. In modern decks, he is represented with his right hand raised in blessing, forming a bridge between Heaven and Hell, reminiscent of the body of The Hanged Man.

In his left hand, he holds a triple cross and a crown with three nails projecting from it, symbolizing the crucifixion of Jesus. The Hierophant is typically male and was also known as “The Teacher of Wisdom” in feminist Tarot decks. He is usually seated on a throne between two pillars symbolizing Law and Freedom or obedience and disobedience. He wears a triple crown and the keys to Heaven are at his feet. The card is also known as “The High Priest” as a counterpart to “The High Priestess” (which itself is sometimes known as “The Papess”).

What types of tarot readings are there?

Tarot spreads are a powerful tool for gaining insights and guidance in various aspects of life. They come in various types, such as the One-Card Tarot Spread for focused questions, the Three-Card Tarot Spread for past, present, and future insights, the Path Spread, the Self-Actualization Pyramids Spread, and the Comic Strip Spread. These spreads can be used for one-card readings, in-depth Celtic Cross spreads, and those specifically designed for love and relationships.

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced reader, tarot spreads offer an exciting way to gain insights and manifest a dazzling future. By developing intuition and trusting yourself, you can cleanse your deck for magical readings and explore your true potential.

What is the No 1 Tarot card?

The Magician, also known as The Magus or The Juggler, is the first trump or Major Arcana card in traditional tarot decks, used for game playing and divination. In the occult context, the trump cards are recontextualized as the Major Arcana and given complex esoteric meaning. In this context, the Magician is interpreted as the first numbered and second total card of the Major Arcana, succeeding the Fool. In French, Le Bateleur, also known as “the mountebank” or “sleight of hand artist”, is a practitioner of stage magic.

In Italian tradition, he is called Il Bagatto or Il Bagatello. The Mantegna Tarocchi image of the Magician is labeled Artixano, the Artisan, and is the second lowest in the series. 18th-century woodcuts of the Magician reflect earlier iconic representations and can be compared to free artistic renditions in 15th-century hand-painted tarots.

What are the 4 types of tarot cards?

Tarot cards are ancient Chinese divination tools used for fortune-telling. The minor arcana consists of 56 cards divided into four suits, each with 14 cards. The suits are wands, batons, cups, swords, and coins. Each suit has 4 court cards and 10 numbered cards, with the value progression from ace to 10. The adaptation of tarots to occult and fortune-telling began in France around 1780. Each card in the minor arcana has a meaning, with wands primarily relating to business and career ambitions, cups with love, swords with conflict, and coins with money and material comfort.

The tarot deck is shuffled by the questioner, and the fortune-teller then lays out a few cards in a spread pattern. The meaning of any card is modified based on its position in the spread and the meaning of adjacent cards.

Which is the strongest tarot card?

The Fool is a card in tarot games, not part of the Major Arcana. In most games, the Fool is independent of both plain suit cards and trump cards, and does not belong to either category. Tarot decks originally made for game playing do not assign a number to the Fool indicating its rank in the suit of trumps. The Fool is one of the most valuable cards in almost all tarot games.

In tarot games originating from Italy and France, the Fool has a unique role, sometimes called “the Excuse”. In these games, the player excuses the player from following suit or playing a trump. At the end of the trick, the player takes back the Fool and adds it to their trick pile, giving the trick’s winner the least valuable card from that same pile. If there are no cards to give in exchange, the Fool is worth one point less and an extra point is given to the trick-taker.

In a minor variant option of French tarot, a player dealt trump 1 but with no other trumps or the Fool can make trump 1 behave the same as the Fool. In official tournament rules, a player in this situation must declare their hand and force a redeal.