The minor arcana: four suits, ten numbers, sixteen courts

Updated October 17, 2026 · How we write these pages

The short answer

The minor arcana are the 56 tarot cards in four suits: Wands for fire and drive, Cups for water and feeling, Swords for air and thought, and Pentacles for earth and money. Each suit runs ace to ten plus four court cards. They describe daily events and choices, where the major arcana describe life's big themes.

56 of 56 cards

Ace of Wands
inspiration, new passion
Two of Wands
planning, future vision
Three of Wands
expansion, foresight
Four of Wands
celebration, homecoming
Five of Wands
conflict, competition
Six of Wands
victory, recognition
Seven of Wands
perseverance, standing your ground
Eight of Wands
speed, momentum
Nine of Wands
resilience, persistence
Ten of Wands
burden, responsibility
Page of Wands
enthusiasm, curiosity
Knight of Wands
energy, passion
Queen of Wands
confidence, warmth
King of Wands
leadership, vision
Ace of Cups
new love, compassion
Two of Cups
partnership, mutual attraction
Three of Cups
friendship, celebration
Four of Cups
apathy, contemplation
Five of Cups
loss, grief
Six of Cups
nostalgia, childhood memories
Seven of Cups
choices, fantasy
Eight of Cups
walking away, disillusionment
Nine of Cups
contentment, wishes fulfilled
Ten of Cups
harmony, family
Page of Cups
creative opportunity, intuitive messages
Knight of Cups
romance, charm
Queen of Cups
compassion, emotional security
King of Cups
emotional balance, diplomacy
Ace of Swords
clarity, breakthrough
Two of Swords
a difficult choice, stalemate
Three of Swords
heartbreak, sorrow
Four of Swords
rest, recovery
Five of Swords
conflict, defeat
Six of Swords
transition, moving on
Seven of Swords
deception, strategy
Eight of Swords
feeling trapped, self-limiting beliefs
Nine of Swords
anxiety, worry
Ten of Swords
a painful ending, rock bottom
Page of Swords
curiosity, new ideas
Knight of Swords
ambition, drive
Queen of Swords
clear boundaries, honesty
King of Swords
intellect, authority
Ace of Pentacles
new opportunity, prosperity
Two of Pentacles
balance, adaptability
Three of Pentacles
teamwork, collaboration
Four of Pentacles
security, saving
Five of Pentacles
hardship, loss
Six of Pentacles
generosity, giving and receiving
Seven of Pentacles
patience, a long-term view
Eight of Pentacles
diligence, mastery
Nine of Pentacles
self-sufficiency, luxury
Ten of Pentacles
wealth, legacy
Page of Pentacles
ambition, diligence
Knight of Pentacles
routine, reliability
Queen of Pentacles
nurturing, practicality
King of Pentacles
abundance, security

The Ace of Cups from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, a hand offering an overflowing cup

What is the minor arcana?

The minor arcana, the lesser secrets, are the part of the tarot that grew out of ordinary playing cards. Fifteenth-century Italian decks had four suits of coins, cups, swords and batons, the same suits still used in Spanish and Italian card games, and tarot added a set of trumps on top. When occultists turned tarot into a reading deck, the suits became four elements and the numbered cards became the stages of anything that grows.

For most of tarot's history those 40 numbered cards, the pips, were patterns: seven cups in rows, nine swords crossed. Pamela Colman Smith changed that in 1909 by painting a scene for each one, and that is why the Rider-Waite-Smith minors are so readable. You can see that the Five of Pentacles is two people in the snow outside a lit church window before you know a single keyword.

The four tarot suits and what they mean

Learn the suits first and you can place any minor card in its part of life. The element tells you the suit's temperament, the signs tell you which three zodiac signs its pip cards belong to, and the playing card column gives the French suit that matches it.

Suit	Element and signs	Covers	Playing card suit
Wands, also rods or staves	Fire: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius	Drive, ambition, creativity, desire	Clubs
Cups, also chalices	Water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces	Love, emotion, friendship, intuition	Hearts
Swords, also blades	Air: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini	Thought, speech, conflict, truth	Spades
Pentacles, also coins or disks	Earth: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo	Money, work, body, home	Diamonds

Let the suits tell you where it lives

Lay five cards for your own question and see which suit takes over, read together as one story with your birth chart. Written by AI the moment you join.

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Wands: the suit of fire

Wands are living branches, always sprouting leaves, and they stand for what you want badly enough to start. The suit covers new projects, creative work, sexual energy, competition, travel and reputation. A reading full of Wands is restless and hot: things are moving, and the question is whether you are steering or just burning. Its hard cards, the Five and the Ten, are about too much fire, a brawl of egos and a load you picked up because you could not say no.

Cups: the suit of water

Cups hold water, and water is feeling: love, friendship, grief, longing, intuition and the imagination. It is the suit most love readings turn on, from the Ace's overflowing heart to the Two's exchange of vows and the Ten's rainbow over a family. Its hard cards are emotional too: the Five mourns spilled cups, the Eight walks away from a full table, the Seven is lost among fantasies. A Cups-heavy reading says the answer is in what you feel, not what you think.

Swords: the suit of air

Swords cut, and the suit is the mind at its sharpest and its cruelest: decisions, arguments, truth, communication, anxiety and grief. It carries more of the deck's difficult cards than any other suit, because the mind is where pain is rehearsed. The Three pierces a heart, the Nine sits up at night, the Ten lies on the ground. But the Ace is the clearest card in the deck, and the reversed Swords often mean the worst story you told yourself was not true.

Pentacles: the suit of earth

Pentacles are coins stamped with a five-pointed star, and the suit is everything material: money, work, skill, health, the home and the slow return on effort. It is the most patient suit, with a farmer waiting on his vines in the Seven and an apprentice carving coin after coin in the Eight. Its one truly hard card, the Five, is hardship and exclusion. A reading rich in Pentacles asks what you are building and whether it will last.

What the numbers mean, ace to ten

Each suit tells the same ten-step story in its own element, which is the fastest shortcut in tarot. Know the number and the suit and you can reason out a card you have forgotten: a five is trouble, cups are feelings, so the Five of Cups is emotional loss.

Number	Stage	Wands and Cups	Swords and Pentacles
Ace	The seed, a gift	A spark; a new love	A breakthrough; an opportunity
Two	A choice or a pair	Planning; mutual attraction	A stalemate; juggling
Three	First growth	Expansion; celebration	Heartbreak; teamwork
Four	Stability, or standstill	Homecoming; apathy	Rest; holding tight
Five	Conflict, loss	Competition; grief	A hollow win; hardship
Six	Recovery, give and take	Victory; nostalgia	Moving on; generosity
Seven	A test	Defending; illusion	Deception; patience
Eight	Movement, effort	Speed; walking away	Feeling trapped; craft
Nine	Nearly there	Resilience; a wish granted	Anxiety; self-sufficiency
Ten	The cycle complete	Burden; family joy	Rock bottom; legacy

Court cards: how to read the Page, Knight, Queen and King

The sixteen court cards are the people of the tarot, and they are the cards beginners find hardest. Each can mean three things: someone in your life, a side of yourself, or the approach the situation needs. Combine the rank's role with the suit's element and the card reads itself. The Queen of Swords is the inner mastery of thought: a clear, honest person who will not be flattered. The Knight of Cups is feeling in motion: a romantic who arrives with an offer.

Gender and age on the cards are tradition, not law. A Page can be a grown adult at the start of something, and a King can describe a woman who runs the room. When a court card turns up in a love reading, ask first whether it describes the other person or the way you are showing up.

Rank	Role	As a person	As advice
Page	The student, the messenger	Young, curious, new at it	Learn, ask, try it once
Knight	The seeker	Driven, single-minded, in motion	Act, but watch the extreme
Queen	Inner mastery	Mature, receptive, caring	Hold steady, tend what you have
King	Outer mastery	Established, decisive, in charge	Lead, decide, provide

The astrology of the minor arcana

The Golden Dawn gave every pip card from two to ten a planet in a decan, one ten-degree slice of a zodiac sign, and Smith's paintings often show it. The Two, Three and Four of each suit belong to the suit's cardinal sign, the Five, Six and Seven to its fixed sign and the Eight, Nine and Ten to its mutable sign. So the Three of Wands, a merchant watching his ships go out, is the Sun in Aries, and the Ten of Cups, the rainbow family, is Mars in Pisces.

You do not need any of this to read the minors well. It helps if you already know astrology, because it explains why some cards feel the way they do: the Five of Cups is Mars in Scorpio, which is grief with an edge of anger in it. Our list of all 78 tarot card meanings gives the decan of every pip card.

Wands: Aries for the Two to Four, Leo for the Five to Seven, Sagittarius for the Eight to Ten.
Cups: Cancer for the Two to Four, Scorpio for the Five to Seven, Pisces for the Eight to Ten.
Swords: Libra for the Two to Four, Aquarius for the Five to Seven, Gemini for the Eight to Ten.
Pentacles: Capricorn for the Two to Four, Taurus for the Five to Seven, Virgo for the Eight to Ten.

How to read a spread full of minor arcana

Start by counting suits. If one suit has half the cards or more, it tells you where the question really lives, whatever the question said. A career reading full of Cups is about how you feel at work, and a love reading full of Swords is about what the two of you keep saying, or not saying. A missing suit is information too: a business question with no Pentacles may be all plan and no money.

Then look at the numbers. Several aces mean beginnings everywhere, several fives a rough patch with many sources, several tens a lot of things finishing at once. Several courts mean other people have a large say. Only after that, read each card on its own.

Reversed minor arcana cards

A reversed minor card is usually its upright meaning turned inward, delayed or overdone, rather than its opposite. The reversed Eight of Wands is not stillness but delay. The reversed Four of Swords is rest you are refusing to take. Reversed hard cards often read as the worst passing: the Ten of Swords reversed is the slow climb back up, and the Five of Pentacles reversed is help arriving.

Let the suits tell you where it lives

Lay five cards for your own question and see which suit takes over, read together as one story with your birth chart. Written by AI the moment you join.

Read my five cards

Questions people ask

There are 56 minor arcana cards: four suits of 14. Each suit has ten numbered cards, ace to ten, and four court cards, the Page, Knight, Queen and King.

Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. Wands are fire and drive, Cups are water and feeling, Swords are air and thought, and Pentacles are earth, money and work. Some decks call them rods, chalices, blades and coins.

They carry less weight but not less meaning. Minor cards describe the practical details of a situation, the people involved and what to do on Monday morning, which is often exactly what a reader needs.

No. A court card can describe someone else, a side of you, or the attitude the situation needs. If no one obvious fits, read it as advice: the Knight of Pentacles might simply be telling you to keep going, slowly.

Wands match clubs, Cups hearts, Swords spades and Pentacles diamonds. Playing cards are older than tarot, and the French 52-card pack keeps a king, a queen and a jack but no knight, which is why it has 52 cards, not 56.