Card Library
The Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana are the 56 suited cards of a tarot deck: four suits of fourteen, running Ace through Ten plus Page, Knight, Queen and King. They describe the practical, everyday texture of a situation (what is happening, in which part of your life, and at what stage) where the 22 Major Arcana describe its themes.
The Minor Arcana are the 56 tarot cards that handle the everyday texture of life. They divide into four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles) each running Ace through Ten plus four court cards. Where the Major Arcana mark the big themes, the Minor Arcana describe the practical situations those themes play out in.
All 56 Minor Arcana cards
Wands
Ace of Wands
inspiration · new venture · potential
Wands
Two of Wands
planning · foresight · first step
Wands
Three of Wands
expansion · foresight · anticipation
Wands
Four of Wands
celebration · homecoming · stability
Wands
Five of Wands
competition · friction · conflict
Wands
Six of Wands
recognition · victory · confidence
Wands
Seven of Wands
perseverance · defense · standing firm
Wands
Eight of Wands
momentum · speed · fast movement
Wands
Nine of Wands
resilience · persistence · guardedness
Wands
Ten of Wands
burden · responsibility · overload
Wands
Page of Wands
enthusiasm · exploration · new idea
Wands
Knight of Wands
boldness · passion · action
Wands
Queen of Wands
confidence · independence · warmth
Wands
King of Wands
vision · leadership · boldness
Cups
Ace of Cups
new feeling · openness · emotional beginning
Cups
Two of Cups
mutual connection · partnership · union
Cups
Three of Cups
celebration · friendship · community
Cups
Four of Cups
apathy · contemplation · missed opportunity
Cups
Five of Cups
loss · disappointment · regret
Cups
Six of Cups
nostalgia · reconnection · innocence
Cups
Seven of Cups
imagination · options · daydreaming
Cups
Eight of Cups
walking away · seeking depth · release
Cups
Nine of Cups
satisfaction · fulfillment · contentment
Cups
Ten of Cups
fulfillment · harmony · lasting happiness
Cups
Page of Cups
curiosity · emotional openness · new idea
Cups
Knight of Cups
romance · idealism · genuine offer
Cups
Queen of Cups
intuition · compassion · emotional depth
Cups
King of Cups
emotional maturity · calm authority · balance
Swords
Ace of Swords
clarity · breakthrough · truth
Swords
Two of Swords
difficult choice · stalemate · avoidance
Swords
Three of Swords
heartbreak · painful truth · grief
Swords
Four of Swords
rest · recovery · pause
Swords
Five of Swords
conflict · hollow victory · tension
Swords
Six of Swords
transition · moving on · calmer waters
Swords
Seven of Swords
strategy · secrecy · acting alone
Swords
Eight of Swords
feeling trapped · self-imposed limits · restriction
Swords
Nine of Swords
anxiety · overthinking · worry
Swords
Ten of Swords
painful ending · defeat · rock bottom
Swords
Page of Swords
curiosity · new information · alertness
Swords
Knight of Swords
decisive action · directness · intensity
Swords
Queen of Swords
honesty · independence · clear judgment
Swords
King of Swords
intellectual authority · clarity · reason
Pentacles
Ace of Pentacles
new opportunity · tangible potential · fresh start
Pentacles
Two of Pentacles
balance · adaptability · juggling priorities
Pentacles
Three of Pentacles
collaboration · skill · recognition
Pentacles
Four of Pentacles
security · saving · control
Pentacles
Five of Pentacles
hardship · isolation · financial worry
Pentacles
Six of Pentacles
generosity · balance · giving and receiving
Pentacles
Seven of Pentacles
patience · assessment · long-term investment
Pentacles
Eight of Pentacles
dedication · craftsmanship · mastery
Pentacles
Nine of Pentacles
self-sufficiency · reward · independence
Pentacles
Ten of Pentacles
legacy · long-term security · wealth
Pentacles
Page of Pentacles
practical opportunity · studiousness · grounded beginning
Pentacles
Knight of Pentacles
reliability · steady progress · methodical effort
Pentacles
Queen of Pentacles
practical nurturing · resourcefulness · comfort
Pentacles
King of Pentacles
material mastery · security · grounded leadership
Pips and courts do different jobs
The 56 divide into 40 numbered cards, called pips, and 16 court cards. Pips describe circumstances: a stage of something, in a domain of life. Courts describe people, or an approach being taken: someone in your situation, a part of you, or a mode of engaging with it. Reading a court card as a circumstance, or a pip as a person, accounts for a large share of the readings that come out feeling almost right and not quite.
The structure is a grid, not a list
Fifty-six cards sounds like 56 things to learn and is closer to eighteen. Ten number qualities and four suit arenas generate all forty pips: five is disruption, Cups is feeling, so the Five of Cups is disruption in the arena of feeling, which lands on the standard reading of grief and loss without consulting anything. Four court ranks across the same four suits generate the remaining sixteen. Learning the axes rather than the cards is the difference between months and years.
Why the Minors carry the useful part
The Majors tell you a theme is present; the Minors tell you where it is showing up and what stage it has reached. A reading of pure Majors describes forces without a foothold, which is why it often feels profound and produces nothing to do. When a spread is dominated by Minors the situation is ordinary and specific, and ordinary and specific is what you can act on.
What 'Minor' does and does not mean
The word describes the Arcana a card belongs to and nothing about its force in a reading. The Ten of Swords is a Minor Arcana card and among the harshest in the deck; the Ten of Cups is a Minor and among the most fortunate. Suit cards routinely carry the emotional weight of a spread, and the naming is a historical artefact of the trump suit having been ranked above them in a card game.
When a spread leans this way
- A spread of mostly Minors says the situation is everyday and workable, whatever it feels like from inside. That is information, not an anticlimax.
- Several cards from one suit concentrate the reading in that arena regardless of what each card says individually: three Swords means it is being handled in the head.
- Repeated numbers across suits mark a stage rather than a domain: two or three fives means disruption is the theme and the suits tell you where it is landing.
The common misreading
Often said: Minor Arcana cards are the filler between the important ones.
More accurately: The Minors are 56 of the 78 cards and they carry the part of a reading you can actually use. The label comes from a fifteenth-century card game in which the trump suit outranked the ordinary suits, not from any claim about significance. In practice a reading dominated by Majors tends to feel weighty and stay abstract, while the Minors are where a spread stops describing forces and starts describing your week.
Terms on this page
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Common questions
What are the Minor Arcana in tarot?
The 56 suited cards: four suits of fourteen (Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles) each running Ace through Ten plus four court cards. They describe the practical, everyday side of a situation, where the 22 Major Arcana describe its broad themes.
How many Minor Arcana cards are there?
Fifty-six: 40 numbered pip cards and 16 court cards, divided evenly across the four suits at fourteen cards each.
What is the difference between pip cards and court cards?
Pips are the numbered cards, Ace through Ten, and describe circumstances, a stage of something in a domain of life. Court cards are the Page, Knight, Queen and King, and usually describe a person, a part of you, or an approach being taken.
Do you need to memorise all 56 Minor Arcana?
No, and doing so is the slow route. Ten number qualities combined with four suit arenas generate all forty pips, and four court ranks across four suits generate the rest. Learning the two axes covers the group far faster than learning 56 separate meanings.
Are Minor Arcana cards less important than Major Arcana?
No. The name reflects a card game in which the trump suit outranked the ordinary suits, not a difference in weight. The Ten of Swords and the Ten of Cups are both Minor Arcana, and both routinely carry the emotional centre of a reading.
What do the four Minor Arcana suits mean?
Wands are fire (drive, ambition and action. Cups are water) emotion, relationships and intuition. Swords are air (thought, truth and conflict. Pentacles are earth) work, money and the material world.