What is Tarot? A Clear Guide to the 78 Cards

The structure of the deck

A standard tarot deck holds 78 cards, split into two groups: the 22 Major Arcana and the 56 Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana trace big, universal life themes, while the Minor Arcana describe the everyday situations that fill those themes in.

The Major Arcana

The 22 Major Arcana run from The Fool (0) to The World (21). They are the headline cards of a reading — archetypes like The Magician, The High Priestess, The Lovers, and The Tower. When a Major Arcana card appears, it points to something significant in the querent's life.

• 0 The Fool — new beginnings, risk, innocence
• 1 The Magician — willpower, skill, manifestation
• 2 The High Priestess — intuition, mystery, the subconscious
• 13 Death — endings, transition, transformation
• 16 The Tower — sudden change, revelation, upheaval
• 21 The World — completion, wholeness, integration

The Minor Arcana

The 56 Minor Arcana are divided into four suits of 14 cards: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. Each suit runs from Ace to 10, plus four court cards — Page, Knight, Queen, and King. Where the Major Arcana show the big picture, the Minor Arcana show the details.

• Wands — fire, passion, action, creativity
• Cups — water, emotion, relationships, intuition
• Swords — air, intellect, conflict, communication
• Pentacles — earth, work, money, the material world

Upright and reversed

When a card is drawn upside-down it is called reversed. Traditionally a reversal points to the shadow side of the card, or to energy that is blocked or internal rather than expressed. Many beginners read only upright meanings at first; reversals can be switched on once the basics feel comfortable.

Is tarot fortune-telling?

Tarot is best understood as a mirror rather than a fixed prediction. The cards don't lock in the future — they surface patterns, tensions, and possibilities that you can reflect on. Modern readers often describe tarot as a tool for perspective, not a crystal ball.