Begin here

What are the suits?

The Minor Arcana contains 56 cards divided into four suits. Each suit has fourteen cards: Ace through Ten, followed by Page, Knight, Queen and King.

You do not have to memorise every card before you can read. First notice the suit. It tells you what part of life the card may be speaking about.

Meet the four suits

Four parts of an ordinary life

Cups · Feeling

Emotion, relationships, intuition and connection. Ask: What am I feeling?

Swords · Thought

Ideas, truth, decisions and conflict. Ask: What story is my mind telling?

Wands · Action

Energy, desire, creativity and momentum. Ask: What wants to move?

Pentacles · Matter

Work, money, health, home and the practical world. Ask: What needs tending?

Try it yourself

Read the suit before the number

When a Minor Arcana card appears, name its suit first. Then look at what is happening in the image. Only after that, consider the number or court figure.

Suit → picture → number → question. Let the meaning grow in layers.
  • Which part of life does this suit point toward?
  • What catches my eye before I look anything up?
  • Does the card feel open, tense, active or still?
  • How does that change the question I want to ask?

You are not trying to pass a memory test. You are learning how to notice. ✦ — Jules & Rei