Minor Arcana

The Minor Arcana of occult or divinatory tarot

Tarot

The tarot , , is a pack of cards , used from the mid fifteenth century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Italian Tarocchini and French Tarot. The tarot has four suits corresponding to the suits of conventional playing cards...

 consist of fifty six cards, which are closely related to the deck of fifty two playing card

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin card, or thin plastic, figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

s used in most modern card games. It comprises four suits, derived from the older Latin playing card suits most commonly named Wands or Batons, Cups, Swords, and Coins (also called Pentacles or Disks), although there are a wide variety of different names and suit symbols used in different decks.



Often, the suits are associated with one of the four classical element

Classical element

Many philosophies and worldviews have used a set of archetypal classical elements, most developed sets of the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based...

s, with a common set of associations being the following: Wands with fire, Cups with water, Swords with air, and Coins with earth.

The Minor Arcana of occult or divinatory tarot

Tarot

The tarot , , is a pack of cards , used from the mid fifteenth century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Italian Tarocchini and French Tarot. The tarot has four suits corresponding to the suits of conventional playing cards...

 consist of fifty six cards, which are closely related to the deck of fifty two playing card

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin card, or thin plastic, figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

s used in most modern card games. It comprises four suits, derived from the older Latin playing card suits most commonly named Wands or Batons, Cups, Swords, and Coins (also called Pentacles or Disks), although there are a wide variety of different names and suit symbols used in different decks.

Symbolism

Often, the suits are associated with one of the four classical element

Classical element

Many philosophies and worldviews have used a set of archetypal classical elements, most developed sets of the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based...

s, with a common set of associations being the following: Wands with fire, Cups with water, Swords with air, and Coins with earth. In other sets of associations, Fire is occasionally exchanged with air for the Swords suit. Other associations are also possible:

Latin suit	French suit	Element	Class	Faculty
Wands (Staves / Batons) Suit of wands In tarot, the suit of wands or batons can be used like one of the suits of playing cards or as a divination tool.In divination, the suit of wands represents the element of fire and gives information relating to the traits of the fire element in astrology...	Clubs Clubs (suit) {| style=" background: #fff; width: 100px; height: 130px; border: 1px solid #000; text-align: center;" |- | |}Clubs is one of the four suits found in the "international" deck of playing cards. The standard international deck uses the French suit system.In bridge, it ranks lowest out of all four...	Fire Fire (classical element) Fire has been an important part of all cultures and religions, from pre-history to modern day, and was vital to the development of civilization. It has been regarded in many different fashions throughout history.-Greek and Roman Tradition:...	Peasantry	Creativity and Will
Coins (Pentacles) Suit of coins The Suit of Coins or Pentacles is used in Latin suited playing cards, including tarot decks, and corresponds to the suit of diamonds in conventional playing cards. In divinatory and occult tarot it is part of what is called the "Minor Arcana"...	Diamonds Diamonds (suit) {| style=" background: #fff; width: 100px; height: 130px; border: 1px solid #000; text-align: center;" |- | ♦ |}...	Earth Earth (classical element) Earth, home and origin of humanity, has often been worshipped in its own right with its own unique spiritual traditio.-Greek and Roman tradition:...	Merchants	Material body or possessions
Cups (Chalices) Suit of cups The suit of cups is one of the four suits of Latin-suited playing cards, such as tarot. The suit of hearts is derived from the suit of cups. These are sometimes referred to as chalices as well as cups. The element of cups is water, and the suit of cups pertains to situations and events of an...	Hearts Hearts (suit) {| style=" background: #fff; width: 100px; height: 130px; border: 1px solid #000; text-align: center;" |- | |}Hearts is one of the four suits found in the "international" deck of playing cards. The standard "international" deck uses the French suit system.In bridge, it ranks second highest of the...	Water Water (classical element) Water has been important to all peoples of the earth, and it is rich in spiritual tradition.-Greek and Roman tradition:Water is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science...	Clergy	Emotions and Love
Swords Suit of swords The Suit of Swords is a suit found in playing cards using the Italian and Spanish suits. It is also found in Latin Suited Tarot Cards. It's equivalent to Spades in Anglo-American playing cards.-Common divinatory meanings:...	Spades Spades (suit) {| style=" background: #fff; width: 100px; height: 130px; border: 1px solid #000; text-align: center;" |- | |}Spades is one of the four suits found in the "international" deck of playing cards. The standard "international" deck uses the French suit system.In bridge, it ranks highest out of the...	Air Air (classical element) In traditional cultures, air is often seen as a universal power or pure substance. Its fundamental importance to life can be seen in words such as aspire, conspire, inspire, perspire, and spirit, all derived from the Latin spirare .-Greek and Roman Tradition:Air is one of the four classical...	Nobility and Military	Reason

Each suit has 14 cards, being Ace

Ace

The word "ace" comes from the Old French word 'as' meaning 'a unit', from the name of a small Roman coin. It originally meant the side of a die with only one mark, before it was a term for a playing card...

 (One), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, King. These last four are called the court cards, and often have different names in different decks. One common variation in some decks is the replacement of the original page and knight, with a prince and princess. There are Italian playing card decks which have a page, maid, knight, mounted lady, king and queen.

Modern decks often have the numbered minor arcana cards (Ace to 10 of each suit) named and numbered, although many resemble early decks in that there are no titles or numbers on those cards. The numbered minor arcana cards usually have the appropriate number of symbols for the suit depicted, and the court cards usually have the corresponding person depicted holding the symbol of their suit.

Modern divination decks, especially if based on the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck (circa

Circa

Circa means "in approximately" , referring to a date...

 1910), will often have a symbolic scene depicted on the numbered Minors, although this was generally not the case before the Rider-Waite-Smith deck was published. Before this, with only the exception of a handful of decks, the numbered cards of the Minors showed merely a geometric arrangement of the appropriate number of suit symbols.

Some decks reverse the correspondence of Swords to Air and Wands to Fire and, instead, have Swords representative of Fire and Wands of Air.

External links

• Iconography of Tarot cards / many examples
• Information on the Tarot, its history and use from ancient divination