How-to Guides · 5 min · 2026-07-18
A complete tarot deck contains 78 cards organized into three groups: 22 Major Arcana cards representing abstract concepts and life's turning points, 16 Court cards embodying personality archetypes, and 40 numbered cards illustrating patterns of development. Here we explore the first seven cards of the Rider-Waite-Smith system—from the Fool to the Lovers—and the fundamental ideas they carry.
A complete tarot set includes 78 cards, arranged according to a basic structure:
All 78 cards together describe every aspect of human life. In practice, begin with the position's job, then let the card image sharpen the answer.
The Fool represents the entire journey in the Rider-Waite-Smith system.
Downward Position: - Benign, courageous blindness - Overcoming secular boundaries - Starting a new phase, new opportunities - Pursue personal ideals - Travel, extraordinary confidence - Ignore society's judgments
Reverse Position: - Blindly, not calculating the consequences - Regardless of reality, act recklessly - Refuse to take responsibility - Breaking rules, evading - Dangerous travel - Childish and immature actions
Downward Position: - Successful, truly capable - Smart and skillful - Good at communication and persuasion - Quick-witted and capable - Gather wisdom through connection - Influence others - Strong learning ability - Excellent expression skills
Reverse Position: - Fraud, concept swapping - Failure, cunning - Good at lying - Capacity is not enough - Loss of confidence - Using illegal paragraphs to gain recognition
Downward Position: - Innocent, innocent - Have good intuition and perception - Reveal the truth - Harness the power of your subconscious mind - Hold knowledge - Accurate judgment, logical reasoning - One-sided love, spiritual love - High requirements in love - Avoiding love - Helps with learning
Reverse Position: - Cold, lacking emotions - Unable to think properly - Wrong direction - Superstitious, stubborn - Emotional disturbance - Lack of foresight - Refuse love firmly
Downward Position: - Kind and gentle - Noble, beautiful - Love life - Golden and abundant season - Reproduction, creativity - Gentle, full of affection - Protect love - Feminine charm - Motherly love - Strong creativity - Abundant finances - Cheerful, happy
Reverse Position: - Arrogant, overzealous - Enjoying too much - Waste, incinerate - Jealousy - Mother's dictatorship - Possession, possession - Insatiable spending, decline - Decadence because of love - Love is not suitable
Downward Position: - Success in career - Material wealth - Control your emotions - Have skills and methods - Strong and independent - Masculine charm - Male ideology - Ability to handle work - Controlling, wanting to realize ambitions and dreams
Reverse Position: - Failure - Too rigid, not flexible - Unfavorable for love - Arrogant, stubborn - Excessive power - Reduced strength - Loss of reason - Wrong judgment - Lack of capacity - Too concerned with worldly things - Excessive desire for power - Efforts are in vain
Downward Position: - Have intelligence - Good at communication - Timely support - Find the truth - Spiritual support - Receive help from someone with a yoke - An influential instructor - Find the right direction - Support appears in learning - Adult intervention in love - Communication
Reverse Position: - Too dependent - Wrong instructions - Blind comfort - Support disabled - Authoritarian regime - Mental brainwashing - Using illegal paragraphs to gain recognition - Completely incompetent - Love is damaged - Third party intervention
Downward Position: - Sweet love - The relationship is blessed - New love has just begun - The date went well - Great combination - Faced with choices in work/study - Facing emotional decisions - Time to be decisive - Smooth cooperation
Reverse Position: - Facing a breakup - There is intervention by a third party - Emotions are inconsistent - Outside intervention - Coping with a breakup - Love has left - Cannot combine - Damaged relationships - Loving the wrong person - Love is not blessed A useful check is to name the visible action on the card before choosing advice. When several cards repeat a theme, treat the pattern as emphasis rather than certainty. For a cleaner reading, translate the symbol into one observable choice or behavior.
Important note: These 7 cards represent the subconscious, associated with the "head" or "body" of the person. This section represents the worldly aspect, the things that many people seek throughout their lives: relationships (men, women, parents, teachers, lovers) and material goals.
Reference source: zhihu.com — Introduction to Tarot: Introducing the 22 Major Arcana cards (Part 1)
Read deeper
Reading note: Check these meanings against the cards beside them before settling on one keyword.
Source: Zhihu
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