How-to Guides · 10 min · 2026-07-29
Tarot includes 22 Major Arcana cards representing profound spiritual lessons, and 56 Minor Arcana cards reflecting specific events in daily life. Let's explore the structure and meaning of each group of cards.
The Tarot deck includes 78 cards, divided into two main parts:
The Major Arcana cards are numbered from 0 to 21, symbolizing the journey of human development:
0 - Stupid Person: Symbol of carefree, innocent like a newly born baby. Also refers to unplanned travel.
1 - Magician: Represents the ability to understand the outside material world—money, power, desire.
2 - Female Priest: Symbolizes understanding people's inner thoughts and feelings—soul and thinking.
3 - Queen: Feminine card, representing the mother—warm, loving care.
4 - Emperor: Along with the Pope, represents the image of the father. The emperor is the father who provides material things—money, power, wealth.
5 - Catholic Church: A father who provides spiritual nourishment—spiritual development, moral education, and education.
6 - Lover: Marks the transition from the baby stage (The Fool) to youth (The Lover). This is where people first tasted love and received the blessing of angels. Also a card of choice.
7 - Car (Driver): Symbolizes masculine competition, extremely strong will. Symbol of young people leaving their homeland for the first time, leaving home. Represents victory and achievement.
8 - Strength: The moral "use softness to overcome hardness". The ability to overcome inner fears, conquer desires and desires, step by step forward in the face of challenges.
9 - Sage: Symbol of pursuing wisdom, experiencing loneliness. An adult full of wisdom.
10 - Wheel of fate: Symbolizes the ups and downs of life.
11 - Justice: Represents choices based on reason, perfect decisions.
12 - Hanged Man: Symbolizes sacrifice to achieve spiritual development, seeing the world from a different perspective.
13 - Death: Symbol of complete letting go, the end of a certain thing or situation.
14 - Moderation: Represents adjustment and compromise.
15 - Devil: Symbol of struggling with material desires, depravity into material things. If the Lover receives the blessing of an angel, then the Devil is a curse from heaven and earth.
16 - High Tower: Symbolizes sudden changes, great events, destruction to rebuild.
17 - Star: Represents the subconscious, finding faith and hope, inner peace, tranquility.
18 - Moon: Symbol of fear, instability, and the ability to see through illusions.
19 - Sun: Represents success, joy and happiness.
20 - Judgment: Symbol of listening to the call of the heart, understanding how cause and effect works.
21 - World: Symbolizes the completion of the travel journey, final success, ultimate happiness. 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.
The Small Cards are divided into 4 groups (suits), each group has 14 cards (from 1 to 10, plus 4 Court cards).
Element: Fire Characteristics: Represents action, creativity, energy and hidden strength. Related to business and startups.
Related Zodiac Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Exhibited in life: Initiative, vitality, desire, intuition.
Element: Water Characteristics: Represents relationships between people, emotions, and mental states. Reflects love, sensitivity.
Related zodiac signs: Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio
Expression in life: Interpersonal relationships, love, emotions, mood.
Element: Wind Characteristics: Represents thought, reason, but also hurt and conflict. Reflects emotional problems and conflicts.
Related zodiac signs: Binh Phuong, Gemini, Libra
Exhibited in life: Problems, troubles, sadness, reflection, strong intellect and reason but lack of emotions.
Element: Earth Characteristics: Represents matter, physical reality, related to health, clothing, property. Associated with money and work.
Related Zodiac Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Represented in life: Money, power, property, sense of security, work, transactions, spending, pleasure. 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. If the card feels abstract, ask what it changes in the next small decision. The strongest interpretation usually connects image, position, and question in one sentence.
Each first deck of cards represents a new beginning:
All four One cards bring a new opportunity, like a seed with unlimited potential. The challenge here is to distinguish whether it is a good grain or a bad grain, and whether you can capture it well or not.
Every second deck has two competing forces:
When combined well, the result is that one plus one is greater than two. Poor combination creates opposition and paralysis.
Number three represents the first preliminary results—business action taking off, harmonious relationships, smooth cooperation. Even with Sword (hurt), the third card also shows initial hurts that make people deeply sad.
After achieving preliminary results in three, number four maintains a certain stable state. However, it is impossible to avoid easily falling into narrowness and limitations, feeling unsatisfied.
The stability of four eventually hit a dead end, and at five, everything fell apart.
Six is the sum of one plus two plus three. After achieving preliminary satisfaction in three, now it is necessary to share with everyone. The downside is that it's easy to fall into extremes—success turns into arrogance, giving turns into charity.
Self-examination and striving at first glance are completely different concepts, but their common purpose is to break down the barriers to evolution. The yin decks (Cups and Coins) strive for self-reflection in order to progress; Yang decks (Wands and Swords) strive amid difficulties to achieve victory. The challenge of Cups and Coins is that it cannot avoid reality; of Wands and Swords is to avoid overconfidence.
The challenge of Cup and Sword is that quick decisions may not be possible; of Sticks and Coins is to be able to indulge in endless action without reaching a conclusion.
All nine cards reach the fullness of the deck, but also fall into loneliness.
All number ten cards can contain risks from excess that need to be transformed.
Reference source: zhihu.com — Basic knowledge of Tarot
Reading note: Check these meanings against the cards beside them before settling on one keyword.
Source: Zhihu
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