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Tarot

General

Tarot (Major & Minor Arcana)

A 78-card deck used for divination and reflection, split into 22 symbolic Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards across four suits, each with upright and reversed meanings.

Definition

Tarot is a 78-card deck traditionally used for divination, reflection, and storytelling, structured into two parts: the Major Arcana (22 cards representing significant, archetypal life themes) and the Minor Arcana (56 cards representing everyday situations, split across four suits). Each card carries both an upright meaning and a reversed meaning, depending on the orientation it's drawn in.

Tarot decks are used in structured spreads — fixed layouts where each card position has its own meaning (such as Past, Present, and Future) — with a shuffle-and-draw process that determines both which cards appear and whether each lands upright or reversed.

Worked Example

A three-card spread (Past / Present / Future) might draw:

  • Past: The Fool, Upright — new beginnings, a leap of faith
  • Present: Ten of Swords, Reversed — a blocked or delayed sense of completion tied to conflict
  • Future: The Sun, Upright — joy, success, and vitality

Try the Tarot Card Draw Generator for an instant shuffled draw across single-card, three-card, or five-card spreads, complete with upright/reversed meanings for each position.

Key Things to Know

  • 78 cards, not 52 like a standard playing deck: The 22 Major Arcana plus 56 Minor Arcana together make up the full traditional tarot deck used across nearly all modern tarot systems.
  • Reversed doesn't mean "bad": A reversed card is read as a variation on its upright theme — blocked, delayed, or turned inward — not simply the opposite meaning.
  • Spreads give position-specific context: The same card means something different depending on which position it lands in (e.g. "Past" vs "Advice") — the position, not just the card, shapes the reading.
  • Tarot is a reflective tool, not a scientific one: Like numerology and zodiac signs, tarot is a traditional, symbolic framework best treated as entertainment or a structured prompt for reflection rather than a factual predictive system.
  • Every draw is independent: A digital shuffle-and-draw, like the Tarot Card Draw Generator, reshuffles the full 78-card deck on every draw, so the same reading is never guaranteed to repeat.

Related Terms

NumerologyNumerology (Pythagorean Number Symbolism)Zodiac SignSun Sign

Frequently Asked Questions

A standard tarot deck has 78 cards, split into 22 Major Arcana cards (numbered 0 through XXI, like The Fool and The World) and 56 Minor Arcana cards. The Minor Arcana is further divided into four suits — Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles — with 14 cards each: Ace through Ten, plus the four court cards Page, Knight, Queen, and King.
Major Arcana cards represent significant, often life-changing themes — new beginnings, transformation, revelation — and are traditionally read as carrying more weight in a spread. Minor Arcana cards represent everyday matters and situations, with each of the four suits tied to a different area of life: Wands to action and ambition, Cups to emotion and relationships, Swords to intellect and conflict, and Pentacles to material and practical matters.
A reversed card is one that appears upside-down when drawn, and it's traditionally read as a blocked, delayed, or inward-facing version of that card's upright meaning rather than a simple opposite. For example, if a card's upright meaning is 'new beginnings,' its reversed meaning is often read as hesitancy or a missed opportunity around new beginnings rather than 'endings.'
A spread is a fixed layout of card positions used for a reading, where each position carries its own meaning. Common spreads include a single-card draw for a quick daily focus, a three-card spread (commonly Past / Present / Future), and larger spreads like a five-card layout covering a situation, challenge, advice, outcome, and underlying energy.
Tarot is best understood as a reflective and entertainment tool rather than a factual predictive method — there's no scientific evidence that card draws forecast real-world outcomes. Many people use tarot the way they'd use a structured journaling prompt: the cards and their traditional meanings provide a framework for thinking through a question, rather than a literal forecast.