What Do The Suits In Tarot Mean

The Minor Arcana consists of four distinct Tarot suits:

  • Your feelings, emotions, intuition, and creativity are represented by the Cups suit. Tarot readings regarding relationships and your emotional connection with others and yourself frequently feature the Cups card.
  • The Pentacles suit stands for your resources, employment, and your goods. Tarot readings concerning careers and financial prosperity frequently feature the Pentacles cards.
  • Your ideas, words, and deeds are represented by the Suit of Swords. The Swords cards frequently show in Tarot readings that are about making decisions, articulating your thoughts, and asserting your authority.
  • The Wands suit stands for your dynamism, drive, and enthusiasm. Tarot readings regarding life purpose, spirituality, and novel ideas frequently feature the Wands cards.

10 numbered cards and 4 court cards are included in each suit (Page, Knight, Queen and King). Each of the Tarot Court Cards stands for several personality traits that we could choose to display at any given time.

What do the Tarot card suits stand for?

Despite their vastly different designs, all tarot decks share a few characteristics. Each one has 78 playing cards, divided into the main and minor arcana. The major arcana, which are the deck’s 22 trump cards, generally allude to bigger influences and disclosures when they are revealed during a reading. These cards stand alone without a suit and represent key occasions or people in a person’s life.

In contrast, the minor arcana refer to influences and issues that are more commonplace. Wands, swords, pentacles, and cups make up the four suits that these 56 cards are divided into. (Occasionally, tarot decks will use different terminology, such as “Pentacles for coins, but they are exact equivalents to the four original divisions.) A different aspect of life is represented by each outfit. Wands typically represent imagination and passion, swords intelligence, pentacles work and wealth, and cups emotion. Additionally, each suit is associated with a certain set of astrological signs, such as wands being associated with fire, swords with air, pentacles with earth, and cups with water.

Since we’re beginners, the meanings you’ll most frequently refer to are the functional definitions, albeit these meanings can be used when cards symbolize people and their zodiac signs. For example, a three-card spread with three pentacle cards strongly denotes a financial concern. (More on the various spreads will follow.)

While much of this is up to the deck’s owner and what resonates with them, there are a few conventions that apply to the majority of tarot readings. If you’re reading cards for someone else, you should ask them to provide you with a question or suggest something they’re interested in, and keep that question in mind while you shuffle the deckalso referred to as “removing the effects of earlier research and readings. (An illustration would be, “When will I discover love?” Am I pursuing the correct career? “How can I get through my block?

Then you could query the person you are reading for (also known as “cutting the deck, once more concentrating on the querent. Although some readers will cut the deck for the querent, we prefer this option since it gives the querent a chance to feel linked to the deck personally. In any case, you will draw the necessary number of cards for your spread and, if you’re reading for yourself, place them between you and the querentor directly in front of you.

What does the swords suit stand for?

The suit of Swords is used in divination to represent masculinity, intelligence, grief, and bad luck. The suit has been linked to the element of air. Etteilla and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers compared the Swords suit to the French pack’s Spades suit.

  • The Swords Ace exhibits a capacity for decision. clearing up confusion adopting an extreme stance or choice. the capacity to spot lies and expose them.
  • The Swordsmen’s Two The two swords represent uncertainty in judgment. apathy and a sense of helplessness giving rise to fear The Two of Swords can represent impartiality and absence of bias if the other cards in the spread are favorable.
  • The Swordsman’s Trio The element of the intellect that is unduly critical, especially of itself, is represented by this card. the irrational need to analyze a situation more thoroughly than is necessary. A bleeding heart is frequently shown being pierced by the three swords. The swords stand in for the mind and the heart, which are invariably the victims of this treatment.
  • The Swordsman’s Four The four of swords represents avoiding something. putting issues (the swords on the wall) to one side and pleading for deliverance. This card may also be used to denote submission or, in some instances, pacifism.
  • The Swords’ Five This card represents success via betrayal. the void that follows a difficult struggle. the exclusion of others by hostility.
  • The Swordsman’s Six risky travel. Regarding this card’s alignment, readers frequently disagree. It may portend a fruitless undertaking or, on the other hand, suggest leaving hazardous seas. It also conveys accountability to others.
  • The Swords Seven This card symbolizes clandestine actions. the excessive attempt to get away with something that ultimately compromises you. In a positive interpretation, the card can allude to making sacrifices in order to advance. Simplifying. It could also imply that deceptive or manipulative behavior is being used.
  • The Swords’ Eight feeling unable to change and being oppressed and trapped by others Although the disease is frequently brought on by oneself, outside factors are often blamed for its origin. The persistent dedication to an ideal is another meaning of this card.
  • The Swords Nine The Nine of Swords is undoubtedly the most feared card in the deck, despite the fact that tarot readers traditionally dislike classifying cards as good or bad. However, it can also represent the grieving or letting go process and, when combined with other healing cards like the Queen of Wands, can be very helpful.
  • The Swordsman’s Ten The Ten puts a stop to the nightmare from The Nine of Swords. Even if the outcome may not be perfect and there may be tiredness, the ordeal is over and the truth has been revealed. The Ten of Swords can also represent the conclusion of a recurring pattern. Divorce.
  • The Swords Page the capacity to closely watch others while hiding one’s own nature. the capacity for secrecy. Maintaining composure in the face of peril. the capacity to withstand suspense.
  • The Wrath of the Swords Knight. Impatience. Fanaticism. blind addiction to doing instead than thinking. Possibly also a sign of bravery and innovation.
  • The Swords Queen The epitome of independence is represented by this card. strength, wisdom, and strategic thinking. the capacity to quickly and easily identify a solution to an issue. The Queen of Swords’ negative connotations include loneliness, melancholy, and ruthlessness.
  • The Swords King Passionate discipline. Strength and wisdom. can represent despotism.

What do the four tarot card suits represent?

Wands, batons, or rods are used for clubs; cups are used for hearts; swords are used for spades; and coins, pentacles, or disks are used for playing cards (diamonds). Four court cards are in each suit. 10 numbered cards, a king, queen, knight, and jack, as well as The value sequence in each suit is from aces to ten, followed by jacks, knights, queens, and kings (though the ace is sometimes assigned a high value, as in modern playing cards).

What does the wand suit stand for?

The suit of wands is related to the Will’s action and the element of fire in Aleister Crowley’s 1944 book The Book of Thoth. The overall meaning of the suit is centered on readings or ideas related to primordial energy, spirituality, inspiration, willpower, fortitude, intuition, creativity, ambition, expansion, and original thought.

Modern English-language astrologers typically tie the suit to work and accomplishments, or even anything vaguely associated with fruitfulness. Such readings of the suit emphasize the importance of reaping the rewards of hard work.

New beginnings, final endings, and creative destruction are related topics (such as the way controlled usage of fire can be used to clear landin preparation for new crops, or planting).

Tarot readers who also base their interpretations on astrology frequently examine this symbolic link between the suit and fire.

The playing cards in this deck also conjure up youthful hope and the essential drive that propels life.

The Wands Tarot card meanings are concerned with the spiritual plane of consciousness and reflect your deepest values. Your personality, ego, enthusiasm, self-concept, and personal energyboth internal and externalare all addressed.

Illusion, egocentric behavior, impulsivity, a lack of direction or purpose, or a sense of meaninglessness are some of the negative characteristics of the Wands suit.

The Fire signs of Leo, Sagittarius, and Aries are frequently shown on wands cards. A person with a Leo, Sagittarius, or Aries star sign is frequently associated with a wands court card. Wands people tend to be enthusiastic, affable, hospitable, and spiritual.

What does the pentacles suit stand for?

  • The Ace of Coins is pictured as a hand emerging from a cloud clutching a Pentacle or a coin with a five-pointed star on it. Behind is a lovely garden that suggests a lot. It can also be compared to Eden’s Garden. Two mountain peaks can be seen outside the garden, which could symbolize the right and left pillars of the Qabalah. Both result in increased wealth. White flowers in the garden represent innocence, maybe in innocent relationships like Adam and Eve’s friendship before the fall. One of the blossoms has a cross-like shape, maybe signifying self-sacrifice. Since self-sacrifice is the only way to reach heaven, this sacrifice could be as straightforward as passing away naturally. The Ace of Pentacles, like all the Aces, represents a new beginning and something that is being presented. This is frequently a new source of income for someone. Usually, it is additional recurring money of some kind. It can represent fresh chances that bring about greater fortune. The card suggests a change in one’s financial condition for the better, or at the very least, that opportunities exist to do so. It may also indicate increased cash flow as a result of better financial management.
  • When upright, the Two of Coins represents juggling, striving in a positive direction, balancing (in fact, juggling and balancing at the same time), and maintaining. Here, the equilibrium is actively being preserved; part of the preservation is self-realized. The card’s reversed meaning refers to imbalances, excessive juggling and struggling, and the card’s advise is to restore equilibrium.
  • The Three of Coins has many positive connotations attached to it, including the accomplishment of perfection, the mastering of a skill in trade or job, creative aptitude, and dignity via recognition, status, or authority. When the card is in reverse, negative characteristics include sloppiness that results in a lower-quality output, a lack of expertise, cliched ideas, and obsession with off-task issues.
  • The Four of Coins represents a person who loves material wealth and hoards valuable items with no intention of sharing them. The Four of Pentacles, on the other hand, gives a caution against the propensity for being wasteful when it is in reverse.
  • The Five of Coins portends a challenging and terrible circumstance, one from which the victims won’t soon be able to escape. The Querent may be ambivalent, mired in uncertainty, and feeling excluded or cut off, but they are nonetheless resolute. The charities and hopes depicted in the cathedral windows are challenging to realize but nonetheless worthwhile. The man on crutches is not immediately apparent to be the right figure’s friend or foe, implying a tense relationship.
  • In The Six of Coins, a businessman is shown weighing money on two scales and giving it to people in need and trouble. It represents satisfaction, but it also calls for attention because not every distressed person can be appeased. The card’s reversed meanings include desire, cupidity, envy, jealousy, and illusion.
  • The Seven of Coins frequently represents motion.
  • In The Eight of Coins, a stone craftsman is seen working on pieces that he displays as trophies. Work, employment, commissions, craftsmanship, business acumen, possibly in the planning stages. These are the meanings associated with divination. persistent patience while keeping success in mind. Ambition, conceit, cupidity, exaction, and usury are reversed. It could also mean having skill in the sense of having an inventive mind that has been bent toward guile and intrigue.
  • The Nine of Coins shows an aristocratic woman surrounded by a big estate’s worth of grapevines, most likely signifying a high level of material status. She is wearing a floral-patterned robe, and a hooded falcon is lazily perched on her arm. The ancient sport of falconry was particularly well-liked by historical nobility and kings. Given that falcons are predators, it is likely that the woman is familiar with the money and power that this sport entails and feels at ease with it because she clutches her falcon without any excitement or fear. It is also important to note that the falcon is hooded, which means it is not actively pursuing its prey. This implies that the woman is conscious of her influence yet chooses to restrain it. She is wise because she is aware of her power and knows when and how to use it. She comes across a young snail with a blue shell that is moving across her path. She has no idea that it could be fatally close. Being upright entails having wealth, sophistication, knowledge, and success.
  • The Ten of Coins arranges the coins in a tree-like pattern that corresponds to the kabbalistic Tree of Life. It shows an elderly man conversing with a woman while being guarded. It frequently has to do with either family issues, financial issues, or a combination of the two. Some sources link it to wealth or even luxury. It might represent a workplace. This card is referred to as Wealth in the Thoth Tarot deck and is connected to Virgo’s third decan, which is ruled by Venus. Mercury is said to rule Virgo’s second decan, which is said to be ruled by Venus.
  • A youthful individual is frequently represented by the Page of Coins.
  • The young guy with a dark complexion and features is represented by the Knight of Coins. This mixes the imagery of knights and black completeness, as well as the suit of coins and male adolescents and young adults. The card could also stand for someone who is determined, tenacious, serious, or set in their ways. This card can also be used when a person is struggling with a dilemma where one of those problems is involved, such as when they are debating whether to stick up for themselves in a conflict or not. With the exception of the Knight of Swords, the knights of the tarot represent defense. The Marseilles Tarot and other earlier representations of these Knights were disarmed, but the Rider-Waite deck gave them armor. The Knight of Coins might therefore stand for protecting one’s assets or one’s well-being.
  • “Sensual and earthy, she appreciates abundance in many facets of her life,” is how the Queen of Coins is defined. She enjoys luxury and is generous with her fortune. A pregnancy or fertile times are suggested by the Queen of Pentacles. The Queen of Coins, like all court cards, is typically taken to refer to a person who has some significance in the questioner’s life, however it could also symbolize the asker. According to legend, queens stand for mothers, mature ladies, or young women who are wise beyond their years. She can also be a hard worker for material success, a businesswoman, a supporter of the arts, a provider, etc. She is a caring, maternal, down-to-earth individual who is interested in the wellbeing of others, particularly those she looks out for. Dark hair and eyes, a dark complexion, and a strong physique are among the physical traits associated with the suit of coins. In the Reversed version, this Queen disregards her duties while maintaining her persona regardless of the situation.
  • The King of Coins shows a wise, experienced adult with significant earthly power; he is typically shown as a diplomatic businessman. The King of Pentacles has a reputation for being frugal. He enjoys receiving material presents and sensuous treats. This man has social prestige and values keeping up with the Joneses highly. On the down side, he could have an ego so enormous that the querent would be foolish to offend him. The image on the card shows a man who may assist the reader in gaining the social and practical understanding necessary to get money or respectability. The occurrence of this card, like the other court cards, could indicate interaction with a person of this great standing. Unless previous cards have further backed this, it does not always represent material wealth to the querant. A guy is shown seated on a black throne that is decorated with a gold bull in the Rider-Waite deck. His clothing is covered in grapes, and a castle may be seen in the distance.

What does spades mean in tarot?

Future difficult tasks or events are represented by spades. Hearts are all about emotions, relationships, family, and home. Clubs stand for promising things that would soon happen.

What do the swords on tarot cards represent?

According to Vanderveldt, the Swords in tarot represent the element of air, which has to do with our honesty, discernment, communication, thinking, intelligence, and mental activity. Kings, on the other hand, stand for “our societal obligation and the highest expression of a certain element,” in this case air.

In light of this, she continues, the King of Swords urges us to exhibit “leadership, development, and expression, by sharing our experiences, taking aligned action, and bringing people together.”

What does it signify if air is your element?

You can introduce yourself into zodiacal wisdom using a variety of prisms. The most obvious approach is to view your birth chart through this perspective and gain knowledge of the planets, aspects, and houses based on your own narcissistic explorations. This is a completely legitimate route. I completed it. With myself, my crushes, and my celebrity crushes, I have done it. When I was ten years old, I was trying to figure out how to eventually get along with My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. One of the cornerstones of my current astrological knowledge was that romantic desperation.

But if I could start over again, I would start with the fundamentals, the essentials. The four elements of air, water, fire, and earth are split among the 12 zodiac signs according to Western astrology. Each has distinct characteristics and connotations, which are taken into account in various ways by the three signs an element rules.

You can comprehend any sign by having a solid comprehension of the elements. You’ll have access to the complete zodiac wheel if you do this. After that, picturing the planets in each sign becomes (kind of) simple. It gets easier to understand even compatibility, which we’ll discuss later. Water snuffs out fire, air floats above the earth, and earth and water get along. It resembles a cosmic version of Rock, Paper, Scissors or Pokmon.

Of fact, it was an air sign who first exposed me to this cunning strategy. Intellectual and communicative, air signals. In particular, this is true of language and knowledge. They are specialists in the ephemeral, the things of our world that lack physical form. Our breath, the most essential and unseen bodily process, is the air element. In the Chinese zodiac, air does not appear as a traditional element but rather as qi, the all-pervasive energy. As the East on a Wiccan altar is symbolized by the Air, which can be portrayed by anything from a feather to incense, the Air is untouchable and ethereal because it lacks a specific material form.

Air signals are especially susceptible to their own self-projections since air lacks form and a solid body. Air signs are susceptible to overindulging in pure fantasy because they are boundless by space and can drift everywhere, from places to individuals. They prefer theory over practice and are prone to spending a lot of time discussing ideas rather than acting upon them.

Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are the three signs of the air. For the time being, let’s consider each of them to symbolize a distinct stage of emotional and spiritual development. Of the three, Aquarius is the most developed because it is the last sign on the zodiac calendar, followed by Gemini. As a result, Gemini has a baby, naive variation on air; Libra has a teenager who wants to try everything; and Aquarius has an elderly soul who is irritable.

The twins are GEMINI. I believe that the characteristics we tend to despise most about ourselves are what give zodiac signs their worst reputations, and poor Gemini is constantly the target of this unfair slander. One of my favorite movies, Paprika, features a villainous supporting character who splits into dual heads and has a seam bursting with cerulean butterflies. The heroine exclaims with complete repulsiveness, “I never knew this side of you! Our double adversary responds, “I have multiple sides, and that’s what makes me human!

Even though it’s absurd to think that Geminis are dishonest liars, we all lie on occasion. This is code-switching in its purest form. It involves “turning on” for work and having a “phone voice in order to avoid discussing your sex life with your Evangelical granddad over dinner. Our identity is transient and always changing. Simply said, Gemini embraces its innate duality more forcefully and without fear than anyone else.