Tarot Deck Breakdown
Suits and Elements

Breaking Down the Tarot Deck

A tarot deck is normally made up of 78 cards.

These 78 cards are broken down into three (3) distinct sections. The three (3) sections are called;

  1. The Majors - which are also referred to as Key or Trump cards and usually range from 0 to 21.
  2. The Pip or Small cards - which consist of the cards Ace to 10 in four different suits usually called Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. Four suits times 10 cards each makes for forty (40) Pip or Small cards.
  3. The Court cards which are normally called Page, Knight, Queen, and King.  There are four (4) court cards to each suit and since there are four (4) suits we have sixteen (4 courts x 4 suits=16) court cards.

The Majors/Keys/Trumps make up what is often called the 'Major Arcana' which contains 22 cards - usually ranging from Key #0 to Key #21.  The word 'Acrana' means 'secrets', so with the Major Arcana we have the 'major secrets' of the tarot.

The Pips (40 cards) and Court cards (16 cards) make up what is termed the 'Minor Arcana' which contains a total of 56 cards (40+16=56).  With the minor arcana we have the 'minor secrets' of the tarot.

Tarot Card Chart
• The Major Arcana - 22 cards (usually numbered 0 to 21)
• The Minor Arcana - 56 cards
° 40 Pip of Small cards (numbered Ace to 10)
° 16 Court cards (usually NOT numbered)

The 56 cards of the Minor Arcana (Pips + Courts) are broken down into four (4) Suits, with 14 cards in each suit.  Below I repeat the four suits and there most commonly used names.

Wands
Swords
Cups
Pentacles
Major Arcana

Each of these suits is associated with one of the five (5) basic ... 'Elements':

Fire
Air
Water
Earth
Soul/Spirit/Spiritual Path

Putting the suits and elements together in their tranditional associations we would have the following.

Suit to Element Associations (Traditional)
• Wands = Fire
• Swords = Air
• Cups = Water
• Pentacles = Earth
• Major Arcana = Soul/Spirit/Spiritual Path

The Tarot Suits and Elements

And here are some 'suggested' keywords and phrases for the five suits and elements. These are some of the standard, or traditional meanings for the individual suits and elements of the tarot.

WANDS
Motivational States
Career and/or Job		 FIRE: Action, motivation, energy, growth, will, passion, libido, desire, inspiration, initiation, enthusiasm.
SWORDS
Intellectual States
Thoughts and Ideas 		AIR: Mental activity, thoughts, ideas, intellect, logic, reason, analysis, decision, communication, action, conflict, volatility.
CUPS
Emotional States
Relationships and Emotions 		WATER: Relationships, emotions, feelings, receptivity, reflection, subconscious, vision, imagination.
PENTACLES
Material States
Financial Affairs 		EARTH: Stable, solid, practical, material concerns, possessions, earthiness, groundedness, strength, resources, money, wealth, commerce, labor, prosperity, security, value, generosity, charity, body.
MAJOR ARCANA
Spiritual Path		 Spirit: Spirituality, soul, morality, ethics, religion, philosophy, karma, archetypes, milestones.

When you study the 'Aces' of each suit you will see that they will basically have the same, or at least similar meanings as those above. These meanings will 'flow' throughout the the given suit to one extent or another.  You could say the Aces of each suit take, and represent, the best the suit has to offer and the remaining cards in that suit take some aspect, or aspects of those meanings (for good or ill).

The above meanings are the one's that will be used here on the Tarot Studies web site.

Another Way to Look at the Suits and Elements

Here is another way to look at the suits and elements, one I developed.

SWORDS/AIR Don't just think (and stew) - DO SOMETHING!
WANDS/FIRE Stop and smell the roses!
PENTACLES/EARTH Humdrum - So don't get 'Mired in Mediocrity'!
CUPS/WATER Perform Physical (Earth), Mental (Air), and Motivational (Fire) Evaluations! (To help become emotionally content and grounded.)

Final Notes

There are any number of ways to look at the suits and elements, including even rearranging which suit goes with what element. As always, when dealing with the tarot, you have to find the way that works for you.

But ... many people ignore or simply don't choose to use, or don't know how to use the suits and especially the elements. This is a real shame and in my opinion they are doing a disservice to themselves and to the tarot. The Elements are the basic building blocks of the tarot and without using them you are only half way to the 'tarot promised land', if that. Without these essential building blocks you will never truly be a decent, much less a great reader of the tarot cards.


Don S.

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