Tarot Card Meanings
What each of the 78 cards means upright and reversed, what it says about love and work, and whether it reads as a yes or a no. Written plainly, without the fortune-cookie voice.
The deck comes in five parts. Jump straight to the one you need.
Major Arcana 22 cards
The twenty-two trumps: the big, slow forces — what a chapter of your life is about rather than what happened on Tuesday. When one turns up in a reading, it is usually the theme the other cards are describing.
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The Fool
A beginning you cannot see the end of — and the freedom in that.
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The Magician
You already have what this requires. The question is whether you will use it.
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The High Priestess
You know something you cannot yet justify. That still counts as knowing.
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The Empress
Growth that comes from tending rather than forcing.
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The Emperor
Freedom built out of structure, not in spite of it.
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The Hierophant
The well-worn path is well-worn for a reason. That is not the same as it being yours.
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The Lovers
A choice that reveals what you actually value — not just who you want.
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The Chariot
Forward motion held together by will — which works, until you have to stop.
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Strength
The kind of strength that does not need to raise its voice.
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The Hermit
Stepping back far enough to hear yourself think.
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Wheel of Fortune
Something turns, and not because of anything you did.
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Justice
An honest accounting — including of your own part in it.
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The Hanged Man
A pause you did not choose, showing you something you could not otherwise see.
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Death
Something ends. It is almost never what you fear, and it is genuinely an ending.
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Temperance
The slow work of getting the proportions right.
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The Devil
A trap you are holding shut from the inside.
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The Tower
Something built on a false foundation comes down, quickly.
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The Star
Quiet hope, arriving after the hard part rather than instead of it.
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The Moon
You are not seeing this clearly, and you probably know that.
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The Sun
Plain good news, visible in full daylight.
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Judgement
An honest look at where you have got to, and a decision about what happens next.
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The World
A thing genuinely finished — and the odd quiet that follows.
Wands 14 cards
Fire. Drive, creativity, ambition, the thing you want badly enough to move for. Wands ask what you are willing to spend energy on — and what it costs when the energy runs out.
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Ace of Wands
The spark arrives. What you do in the next two weeks decides whether it was real.
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Two of Wands
You have built something solid and you are already looking past it.
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Three of Wands
The work has left your hands. Now comes the part nobody warns you about.
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Four of Wands
A milestone that deserves marking, with the people who make it mean something.
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Five of Wands
Everyone is talking and nobody is listening. Some of that is useful.
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Six of Wands
You won, and this time people saw it.
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Seven of Wands
Holding a position you are tired of defending — and still right about.
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Eight of Wands
After all the waiting, everything happens at once.
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Nine of Wands
Tired, wary, still standing — and closer than it feels.
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Ten of Wands
You are carrying all of it, and some of it was never yours.
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Page of Wands
Loud, unqualified enthusiasm — the most underrated resource you have.
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Knight of Wands
All gas, no map. Thrilling until the third month.
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Queen of Wands
Warm, certain, entirely herself — and not auditioning for anyone.
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King of Wands
Vision plus the nerve to make other people build it.
Cups 14 cards
Water. Feeling, attachment, love in all its forms. Cups deal with what you want that you cannot argue yourself out of, and with how open you are willing to be about it.
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Ace of Cups
Something opens in you. Keeping it open is the actual task.
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Two of Cups
Two people seeing each other clearly and choosing it anyway.
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Three of Cups
The people who know you, in a room, glad about something.
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Four of Cups
Something is being offered and you cannot make yourself care.
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Five of Cups
The loss is real. So is the part you have not turned around to see.
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Six of Cups
The past comes back, warm and slightly edited.
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Seven of Cups
Too many possibilities, most of them imaginary.
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Eight of Cups
Leaving something that is not bad enough to justify leaving.
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Nine of Cups
You get the thing you wanted. Notice how it actually feels.
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Ten of Cups
Not a peak moment — the ordinary version of a good life.
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Page of Cups
An unguarded offer, made by someone who could easily be hurt by it.
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Knight of Cups
The romantic gesture. Beautiful, and not the same thing as consistency.
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Queen of Cups
Feels everything, including what nobody said. That is a skill and a load.
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King of Cups
Feels it fully, acts on it calmly. The rarest combination in the deck.
Swords 14 cards
Air. Thought, truth, conflict, the stories you tell yourself at 3am. Swords are the sharpest suit in the deck: clarity when you need it, and the pain that sometimes comes with seeing clearly.
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Ace of Swords
The fog clears and you can see it. You will not be able to unsee it.
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Two of Swords
A decision you are refusing to make, dressed up as a decision you cannot make.
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Three of Swords
It hurts because it is true, and knowing is still better.
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Four of Swords
Stop. Not forever — but properly, and now.
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Five of Swords
You can win this. Count what it costs you first.
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Six of Swords
Heading somewhere calmer, with the weight still in the boat.
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Seven of Swords
Someone is not saying everything. Check whether it is you.
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Eight of Swords
Fewer walls than it looks like from in here.
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Nine of Swords
The 3am version of your life, which is not the accurate one.
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Ten of Swords
It is over. The dread was worse than the aftermath.
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Page of Swords
Asks the question everyone else agreed not to ask.
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Knight of Swords
Fast, certain, articulate, and not checking behind them.
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Queen of Swords
Sees it exactly as it is, says so, and has earned the right.
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King of Swords
Decides on the merits, not the mood. Occasionally forgets people have moods.
Pentacles 14 cards
Earth. Money, work, the body, home — everything that changes slowly and holds you up while it does. Pentacles are the least dramatic suit and the one that determines most of your week.
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Ace of Pentacles
A solid offer, with terms. Read them.
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Two of Pentacles
Managing it all, impressively, and only just.
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Three of Pentacles
Good work, done with other people, at the stage where it starts to show.
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Four of Pentacles
Holding tight to what you have, which is sensible right up until it is not.
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Five of Pentacles
A hard stretch, made harder by not asking anyone.
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Six of Pentacles
Help changing hands — and the quiet question of who holds the power in it.
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Seven of Pentacles
Stop digging it up to check. Also, check whether it is growing.
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Eight of Pentacles
Doing it again, better. The least glamorous card in the deck and one of the best.
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Nine of Pentacles
Built it yourself, enjoy it yourself. Both halves count.
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Ten of Pentacles
Something built to outlast you, with all the obligation that implies.
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Page of Pentacles
Starting something practical and being willing to be a beginner at it.
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Knight of Pentacles
The one who actually finishes. Not quickly.
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Queen of Pentacles
Care expressed as logistics. Notices what you need before you do.
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King of Pentacles
Built it, holds it, can afford to be generous. That last part is the test.