Tarot card meanings

Are there good and bad tarot cards?

No. Every card has an easy side and a difficult side, and the question you ask shapes which one shows. Still, some cards are reliably bright and a handful have a frightening reputation they don’t fully deserve.

The most positive cards

• The Sun
• The Star
• The World
• Nine of Cups
• Ten of Cups
• Six of Wands

The cards people worry about most, and what they usually mean:

Yes or no cards at a glance

Every card above has a traditional yes or no lean. Across the full deck, read upright:

So a yes is more common than people expect. Reversed cards usually lean one step softer, though some flip toward yes, so check each card’s own page. Swords hold the largest share of the no cards, while Wands, Cups and Pentacles lean clearly yes. For the reasoning behind each Major Arcana answer, see Major Arcana yes or no meanings.

Tarot cards for each zodiac sign

Twelve of the Major Arcana are linked to a zodiac sign through the Golden Dawn system. Your sign’s card describes the energy you share with it.

How to read tarot card meanings

You don’t need to memorize 78 separate meanings. Every card is built from a few simple parts, and once you know them you can read almost any card with confidence.

1. Start with the arcana. A Major Arcana card points to a big theme or turning point. A Minor Arcana card describes everyday events, feelings and people.
2. Read the suit next. It tells you which area of life is involved: Wands for action, Cups for feelings, Swords for thoughts and Pentacles for money and work.
3. Add the number, which shows the stage, from a fresh start with the Ace to completion with the Ten.
4. Check the direction. An upright card shows the theme flowing freely. A reversed card often shows it blocked, delayed or turned inward.
5. Look at the position. In a spread, the same card reads differently as the past, the challenge or the outcome. Our tarot spreads explain each position.

The four suits and their elements

What each Minor Arcana number means

The number gives the stage and the suit gives the area of life. So the Five of Cups is loss or upheaval in your feelings, and the Ten of Pentacles is lasting security with money and home. The four court cards often stand for people, or for a way of acting that the situation calls for.

Upright and reversed cards

Not every reader uses reversals. If you do, treat a reversed card as the same energy in a different state: held back, overdone, delayed or happening privately. Reversals add nuance rather than turning every card into its opposite. The guide to reversed tarot cards covers the main methods.

Court cards as people

When a court card appears, ask first whether it could be someone in your life. The suit hints at their temperament (see the suit sections above) and the rank at their age, role or maturity. If no one fits, read it as a way of acting the situation calls for.

Not sure which court card fits you? Try the court card quiz.

When the same card keeps appearing

A card that turns up again and again is usually pointing at a theme you haven’t settled yet. Note the question you asked and what was going on each time it appeared. Patterns appear quickly. The Eight of Cups returning during a job search, for example, often means the question underneath is whether to leave rather than what comes next.

A simple way to learn all 78 cards

1. Learn the 22 Major Arcana first, in order, as a story. At one a day, that takes about three weeks.
2. Fix the element and life area of each of the four suits. That one step gives you a starting point for all 56 Minor Arcana.
3. Learn what Ace to Ten mean as stages, then combine them with each suit.
4. Treat the court cards as 16 people you might meet, and pair each with someone you know.
5. Pull a card each morning and check its meaning at night against what happened.

Practice with a reading

The quickest way to learn the cards is to use them. Pull a daily tarot card, ask a yes or no question or try a three-card reading, then compare the cards with the meanings above. For a printable summary of every card, see the tarot cheat sheet.