Major Arcana yes or no meanings

In a yes or no tarot reading, 13 of the 22 Major Arcana lean yes when upright, 6 say maybe and 3 lean no. The clearest yes cards are the Sun, the Star and the World. The no cards are Death, the Devil and the Tower, and hidden-knowledge cards such as the High Priestess and the Moon say maybe, or “not yet.”

To draw a card now, use the yes or no tarot reading, then look it up in the chart.

Yes or no chart for all 22 Major Arcana

Numbering follows Rider-Waite-Smith, so 8 is Strength and 11 is Justice. The answers match the ones on each card’s own page.

Which Major Arcana cards mean yes, no or maybe?

The same answers, grouped, are handy if you only want a quick count.

Notice how hopeful the upright Majors are. If you draw from the Major Arcana only and ignore reversals, you’ll get a yes more often than not, which is one reason careful readers don’t treat a single yes as a promise.

Why other yes or no lists disagree

Yes or no labels are a modern shorthand, not part of any historical tarot system, so every author makes their own calls. Most lists agree on the obvious cards and split on the ones with two sides. These are the cards where lists differ most, with the reason for our call.

The Hermit and the Hanged Man: no or maybe?

Some sites call both cards a plain no. We read them as maybe, because neither card closes the door. The Hermit says step back and think, and the Hanged Man says pause and look from a new angle. In practice both mean “not right now,” which is closer to a delay than a refusal.

Temperance

Temperance is often listed as maybe because it’s a slow card. We count it as yes, with a condition: the result comes through patience, compromise and a steady pace. If your question is “Will this happen by Friday?” Temperance is a much weaker yes than if you ask “Will this work out if I’m patient?”

Death

Death almost never means literal death in a reading. It means something is ending in its current form. For “Will things stay the way they are?” the answer is no. For “Should I move on?” many readers hear a yes. Look at what your question takes for granted.

Justice and the Hierophant: a yes that depends on you

Both are fair, rule-based cards, and both depend on you. Justice gives the result the facts support, so it leans yes if you’ve done your part and been honest. The Hierophant leans yes if you go the conventional route, apply properly or take good advice.

The Moon

Older lists sometimes call the Moon a no. We treat it as maybe, because its message is “you don’t have the full picture yet.” Both labels give the same advice: don’t decide on the information you have now.

How reversed cards change a yes or no answer

On this site a reversal usually weakens or delays the upright answer. So most upright yes cards become maybe or no when reversed, and two of the three no cards soften to maybe.

A few cards break the pattern, and each has a reason:

• The Devil reversed is a yes. Upright it shows being tied to something. Reversed, the chains come off, so it reads as yes to breaking free or walking away.
• The Sun reversed is still a yes. The Sun is too bright to turn into a no. Reversed, the good result may be smaller, later or less public than you hoped.
• The Hanged Man and the Moon stay at maybe. Both are already about waiting, and turning them over doesn’t change that.

Other readers use different rules. Some flip every answer (a reversed yes becomes no, a reversed no becomes yes), and some ignore reversals completely for yes or no questions. Any of these works if you decide before you shuffle and stick with it. The reversed cards guide compares the main methods.

What a maybe card is telling you

A maybe isn’t a failed reading. It usually points to one of three things, and the card tells you which:

1. Information is missing. The High Priestess and the Moon say the facts aren’t in yet. Wait a week and ask again, or find out what you don’t know.
2. The answer depends on you. Justice and the Hierophant say the outcome turns on how you act. Ask “What would make this a yes?” and draw a second card.
3. The timing is wrong. The Hermit and the Hanged Man say not now. Set the question aside and come back when something has shifted.

One-card vs three-card yes or no readings

A single card gives you a fast, clear answer. Some readers prefer three cards and go with the majority: two or three yes cards make a yes, and so on. Three cards also show more of the story, because a yes, yes, maybe tells you something a lone yes can’t. The yes or no three-card spread gives each card a position, so the middle card can show what’s helping or blocking the answer.

If you’d rather work with cards tied to you personally, your arcana number and your tarot birth cards are fixed by your birth date instead of a shuffle. For tips on wording your question, or to draw again, use the yes or no tarot page. Each card in the Major Arcana in order list links to its full meaning.