You’ve probably seen the scene in a dozen movies. A nervous character sits in a dimly lit room, pulls the Death card, and immediately assumes they’re a goner. It’s dramatic. It’s spooky. It’s also, honestly, kind of total nonsense.
If you’re looking into tarot cards and meanings, the first thing you need to do is strip away the Hollywood paint. These cards aren't a spooky crystal ball that locks your fate into a cage. They’re more like a mirror. Or maybe a really honest friend who isn't afraid to tell you that you're being a bit of a jerk.
Tarot is a system of 78 cards. That's it. Some are "big" (Major Arcana) and some are "small" (Minor Arcana). But together, they map out basically every human experience you can imagine—from the "I just got dumped" blues to the "I finally got that promotion" high.
The Big Players: Understanding the Major Arcana
The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards. Think of these as the big life lessons. The heavy hitters. When one of these pops up in a reading, it’s usually pointing to a major theme rather than a daily annoyance.
Take The Fool. He’s numbered 0. He’s the protagonist of the whole story. Most people see him walking toward a cliff and think he's an idiot. But in tarot, he represents the "beginner's mind." It’s that terrifying, electric moment when you start something new and have no idea what you’re doing.
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Then you’ve got The Lovers. Everyone wants this card. They think it means a soulmate is coming. Sometimes, sure. But more often? It’s about a choice. It’s about alignment. It’s about whether your values actually match your actions.
And then there's Death. Let’s clear this up: it almost never means physical death. It means an ending. A transition. You can’t grow a new garden until you pull up the dead weeds from the last one. It’s painful, but it's necessary.
The Nitty-Gritty: Deciphering the Minor Arcana
The other 56 cards are the Minor Arcana. These deal with the day-to-day stuff. The "how am I going to pay rent?" and "why is my boss so annoying?" questions. They’re split into four suits, and each one corresponds to a specific "vibe" or element:
- Wands (Fire): Passion, creativity, drive. If you're seeing a lot of Wands, you're probably fired up about a project or a new idea. It's about movement.
- Cups (Water): Emotions, relationships, the "feels." These cards deal with how you connect to others and yourself.
- Swords (Air): Logic, communication, and—let's be real—conflict. Swords are sharp. They cut through the noise, but they can also represent anxiety or "overthinking" yourself into a corner.
- Pentacles (Earth): Money, work, the physical world. This is the "stuff" you can touch. Your bank account, your house, your health.
Why Does Everyone Mention the Rider-Waite?
If you Google tarot cards and meanings, you’ll see the same art over and over. That’s the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck. It was published in 1909 and basically changed everything.
Before this deck, the "pip" cards (like the 3 of Swords) usually just showed three swords. Boring. But an artist named Pamela Colman Smith (nicknamed "Pixie") illustrated every single card with actual scenes.
She put a heart being pierced by three swords on that card. Suddenly, everyone could "see" the meaning. It made tarot accessible to people who weren't deep-dive occultists. Interestingly, for a long time, her name was left off the box. People just called it the "Rider-Waite" deck. Thankfully, modern readers are finally giving Pixie her flowers and calling it the Smith-Waite.
The Psychological Angle: Is It Actually Magic?
You don't have to be "psychic" to read cards. Seriously.
Many modern readers, like the late Rachel Pollack or psychological experts who follow Carl Jung, view tarot as a tool for "archetypal" exploration. Jung believed humans share a "collective unconscious"—a big pool of shared symbols.
When you pull a card like The Hermit, your brain starts looking for "Hermit-ness" in your life. Are you lonely? Or do you just need five minutes of peace and quiet away from your phone? The card doesn't "tell" you the answer; it asks you the question.
Common Blunders to Avoid
Don't freak out about "bad" cards. There aren't any.
The Tower looks terrifying—a building on fire with people falling out. But sometimes your life needs a Tower moment. If you're living in a "house" built on lies or a job that kills your soul, the Tower is the universe doing you a favor by knocking it down so you can build something better.
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Also, reversals (when a card is upside down) aren't necessarily "opposite" meanings. Usually, they just mean the energy is internalized. For instance, an upright Sun is outward success. A reversed Sun might mean you’re doing great, but you don't feel it yet. You’re doubting your own light.
How to Actually Use This
If you want to get into this, don't try to memorize a 500-page guidebook on day one. You'll burn out.
- Pick a card every morning. Just one. Look at the art. What’s the first word that pops into your head? "Sharp?" "Golden?" "Stuck?" That’s your meaning for the day.
- Write it down. See how that card "showed up" by the time you go to bed. Did the Three of Pentacles (teamwork) manifest as a productive meeting?
- Trust your gut. If a book says a card means "wealth" but it looks "greedy" to you in that moment, go with your gut. Your intuition is the real engine here.
Tarot is a language. Like learning Spanish or French, you start with the basics—the "hola" and "merci" of the deck—and eventually, you're having full-blown conversations with your subconscious.
Stop worrying about whether the cards are "predicting" a win in the lottery. Focus on what they're saying about who you are right now. That's where the real power lives.
Next Steps for Your Practice:
Go grab a standard Smith-Waite deck and look through the cards one by one without a guidebook. Note which three cards you find most "attractive" and which three you find "repulsive." This simple exercise identifies which archetypes you are currently embracing and which ones you might be subconsciously avoiding in your daily life.