Tarot cards
The 22 trumps of the tarot’s Major Arcana: a fifteenth-century Italian card game that became a tool of divination.
The tarot is a pack of 78 cards. Fifty-six of them are four suits much like ordinary playing cards, with a knight added to each suit's king, queen and knave. The other 22 are picture cards, the trumps, which occultists came to call the Greater or Major Arcana; the suits became the Lesser or Minor Arcana. Both halves are on these pages. For its first centuries the tarot was a game, and only from the late eighteenth century a tool of divination.
Major Arcana
- The FoolThe tarot trump with no number, or 0 in Waite's deck: a young traveller at the edge of a cliff. A. E. Waite's list of meanings starts with folly and extravagance.
- The MagicianThe first trump of the tarot, numbered I: a conjurer at a table with a wand raised. A. E. Waite read it as skill, diplomacy and will.
- The High PriestessTrump II of the tarot: a woman enthroned between two pillars. Older decks called her the Papess, the female pope.
- The EmpressTrump III of the tarot: a crowned woman seated among ripening corn. A. E. Waite read it as fruitfulness.
- The EmperorTrump IV of the tarot: a crowned king on a throne. A. E. Waite read it as stability, power and authority.
- The HierophantTrump V of the tarot: a priest in a triple crown between two pillars. Older decks called him the Pope.
- The LoversTrump VI of the tarot: two lovers beneath a winged figure. A. E. Waite read it as attraction, love and beauty.
- The ChariotTrump VII of the tarot: a victorious prince in a chariot. A. E. Waite read it as triumph.
- StrengthTrump VIII in Waite's deck and XI in older ones: a woman closing a lion's jaws. A. E. Waite read it as power, energy and courage.
- The HermitTrump IX of the tarot: a cloaked figure holding up a lantern. A. E. Waite read it as prudence and circumspection.
- Wheel of FortuneTrump X of the tarot: a turning wheel with creatures rising and falling on it. A. E. Waite read it as destiny and fortune.
- JusticeTrump XI in Waite's deck and VIII in older ones: a seated woman with a sword and scales. A. E. Waite read it as equity and rightness.
- The Hanged ManTrump XII of the tarot: a man hanging upside down by one foot. A. E. Waite read it as wisdom, sacrifice and intuition.
- DeathTrump XIII of the tarot: in older decks a skeleton mowing with a scythe, in Waite's a rider on a pale horse. A. E. Waite read it as end, mortality and destruction.
- TemperanceTrump XIV of the tarot: a winged figure pouring liquid from one cup to another. A. E. Waite read it as moderation and management.
- The DevilTrump XV of the tarot: a horned, bat-winged figure with two chained people at his feet. A. E. Waite read it as ravage, violence and fatality.
- The TowerTrump XVI of the tarot: a tower struck by lightning, with people falling from it. A. E. Waite read it as ruin and unforeseen catastrophe.
- The StarTrump XVII of the tarot: a woman pouring water beneath a great star. A. E. Waite noted it is usually read as a card of hope.
- The MoonTrump XVIII of the tarot: the moon above two towers, with a dog and a wolf howling and a crayfish crawling from the water. A. E. Waite read it as hidden enemies and deception.
- The SunTrump XIX of the tarot: the sun shining over a child. A. E. Waite read it as material happiness and contentment.
- JudgementTrump XX of the tarot: an angel sounding a trumpet as the dead rise. A. E. Waite read it as change of position and renewal.
- The WorldThe last trump of the tarot, numbered XXI: a dancing woman inside an oval garland. A. E. Waite read it as assured success.
Wands
- Ace of WandsThe ace of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a hand issuing from a cloud and grasping a stout wand in leaf. A. E. Waite read it as creation, invention, enterprise and beginnings.
- Two of WandsThe two of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a tall man on a battlemented roof holding a globe, looking out over sea and shore. A. E. Waite read it as riches and magnificence, or else suffering and sadness.
- Three of WandsThe three of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a man seen from behind on a cliff edge, watching ships pass over the sea. A. E. Waite read it as established strength, enterprise, trade and discovery.
- Four of WandsThe four of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: four staves hung with a garland, two women raising nosegays, and a manor house beyond. A. E. Waite read it as country life, repose, harmony and prosperity.
- Five of WandsThe five of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a group of youths brandishing staves as if in sport or strife. A. E. Waite read it as imitation, as in a sham fight, and the struggle for riches.
- Six of WandsThe six of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a horseman crowned with laurel riding among footmen with staves. A. E. Waite read it as victory, great news, and expectation crowned.
- Seven of WandsThe seven of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young man on a height brandishing a staff against six raised from below. A. E. Waite read it as valour, discussion, competition and success.
- Eight of WandsThe eight of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: eight wands flying through open country. A. E. Waite read it as activity, swiftness and haste.
- Nine of WandsThe nine of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a man leaning on his staff before eight others standing like a palisade. A. E. Waite read it as strength in opposition.
- Ten of WandsThe ten of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a man bowed under the weight of ten staves. A. E. Waite read it as oppression, and fortune that has become a burden.
- Page of WandsThe page of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young man standing with a wand, in the act of proclamation. A. E. Waite read it as a faithful young man, a lover, an envoy.
- Knight of WandsThe knight of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: an armed rider on a journey, a short wand in his hand. A. E. Waite read it as departure, absence, flight and change of residence.
- Queen of WandsThe queen of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a queen enthroned, holding a wand in leaf. A. E. Waite read it as a friendly, honourable countrywoman, and success in business.
- King of WandsThe king of wands in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a king on a throne carved with lions, raising a flowering wand. A. E. Waite read it as an honest, friendly countryman, and news of an inheritance.
Cups
- Ace of CupsThe ace of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a hand from a cloud holding a cup from which four streams pour, and a dove descending with a Host. A. E. Waite read it as joy, content, nourishment and abundance.
- Two of CupsThe two of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a youth and a maiden pledging each other, the caduceus rising above their cups. A. E. Waite read it as love, passion, friendship and union.
- Three of CupsThe three of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: three maidens in a garden raising their cups as if pledging one another. A. E. Waite read it as plenty, happy endings, victory and healing.
- Four of CupsThe four of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young man under a tree, discontented with three cups, as a hand from a cloud offers a fourth. A. E. Waite read it as weariness, disgust and aversion.
- Five of CupsThe five of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a cloaked figure looking at three spilled cups, two still standing behind him. A. E. Waite read it as loss, but with something left over.
- Six of CupsThe six of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: children in an old garden, their cups filled with flowers. A. E. Waite read it as the past, memories and childhood.
- Seven of CupsThe seven of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: strange cups of vision, filled with fantastic images. A. E. Waite read it as imagination and fancies with nothing lasting behind them.
- Eight of CupsThe eight of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a dejected man walking away from eight cups. A. E. Waite read it as the decline of a matter, or else joy and modesty.
- Nine of CupsThe nine of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a well-fed man seated before nine cups on an arched counter. A. E. Waite read it as contentment, victory and success.
- Ten of CupsThe ten of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a couple and their children beneath a rainbow of ten cups, a home beyond. A. E. Waite read it as contentment and the perfection of love and friendship.
- Page of CupsThe page of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a studious page looking at a fish rising from a cup. A. E. Waite read it as a studious young man, news and reflection.
- Knight of CupsThe knight of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a graceful rider in a winged helmet, riding quietly with a cup. A. E. Waite read it as arrival, approach, advances and invitation.
- Queen of CupsThe queen of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a dreamy queen enthroned, looking into her cup. A. E. Waite read it as a devoted, honest woman, loving intelligence and vision.
- King of CupsThe king of cups in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a king with a short sceptre and a great cup, his throne set on the sea. A. E. Waite read it as a responsible man of business, law or the church; art and science.
Swords
- Ace of SwordsThe ace of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a hand from a cloud grasping a sword, its point encircled by a crown. A. E. Waite read it as triumph, conquest and great force.
- Two of SwordsThe two of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a blindfolded woman balancing two swords on her shoulders. A. E. Waite read it as conformity, balance, courage and friendship.
- Three of SwordsThe three of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: three swords piercing a heart, with cloud and rain behind. A. E. Waite read it as removal, absence, delay and division.
- Four of SwordsThe four of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: the effigy of a knight lying at prayer on his tomb. A. E. Waite read it as vigilance, retreat, solitude and repose.
- Five of SwordsThe five of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a disdainful man gathering swords as two defeated figures walk away. A. E. Waite read it as degradation, destruction and loss.
- Six of SwordsThe six of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a ferryman taking passengers across the water in his punt. A. E. Waite read it as a journey by water, a route, an envoy.
- Seven of SwordsThe seven of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a man carrying five swords away from a camp, two left stuck in the ground. A. E. Waite read it as design, attempt, hope, and a plan that may fail.
- Eight of SwordsThe eight of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a woman bound and blindfolded among eight swords. A. E. Waite read it as bad news, crisis and conflict.
- Nine of SwordsThe nine of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a woman sitting up on her couch in lamentation, nine swords above her. A. E. Waite read it as despair, failure and deception.
- Ten of SwordsThe ten of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a figure lying face down, pierced by ten swords. A. E. Waite read it as pain, affliction and desolation.
- Page of SwordsThe page of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young figure walking swiftly over rough ground, holding a sword upright. A. E. Waite read it as vigilance, secret service and spying.
- Knight of SwordsThe knight of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a rider charging at full course with his sword raised. A. E. Waite read it as skill, bravery, enmity and war.
- Queen of SwordsThe queen of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a stern queen enthroned, her sword raised upright. A. E. Waite read it as widowhood, sadness, absence and mourning.
- King of SwordsThe king of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a king seated in judgment, holding his sword unsheathed. A. E. Waite read it as judgment, power, command and authority.
Pentacles
- Ace of PentaclesThe ace of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a hand from a cloud holding up a pentacle. A. E. Waite read it as perfect contentment, felicity and gold.
- Two of PentaclesThe two of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young man dancing with a pentacle in each hand, joined by an endless cord. A. E. Waite read it as gaiety and recreation, or news and agitation.
- Three of PentaclesThe three of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a sculptor at work in a monastery. A. E. Waite read it as skilled labour, trade, and renown.
- Four of PentaclesThe four of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a crowned figure clasping a pentacle, one over his crown and two under his feet. A. E. Waite read it as holding on to possessions, and inheritance.
- Five of PentaclesThe five of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: two beggars in a snowstorm passing a lighted window. A. E. Waite read it as material trouble and destitution.
- Six of PentaclesThe six of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a merchant weighing money in scales and giving it to the needy. A. E. Waite read it as gifts, gratification and present prosperity.
- Seven of PentaclesThe seven of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a young man leaning on his staff, looking at seven pentacles on a bush. A. E. Waite read it as money, business and barter.
- Eight of PentaclesThe eight of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a craftsman carving pentacles and displaying them like trophies. A. E. Waite read it as work, employment and craftsmanship.
- Nine of PentaclesThe nine of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a woman with a bird on her wrist among grapevines in a manor garden. A. E. Waite read it as prudence, safety, success and accomplishment.
- Ten of PentaclesThe ten of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a family beneath an archway, an old man seated in front with two dogs. A. E. Waite read it as gain, riches and family matters.
- Page of PentaclesThe page of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a youth gazing at a pentacle held up in his hands. A. E. Waite read it as study, scholarship and reflection, or news.
- Knight of PentaclesThe knight of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a rider on a slow, heavy horse, showing his pentacle. A. E. Waite read it as utility, serviceableness and responsibility.
- Queen of PentaclesThe queen of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a queen enthroned, contemplating the pentacle in her lap. A. E. Waite read it as opulence, generosity, security and liberty.
- King of PentaclesThe king of pentacles in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a king on a throne carved with bulls’ heads, holding a pentacle. A. E. Waite read it as valour, business and practical intelligence.
A game from Italy
Nineteenth-century historians of playing cards traced the tarot to Italy, where tarocchi was the name of both a game and the cards it was played with. They disagreed on its date. The British Museum's catalogue of 1876 records Venetian tarots of the fifteenth century and the account, from Cicognara, that Francesco Fibbia, who died at Bologna in 1419, invented the Bolognese version of the game. William Chatto, writing in 1848, cited Raphael Volaterranus for the view that tarocchi cards were not invented until towards the close of the fifteenth century. Seventeen hand-painted cards in Paris, once said to have been made for Charles VI of France in 1393, include many of the trumps; A. E. Waite reported that they were held to be Italian, and some certainly Venetian.
The Egyptian theory
In 1781 Court de Gébelin published a dissertation on the tarot in his Monde primitif, claiming that the old Italian cards preserved the learning of the ancient Egyptians. Chatto called such speculations "amusingly absurd", and the British Museum's catalogue judged the theories of Court de Gébelin, Alliette and Éliphas Lévi "too recondite and shadowy" to argue with.
Etteilla, Lévi and the fortune-tellers
Among Court de Gébelin's readers was a Paris wigmaker named Alliette, who reversed the letters of his name to become Etteilla; the French writer Boiteau d'Ambly called him the pontifex maximus of cartomancy, fortune-telling with cards. Waite called him "the illiterate but zealous adventurer, Alliette". In the nineteenth century Éliphas Lévi called the tarot "the most perfect instrument of divination", and his designs reshaped several cards: the Devil, Waite wrote, had changed face "since 1856" under Lévi's influence.
The four suits
The suits of the earliest cards, the British Museum's catalogue records, were Italian: coppe, danari, bastoni and spade, "cups, money, clubs, and swords". They became the cups, pentacles, wands and swords of Waite's deck, and Papus's Sceptres, Cups, Swords and Pentacles, which he read as enterprise, love, hatred and money. Waite thought the difference between the suits and ordinary playing cards "essentially slight". In his deck every numbered card but the Aces was "furnished with figures or pictures to illustrate" its meanings, and beside the meanings he printed a second list of "additional meanings", which, he conceded, "are very often in disagreement with those previously given".
Waite and Smith's deck
The deck drawn on these pages came with A. E. Waite's Key to the Tarot, its cards "drawn and coloured by Miss Pamela Colman Smith". Waite said they differed "in many important respects from the conventional archaisms of the past"; among other changes, he swapped Strength and Justice so that Strength became number 8. Waite, who gave lists of upright and reversed meanings for every card, also wrote that what divination draws from the trumps is "at once artificial and arbitrary". The meanings on these pages are his and his predecessors', given as theirs.
Sources
- A Descriptive Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum, by W. H. Willshire, Trustees of the British Museum, London, 1876 (scan on the Internet Archive), Italian tarots; General history; French cards of divination
- Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards, by William Andrew Chatto, John Russell Smith, London, 1848 (Project Gutenberg text, on the Internet Archive), Introduction; Tarocchi
- The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, by A. E. Waite, William Rider & Son, London, 1910 (the sacred-texts.com transcription, on the Internet Archive), The Four Suits; The Tarot in History; The Trumps Major
- The Tarot of the Bohemians, by Papus, Chapman & Hall, London, 1896, translated by A. P. Morton (scan on the Internet Archive), The Divining Tarot, second lesson
Last reviewed September 28, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research