Minor Arcana

The Minor Arcana (or Lesser Arcana) are the 56 suit cards of the 78-card deck of
tarot playing cards. The Minor Arcana comprise four suits with 14 cards each.
Although there are variations, the Minor Arcana commonly employ the Italo-
Spanish suits: Wands (alternatively, batons, clubs, or staves), cups, swords, and
pentacles (alternatively, coins, disks, or rings). In contrast, the corresponding French
suits are clubs (♣), hearts (♥), spades (♠), and diamonds (♦).

Each Minor Arcana card in a suit is numbered one (ace) to ten, except for the court
cards (or courts)—page, knight, queen, and king—which are comparable to face
cards. In one variation, princess and prince cards replace the page and knight cards.
Some Italian decks add two more court cards: themaid and the mounted lady.

Since contemporary decks of French playing cards replace both the knight and the
page with the jack or knave, such decks only have 52 cards. The remaining 22
cards in a tarot deck are the Major Arcana. When used for divination the Major
Arcana are traditionally more significant, but the Minor Arcana are what allow Tarot
readers to understand the subtleties and details that surround the major events and
signifiers in a Tarot spread; in general, the Major Arcana represent large turning
[1]
points and the Minor Arcana represent the day-to-day insights.

Minor Arcana cards in contemporary tarot decks are usually illustrated—a The King of Swords card from the
convention popularized by theRider-Waite tarot deck ca. 1910. Non-illustrated cards Rider-Waite tarot deck
bear symmetrical arrangements ofpips.

Contents
Symbolism
Cards
Wands
Pentacles
Cups
Swords
See also
References
External links

Symbolism
In divinatory, esoteric and occult tarot, the Minor Arcana are believed to represent relatively mundane features of life. The court cards
represent the people whom one meets.

Each suit also has distinctive characteristics and connotations currently thought to be as follows:
 Latin suit[2] French suit Element Class Faculty

Wands / Batons / Clubs / Staves Clubs Fire Peasantry Creativity and will
Coins / Pentacles / Disks / Rings Diamonds Earth Merchants Material body or possessions
Cups (Chalices) Hearts Water Clergy Emotions and love
Swords Spades Air Nobility and military Reason

Cards
The following cards are from the Rider-Waite tarot deck, the most popular tarot deck amongst English-speakers; they are divided by
suit, and arranged in ascending order offace value.

Wands

Ace of Wands Two of Wands Three of Wands Four of Wands

Five of Wands Six of Wands Seven of Wands Eight of Wands

 Nine of Wands Ten of Wands Page of Wands Knight of Wands

Queen of Wands King of Wands

Pentacles

Ace of Pentacles Two of Pentacles Three of Pentacles Four of Pentacles

Five of Pentacles Six of Pentacles Seven of Pentacles Eight of Pentacles

 Nine of Pentacles Ten of Pentacles Page of Pentacles Knight of Pentacles

Queen of Pentacles King of Pentacles

Cups

Ace of Cups Two of Cups Three of Cups Four of Cups

Five of Cups Six of Cups Seven of Cups Eight of Cups

 Nine of Cups Ten of Cups Page of Cups Knight of Cups

Queen of Cups King of Cups

Swords

Ace of Swords Two of Swords Three of Swords Four of Swords

Five of Swords Six of Swords Seven of Swords Eight of Swords

 Nine of Swords Ten of Swords Page of Swords Knight of Swords

Queen of Swords King of Swords

See also
Tarot, tarock and tarocchi games
Tarot of Marseilles

References
1. "The Minor Arcana Tarot Cards" (http://www.tarot.com/articles/tarot/about-tarot-cards-minor-arcana). Tarot.com.
Retrieved 11 December 2014.
2. Dee, Jonathan (2002). "Introduction to the Minor Arcana". In Liz Dean.Tarot, An illustrated guide. Silverdale Books.
ISBN 1-85605-685-6.

External links
Media related to Minor Arcana at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minor_Arcana&oldid=823413174

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This page was last edited on 1 February 2018, at 02:40.

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