Quick Guide to Tarot Card Meanings

 Card meanings can vary depending on position within the spread and relationship to surrounding cards, but these are some basic descriptions. These are not meant to be all-inclusive, as there are other card meanings as well. 
For instance, several cards have come to be traditional indicators for marriage, birth of a child, moving to a new residence and other momentous events. This is meant to be a quick guide that you could print on one piece of paper and keep as a handy reference but perhaps we will devote some entries in the future to some simple, traditional meanings that have developed. 
But first it is good to understand how the general card meanings developed from elemental themes and numerology. Astrology and Qabbalah also are used in some systems of tarot interpretation, but those are beyond the basics and will not be included here. I tend to rely on association with the elements heavily in my interpretation, especially for the court cards and the rest of the minor arcana, so this will primarily focus on the elemental basics.

Major Arcana - these cards indicate life's major factors at work, often referring to situations outside of your control.


0 - The Fool – naivete, initiation, optimism, embarking, nonconformity, folly, innocence, exploration

1 - The Magician – mastery, manifestation, talent, skill, persuasion, charm, intelligence

2 - High Priestess – faith, insight, inspiration, duality, independence, intuition, art/science

3 - The Empress – creation, nurture, mother, abundance, empathy, security, fertility

4 - The Emperor – control, dominion, stability, father, protection, ethics, reason

5 - The Hierophant – tradition, teaching, guidance, mentor, authority, orthodoxy, clemency, ritual

6 - The Lovers – affinity, enthusiasm, choice, marriage, partnership, attraction, sharing, fusion

7 - The Chariot – ambition, victory, action, challenge, success, leadership, harmony, equilibrium, rescue

8 - Strength – courage, wisdom, kindness, perseverance, faith, steadfast, persistence

9 - The Hermit – retreat, seeking truth, introspection, search, reflection, recuperation, celibacy, clarity, isolation

10 - The Wheel of Fortune – change, luck, surprise, breakthrough,

11 - Justice – right, balance, reap as sown, weighing option, decisions, truth, logic, right action, civil justice

12 - The Hanged Man – sacrifice, suspension, waiting, surrender, restraint, stalemate, atonement, change in attitude

13 - Death – end, rebirth, transformation, change, growth, renewal, release from suffering

14 - Temperance – inner peace, mediation, moderation, grace under pressure, visionary art, health, repose

15 - The Devil – nature, instinct, primal knowledge, temptation, excess, enslavement, wrong choices

16 - The Tower – breakdown or breakthrough, dramatic change, pride, revolution,

17 - The Star – hope, waiting, guidance, healing, peace, freedom, planning, inspiration, renewal

18 - The Moon – illusion, deception, dreams, fantasy, emotion, fears, feminine energy

19 - The Sun – triumph, glory, thriving, joy, accomplishment, celebration, optimism, masculine sexual energy

20 - Judgement – awakening, healing, evolving, destiny, opportunity, accepting responsibility, courage to change

21 - The World – completion of a goal, travel, reward, pride in accomplishment

Minor Arcana cards indicate an action or influence you or others may have on the situation at hand. These consist of four suits with numbers 1-10 and the court cards in each suit.

Suits and their elemental associations (See chart above)

Wands (spears, staffs, rods, clubs) Fire/Summer/South. passion, desire, ambition, creative endeavors, religion, patriotism,

Cups (chalices, bowls, cauldrons, hearts) Water/Fall/West. Romance, poetry, bliss, sorrow, nostalgia, relationships, empathy, beauty, illusion, esoteric realm, art

Swords (knives, daggers, blades, spades) Air/Spring/East. Mind, voice, problem-solving, debate, discussion, ideas, gossip, worry, anxiety, strife, communication, science, math, medicine, music

Pentacles (coins, stones, disks, diamonds) Earth/Winter/North. Wealth, home, construction, social interaction, agriculture, nature, trade, banking, business

Numbered cards are associated with the 1-10 major arcana as well as the elemental meaning of the particular suit. i.e. four of wands might be a sense of stability in your endeavor that elicits celebration. Five of Swords, conflict in debate or gossip causing strife. Rely on your intuition to guide your interpretations as each card can have many different meanings

One - (Magician) beginning, potential, gift, creativity, fertility, imagination, opportunity,truth

Two - (Priestess)  duality, choice, partnership

Three - (Empress) fulfillment, abundance, expansion vs loss

Four - (Emperor) stability, foundation, celebration, rest

Five – (Hierophant) conflict, change, strife,disappointment, adversity

Six– (Lovers) love, happiness, generosity, nostalgia, remembrance

Seven – (Chariot) imagination, illusion, speculation, anxiety, defensiveness

Eight – (Strength) movement/reassessment vs stability/inaction

Nine – (Hermit) challenge/anxiety vs accomplishment/fulfillment/satisfaction

Ten – (Wheel) completion, change, contentment, prosperity, responsibility

Court cards each blend two elements. i.e., Knight of Wands is 'Air of Fire' as it merges Air (Knight) with Fire (Wands). A thought or idea that one is passionate about or acting upon, could be one interpretation. King of Wands is 'Fire of Fire' and this could mean making a decision about a job offer or control over a successful business. The court cards may also represent people in your life, depending on the issue or the position in the spread.

Page/Princess – (Earth) message, learning, beginning, student

Knight/Prince – (Air) travel, action, assertion,

Queen – (Water) insight, guidance, empathy

King – (Fire) dominion, control, decisions

Tarot Traditions: Thoth vs RWS

There have developed through the years some disparities between the traditions in tarot card interpretations. Most readers are familiar with Rider-Waite-Smith card interpretations, as the majority of today's decks follow this system. However, some decks do include some alterations that follow Alistair Crowley's "Thoth" interpretations.

Alistair Crowley was a famed occultist in the early 20th century; he collaborated with an artist to modify the tarot to return to some of the interpretations prior to the modifications initiated by the very popular RWS.

Both RWS and the Thoth systems are similar and have their roots in the Golden Dawn tradition, but there are some significant differences as well.



Some representative cards from Alistair Crowley's Thoth deck

 In searching to find an explanation of the differences between RWS and Thoth, I chanced upon this essay in an online Tarot forum.

The author's name is Yvonne Rathbone

Differences in the Major Arcana

Fool:
The biggest difference, and I believe the most fundamental difference, is in the Fool Card. The Fool is a representation of the path walker. He is the being who walks the path laid out in the other cards. How a deck represents the Fool gives an indication of how the deck represents the individual.

In the Waite-Smith deck, the Sun of Kether is shown above and behind the Fool. In Thoth, the Sun is shown at the Fools genitals. This difference in the location of the divine source indicates the Waite Smith deck as being based on a Christian theology whereby God exists above and outside of the journeyer. Thoth expresses a Pagan view of God being the creative force that exists inherently within us all.

The 8/11 Split:The next big difference is in the numbering of the Major Arcana, specifically the cards called Strength and Justice. Which card comes after the Wheel shows how the deck represents Karma. In Thoth, Justice is the eighth card, Strength is eleven. In WS this is reversed. This difference can be seen as one of how the Universe and Karma (as shown in the Wheel) interact with the individual.

When Justice follows the Wheel, it shows a view of Karma that is retributive or restitutive. In this model, Karma is paid for through Justice, whether it's punishment or the legitimate taking on of responsibility. In the second model, Karma is followed by Strength and shows a different result of the effect of Karma. In this model, Karma is the vehicle for the integration of the physical, animal nature with the "higher" levels of being.

Differences in the Courts
Waite-Smith and Thoth have different court card configurations and how a new deck structures their courts can tell you something about influence. Waite-Smith has the order King/Queen/Knight/Page. Thoth has the order Knight/Queen/Prince/Princess. I'm more persuaded by the presence of Thoth style Knight/Prince male configuration replacing Waite's King/Knight than I am the presence of Princesses.

In "Pictorial Key To The Tarot," Waite states that the courts serve as a bridge between the Lesser and Greater Arcana, but that the lack of distinction between them and the Majors is shown by their "conventional character". (pg. 165) He doesn't think they have enough symbols to qualify as anything but for mere divination and fortune telling. He indicates that the arrangement of King/Queen/Knight/Page is derived from standard playing cards. This could be a blind.

Crowley, in contrast, states very clearly in "The Book Of Thoth" the important role the courts play in his deck. They are the embodiment of the Tetragrammaton (the most holy name of God.) He uses Knights instead of Kings to denote the active quality of the first letter of the Tetragrammaton. Queens are the fixing nature of the second. Princes are more literally the sons of Queens than Knights are. Finally, the Princesses represent the "re-absortion of the Energy" and "the silence into which all things return."

Many decks use princesses instead of pages and do not in the least reflect the complex symbolism Crowley reserved for the courts. Often they do it simply to infuse the deck with more female characters and give a balance of male and female energy. Trust me. Crowley didn't give a damn about doing this. The presence of the princess is not indicative of Thoth influence by itself, but there are other imagistic indicators that we can look for.

In Thoth, the King/Knights are active and they are all shown on horseback. The knights in Waite-Smith are shown on horseback as well, but in that system they are third down on the totem pole. So when the top ranking male court card is the one on horseback, I see Thoth.

The queens in Thoth are seated with different totems; Wands:leopard, Cups:stork, Swords:severed head (ew) and Disks:goat. In contrast, Waite-Smith usually shows images on the queen's thrones; Wands:lions, Cups:cupid & fish, Swords:butterfly, Pentacles:goat. Only the goat is the same. Waite-Smith also adds two other animals to the queens, one of which is commonly copied. That is the black cat in the Queen of wands. The rabbit in the Queen of Pentacles goes largely unnoticed.

More Thoth cards

Differences in the Minors
The main difference between Waite inspired minors and Thoth inspired minors lays in one of the largest difference between the two decks. Waite put pictures on his minors. Thoth uses stylized pips (arrangements of the suit symbols as in playing cards.) Because of this, I look for Waite influence in the minors differently than I do Thoth influence.

It's pretty easy to spot the most apparent influence of Waite in the choice of imagery for the pips. A boat ride on the Six of Cups, a patient gardener on the Seven of Pentacles, a person with swords in his back on the Ten of swords. The use of these images such as these indicates a Waite basis.

The influence of Thoth in the minors is harder to see. It's not enough that a deck just use pips. This could refer back to the Tarot de Marseilles. Instead, in the Thoth minors we must look for specific instances where the given meanings differ radically from Waite.

And one of the surprises I found as I was researching the differences between these decks is that there aren't that many radical differences between the meanings of the minors. The most extreme I found are:


     Card              Thoth                =           Waite-Smith
4 of Cups       Luxury, Change        =   Stability Weariness, disgust, aversion
8 of Cups    Indolence, stagnation  =   Leaving something behind
2 of Swords      Peace, balance      =      Indecision, denial
6 of Swords              Science        =     Moving away from difficulty
7 of Disks         Failure, blight       =        Patience
 
Here's a link to a site that provides comparison between Rider-Waite and other, older traditions.

http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_1.htm

I hope you find this information useful as you study differences between deck structures and individual card interpretations.

Welcome to "StarlightTarot"

I am a fan and an amateur reader of the tarot. I've started this blog to document my impressions of cards, decks, spreads and interpretations. Since I am on a learning journey please do bear with me as my insight is not well-developed at this point. I welcome comments from interested fellow tarot enthusiasts. Blessings to all who enter here.