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The Minor Arcana — The Four Suits of Everyday Life
The Minor Arcana has 56 cards across four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. Where the Majors speak to life's big themes, the Minors show how those themes move through everyday scenes — love, work, money and relationships.
Four suits = four areas of life
Wands (Fire) is passion and action; Cups (Water) is emotion and relationships; Swords (Air) is thought and conflict; Pentacles (Earth) is the material and money. Which suit dominates tells you where your life's weight sits right now.
Numbers and people (court)
Each suit runs from Ace to Ten (number cards) plus four court cards — Page, Knight, Queen, King. Numbers show the stage of a situation; court cards show a person or attitude involved.
FAQ
How many Minor Arcana cards are there?
Four suits × 14 = 56 cards. With the 22 Majors, tarot totals 78.
How do I tell the suits apart?
Wands = passion/action (Fire), Cups = emotion/relationships (Water), Swords = thought/conflict (Air), Pentacles = material/money (Earth).