The Minor Arcana
Lesson 3 of 7 · 5 min
The 4 suits, their elements, and the logic from Ace to 10.
Ace of Cups
Ace of Pentacles
Ace of Swords
Ace of Wands
The 56 Minor Arcana are split into 4 suits of 14 cards each: Cups (Water, emotions and relationships), Pentacles (Earth, work and the material), Swords (Air, the mind and conflict), and Wands (Fire, action and projects). If the Majors speak to the big, structural things, the Minors describe the day-to-day detail: which specific area of life is where the card's message plays out.
Within each suit, the numbered cards from Ace to 10 are usually read as a small story: the Ace is the seed, the pure beginning of that energy; as the numbers climb, the energy develops, gets tested, and finally culminates at 10.
The last 4 cards of each suit are the court cards — Page, Knight, Queen, and King — which are generally read as people (you yourself or someone around you) or as different degrees of maturity of that energy: the Page as something just beginning, the King as its full mastery.
To put into practice
Think of an area of your life — love, work, health, family — and pick which suit (Cups, Pentacles, Swords, or Wands) you think best represents it right now. Why?