The Minor Arcana of tarot is split into four different suits: Wands, Chalices, Swords and Pentacles. Each suit relates to a season, an element and three zodiac signs. The Minor Arcana makes up the bulk of the deck, 56 of the 78 cards are Minor Arcana cards, so you will more often than not find them flooding your readings. This is to ground you in a particular theme that the reading may be trying to  alert you to. 

The first suit, Wands, is ruled by fire and speaks to creation - it revolves around this theme and explores the imagination, creativity, passion and dedication to honing your skills. Chalices is a suit ruled by water and speaks to emotion - it finds itself wrapped up in things like love, heartbreak, harmony and  coexistence. Swords is a suit ruled by air and revolves around the theme of pain - it speaks to perception, loss, growth and clarity. The final suit, Pentacles, is ruled by earth. This suit explores the theme of success through things such as money, work, family, hardship and determination. These four suits come together to create a full picture of what it is like to exist as human. You may want to spend some time laying out each suit, you will find that each of the four suits create panorama images by laying out the cards in order. In their full form it may be easier for you to discern the different themes and the journey of each suit.

One thing to keep in mind about the Minor Arcana is that when you notice a lot of a particular suit in a reading it helps direct you to what the reading may be about. For example, if Wands shows up several times it may suggest that the reading is aimed at highlighting your creativity, passions and imagination. Some readers may even find that they often pull cards in  a row, you may get the Four through Seven of wands back to back. Your first thought may be that you didn’t shuffle well enough, but tarot is rarely wrong. Try to avoid the urge to reshuffle the deck, instead listen to the message it is trying to relay. Perhaps some things fall in order.   

“With imagination hard at work, a fire rises from the earth”

element: fire

season: spring

signs: aries, leo, sagittarius

The Wands are the suit of creation. They follow the journey of an idea, from inception to manifestation. If you intend to safeguard a vision into self-sustaining vitality, you must show ambition, determination, and an ability to harmonize with others. But above all, have faith in yourself. Use your burning passion to forge something wonderful within. Whatever you make will be wrought with traces of you, spreading your influence out into the universe. This is your chance to change the world for the good.

“A love letter left in your head is better written down instead”

element: water

season: fall

signs: pisces, cancer, & scorpio

The Suit of Chalices contains all the affairs of the heart. Love, friendship, loss, exuberance - these are but some of the many emotional journeys depicted in this changeable suit. They play themselves out on the banks of a river, its meandering path mirroring the fluidity of feelings. When you draw many Chalices in a reading, listen carefully to your heart and intuition. Lucid, amorphous, they may have divined more than you may realize.

“In the cold of the night the beast of truth is in sight”

element: air

season: winter

signs: libra, gemini, aquarius

The Swords cleave through illusion and fantasy. They reveal the true nature of the world beneath, cruel and unforgiving though it may be. The Swords therefore stand for intelligence, and the sorrow and bitterness that accompany understanding. Many Swords in a draw warn of a spiritual sickness; an icy cold winter of the heart. But do not despair. In your time of sorrow, much will be revealed to you. You will be lent a clarity honed by grief, and in time you will conquer the beast that slays you.

“Better to have half than to live without.”

element: earth

season: summer

signs: taurus, virgo, capricorn

A twofold symbol, Pentacles function as both coins and seeds. By planting what little you have in the earth, you insure a profitable existence in the future. There are many rewards for investing yourself in the world, not the least of which is monetary. But there also might be a richness of family, or the satisfaction of giving your excess to a person who has none. Whatever the treasure, it is clear that it is firmly rooted in the physical, tangible world. Delight in the earth and its abundance. It is your home.