Chapter 1 — The Structure of the Tarot Deck

Before we dive into the meanings, let’s build the framework that holds everything together.

When you first look at a tarot deck, it might feel overwhelming — 78 cards, each with their own symbolism and story. But once you understand how the deck is organized, everything becomes easier. This chapter will give you the basic structure, so you can approach your learning with clarity and confidence.

🧩 The Tarot Deck Is Divided into 3 Main Groups:

• The Major Arcana
• The Minor Arcana
• The Court Cards

Let’s break them down.

✨ The Major Arcana (22 Cards)

These are the “big energies” — spiritual turning points, life-altering decisions, and moments of transformation. They’re numbered from 0 to 21, beginning with The Fool and ending with The World. Some decks swap the order of a few cards (usually Strength and Justice), but unless you’re working with numerology, this won’t affect your readings.

Each Major Arcana card represents a distinct archetypal force. When they show up in a reading, they signal important events, karmic shifts, or deep emotional lessons. If you see a lot of Major Arcana in one spread, something meaningful is unfolding.

🖼️ Throughout this course, I’ll be using my own custom-made tarot deck — designed to make the energy of each card immediately recognizable. Each image was created with clarity and memorability in mind, so you can learn visually and intuitively.

You’ll also notice that some Minor Arcana cards echo the themes of the Major Arcana, but on a smaller scale. For example:

• The Lovers represent a major romantic or moral choice.
• The Ace of Cups might show a crush or the beginning of emotional openness.
• The Two of Cups can indicate connection, attraction, or chemistry.
  Together, these build the story that may or may not lead to The Lovers, depending on the question and the context.

🌀 The Minor Arcana (40 Cards)

The Minor Arcana are divided into four suits of ten cards each — Ace through Ten — each associated with one of the four elements. These cards reflect daily life, emotions, routines, setbacks, desires, and progress.

The names of the suits may vary depending on the deck, but the elemental meanings stay consistent. Here’s the breakdown:

• 💧 Water (Cups, Emotions, Shells, etc.)
  Feelings, love, connection, intuition, healing
• 🌱 Earth (Pentacles, Coins, Materials)
  Career, money, home, stability, long-term goals
• 🌬 Air (Swords, Voices, Wind)
  Thoughts, communication, conflict, strategy
• 🔥 Fire (Wands, Inspiration)
  Drive, passion, action, fear, creativity

The visual cues in your deck can help you identify these suits quickly. For example, some decks color-code the borders, or rename the suits with creative terms. Don’t let that confuse you — the elemental association is what matters most.

Once you understand the link between element and life area, the Minor Arcana will begin to speak to you clearly.

👑 The Court Cards (16 Cards)

Technically part of the Minor Arcana, the Court Cards are often treated as their own group — and for good reason. They’re the most nuanced and, for many readers, the most challenging cards to interpret.

Each suit contains four Court Cards:

• Page
• Knight
• Queen
• King

That’s 4 cards x 4 elements = 16 total.

Court Cards can represent:

• A person in the querent’s life
• A personality trait or role the querent is stepping into
• A dynamic in the situation
• Or a recurring figure in your readings (known as a significator)

Over time, certain court cards will become “reserved” in your deck. For example, if the Queen of Wands always shows up for you, she may become your personal significator. If a coworker repeatedly appears as the reversed Page of Wands, that card may become symbolically tied to them.

This is part of the deep magic of reading tarot long-term — the cards begin to build a private language with you.

🔁 You can even use both upright and reversed versions of the same card to represent different people — doubling your options. And when someone is no longer part of your life, that card becomes free again.

There’s no one-size-fits-all rule, but a common guideline is:

• 1 Court Card = someone else
• 2–3 Court Cards = aspects of the situation
• 4+ Court Cards = aspects of the querent themselves

That said, your deck will teach you its own language — and it’s okay if your readings evolve over time.

(We’ll go deep into Court Cards later in the course, including a full breakdown of each one.)

🗝️ Final Thoughts

That’s it for the basic structure!
Tarot isn’t as complicated as it looks — especially once you understand that it’s built like a system of elements, numbers, and roles.

Now that you’ve got the framework, you’ll be able to:

• Spot patterns faster
• Feel more confident about card categories
• Interpret spreads with more structure and nuance

You don’t need to memorize everything at once. Just start with this simple breakdown and let the details build naturally from here.

🌀 Reflection Prompt:

Which suit do you feel the most drawn to — and why?
Your answer might say something about your current life chapter, or how you process the world.

This course is offered freely and with care. If you’d like to support the work, you can leave a tip via the jar in the sidebar (desktop) or footer (mobile) — it helps keep this project alive.

If you’d like a personal tarot reading, or want one-on-one support as you deepen your practice, just send me an email. I offer private training sessions at a custom rate.

Thank you for being here. The deck is already in your hands. 🔮