Tarot card meanings
All 78 cards, in plain words.
Tarot is a deck of 78 picture cards. People in Italy were playing card games with them in the 1400s, and since the late 1700s folks have also used them to think things over. That's how we use them here, for fun and reflection. Nobody's predicting your future. Think of a card as a good question, the kind a friend asks over tea, and you decide what it means for your day.
Major Arcana
The Major Arcana are the 22 big cards, numbered 0 to 21, and they deal with the big lessons instead of the daily errands. Read in order, they tell the Fool's story: a newcomer with a small bag steps off into the unknown, meets teachers, tests, endings and fresh starts, and arrives at the World. When one turns up in your daily draw, give it a second look.
Wands
Wands are the fire suit, all about drive and the projects that get you out of bed in the morning. They cover the big idea, the side project and the thing you can't stop talking about. A run of Wands in a reading usually means it's time to act.
Cups
Cups belong to water, and they hold feelings and relationships, from a first date to a long talk with an old friend. They're the suit of the heart, including the mood you woke up in. When Cups show up, pay attention to how something feels as well as how it looks.
Swords
Swords are the air suit, the cards of thoughts, words and decisions. They cover the hard conversation, the clear-headed choice and the 3 AM overthinking. A few of them look stern, but mostly they're about telling yourself the truth and then saying it kindly.
Pentacles
Pentacles are the earth suit, the cards for practical life: money, work, your body and your home. They move slowly and they're about building things that last, from a savings habit to a garden. A Pentacle in your draw usually points to something you can touch, fix or finish this week.
How to read a card
To read a card, look at the picture before you read a single word. Notice what jumps out first: a color, a face, a cup tipped over, a sky that looks like rain. Then read the meaning and see where the two land in your actual day, like the email you've been putting off or the friend you owe a call.
Sometimes a card comes up upside down. That's called reversed, and it shows the card's shadow side, the same idea blocked or turned inward. In our daily draw it happens about one time in five, so it's nothing to worry about, just a nudge to look at what's stuck.
The easiest way to learn is one card each morning. We shuffle a fresh deck for you every day, you pick a card from the fan, and the day's shuffle stays put until tomorrow. Read it with your morning coffee or tea, notice where it shows up by evening, and before long you'll know most of the deck by heart.
Draw a card each morning and we'll keep a Journal of every card you've met.
Draw today's card