A standard tarot deck has 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana contain four suits of 14. Learning that structure gives each card a place before you try to remember its meaning.
If you are drawn to tarot for spiritual insight, begin with the pictures and the way your own deck is organized. You do not need to recognize every symbol or memorize 78 definitions before becoming curious about a card.
The 78-card deck map
Major Arcana
Individually named cards, usually the Fool at 0 through the World at 21 in a Rider–Waite–Smith-style deck.
Minor Arcana
Four suits × 14 cards. Each suit contains 10 numbered cards, Ace through Ten, plus 4 court cards.
Another way to count: 22 Major + 40 numbered Minor + 16 courts = 78.
The Major Arcana often bring attention to broad themes such as choice, change, learning and renewal. The Minor Arcana commonly bring those themes into everyday situations. “Major” does not make a card a stronger prediction, and “Minor” does not make a practical concern unimportant.
The Fool’s Journey guide follows the Major Arcana as a symbolic story. It is a way to explore the sequence, not a timetable everyone’s life must follow.
Four suits, four starting points
These suit-and-element associations are widely used in Rider–Waite–Smith-style reading. Treat the topics as overlapping starting points, not walls: a work question can involve feelings, communication and resources as well as ambition.
Wands
14 cards · Fire
Energy, initiative, projects and ambition.
Try asking: What do I want to put my energy into?
Cups
14 cards · Water
Feelings, relationships, imagination and intuition.
Try asking: What am I feeling or valuing here?
Swords
14 cards · Air
Thought, communication, decisions and conflict.
Try asking: What needs a clearer question or an honest conversation?
Pentacles
14 cards · Earth
Resources, work, home and everyday practical needs.
Try asking: What needs time, care or a workable plan?
Your deck may call Pentacles Coins or Disks, or use different names for another suit. Read its guidebook rather than assuming a different title changes the number of cards. A card about resources or the body is not a medical finding or a forecast of your bank balance.
Numbers and courts: two parts of every suit
10 numbered cards: Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten.
4 court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King in the Rider–Waite–Smith system.
The numbered cards are also called pips. In some decks they mainly show arrangements of the suit emblems; in Rider–Waite–Smith decks they have illustrated scenes. Waite’s description of the four suits records the ten numbered cards and four courts within each suit.
Numbers can be memory aids. An Ace may suggest a beginning or possibility, a Five may explore a challenge, and a Ten may suggest culmination or the weight of a situation. They are not fixed rules: compare the actual pictures instead of assigning the same meaning to every card with that number.
Meet the courts as approaches, not fixed identities
- Page
- A learning approach: curiosity, a first attempt or a message.
- Knight
- An active approach: pursuing, testing or moving something forward.
- Queen
- A receptive or sustaining approach: how a quality is held and expressed.
- King
- A directing approach: responsibility, judgment or stewardship.
These are possible prompts, not a hierarchy of human worth or a rule about age and gender. A court may represent a person, a role or an aspect of your own approach. For example, a Page of Cups might invite curiosity about a feeling; a King of Swords might prompt a clear, responsible decision. The guide to all 16 court cards explores the distinctions.
Try a five-pile sorting exercise
This is a study exercise, not a reading. Keep your guidebook nearby and use a surface with room for the cards.
- 1Make five piles One pile for the 22 Major Arcana and one for each of the four suits. You now have one group of 22 and four groups of 14. Set aside any publisher’s extra cards only after checking the guidebook.
- 2Check the suit totals Each suit should contain 14 cards: Ace through Ten, then Page, Knight, Queen and King in this system. Use your deck’s equivalent names if they differ.
- 3Compare a number across suits Take the four Aces or four Fives. Describe one visible difference in each picture before consulting the guidebook. A shared rank is a comparison point, not an identical meaning.
- 4Meet one court card Choose a court and name an attitude it could suggest. Try a role or approach before assuming it represents a specific person.
- 5Record one observation Write the card’s group, suit or rank, one image detail and a question it raises. You can stop there; memorizing a whole deck is not today’s task.
Example: finding a card’s place
Page of Cups: Minor Arcana → Cups → court card. You have already identified its group, suit and rank before choosing an interpretation.
Five of Cups: Minor Arcana → Cups → numbered card. It shares the suit, but its number and picture invite a different question. Neither card needs to tell you what another person secretly feels.
If your counts differ, check for a title card, extra artwork, alternative courts or a deck with a nonstandard structure. Do not discard anything simply because it does not match this map. Deck traditions can differ in titles, numbering and imagery.
Use the map, then take one small step
Keep the structure in view: 22 Major, four suits of 14, and 10 numbered cards plus 4 courts within each suit. Familiarity can grow through noticing, comparing and checking your guidebook.
When you are ready to choose a question and try a small spread, continue with Tarot Cards for Beginners.