During the course of tarot readings you will encounter the Minor Arcana tarot cards which are pictures of wands, swords, cups, and pentacles. These suits represent the four common elements, which are fire, water, earth, and air.

Tarot readings are done with a special deck of 78 cards. Twenty-two belong to the Major Arcana cards, while the remaining 56 are the Minor Arcana tarot cards. These minor cards are numbered from Ace to ten in the suit of wands, pentacles, cups, and swords. Then there are also 4 face cards, which are the King, Queen, Knight, and Pave.

Minor Arcana cards symbolize the simple, day-to-day issues that you face. The suit of wands corresponds with the fire element and rules creative energy and ambition. The swords represent air and rule rational thought, logic, and the conscious mind. The pentacles symbolize the earth, which rule finance, physical growth, and material things. Finally, the suit of cups means water and rules love, emotions, the sub-conscious mind, and feelings. These Minor cards add detail and depth as they complete the picture revealed by the 22 Major Arcana cards.

During tarot readings, the suit of wands will usually predict growth, glory, and energy. Cups will predict beauty, fertility, love and happiness. Swords predict force, courage, and ambition. Pentacles predict money, industry, and material things.

There are many different sets of cards that you will see during tarot readings, some more beautiful and detailed then others, and they all have the same amount of Major and Minor Arcana card. No matter which deck type of deck is used in tarot readings, the interpretations will always remain the same.

Tarot Readings – Understanding the Major Arcana Cards. For someone who has never had tarot readings done, or have never really heard much about them, the meaning behind the cards can be confusing. The Major Arcana cards signify the key issues in your life, and consist of 22 cards starting from the number 0 to the number 21.

Tarot readings, whether done by a professional or yourself, can reveal cards that are in the upright or reverse position. Upright cards have a positive meaning, while cards in reverse have a negative implication.

Below, you will find the meanings of the first 11 Major Arcana cards used in basic tarot readings. Once you understand these ones, you can move on to learning the final 11 cards.

Card # 0: Fool
- Upright: new beginnings, excitement, pleasure, optimism, joy.
- Reverse: thoughtlessness, bad decision, hesitation, lack of responsibility.

Card # 1: The Magician
- Upright: power, creativity, skill, potential, new beginnings.
- Reverse: insecurity, weakness, deception, abuse of power, delay.

Card # 2: The High Priestess
- Upright: wisdom, understanding, a teacher, psychic ability, virtue.
- Reverse: selfishness, secretiveness, hidden obstacles, lack of understanding.

Card # 3: The Empress
- Upright: motherhood, fertility, action, artistic ability, love, nature.
- Reverse: infidelity, unwanted pregnancy, indecision, poverty, over-protectiveness.

Card # 4: The Emperor
- Upright: wealth, leadership, provider, achievement, authority.
- Reverse: lack of strength, indecision, untrustworthy, failed ambition.

Card # 5: The Hierophant
- Upright: faith, knowledge, kindness, inspiration, wise counsel.
- Reverse: lack of faith, bad advice, vulnerability, confusion, repeated errors.

Card # 6: The Lovers
- Upright: love, sex, desire, trust, honor, meaningful relationship.
- Reverse: lust, temptation, separation, untrustworthy, emotional loss.

Card # 7: The Chariot
- Upright: change, triumph, a journey, turmoil, good news.
- Reverse: defeat, failure, rage, frustrations, delays.

Card # 8: Justice
- Upright: harmony, balance, truth, integrity, fairness.
- Reverse: unfairness, abuse, bad advice, injustice, prejudice.

Card # 9: The Hermit
- Upright: inner strength, caution, patience, solitude, guidance, a loner.
- Reverse: suspiciousness, impatience, fear, hastiness, immaturity.

Card # 10: Wheel of Fortune
- Upright: destiny, good luck, end of a problem, fortune, progress, advancement.
- Reverse: unpleasant surprises, bad luck, failure, unexpected events.

Card # 11: Strength
- Upright: compassion, courage, determination, strength, heroism.
- Reverse: weakness, sickness, fear, coward, defeat, abuse of power.

Understanding the meaning behind the tarot cards can be especially helpful when you seek out someone that gives tarot readings. If you want to do tarot readings for yourself or for friends and family, knowing what the cards mean is essential.

Tarot Readings – What are they used for? Tarot readings are commonly referred to as fortune-telling. Fortune-telling is actually forbidden by some religions, while others just don’t like the whole idea of knowing what their future is going to be. However, tarot readings can be used for so much more then discovering what your future holds, they can give you sense of understanding, enlightenment, and comfort during those trying times in your life. Tarot readings are also widely used as a form of entertainment, either by professionals or on your own for family and friends.

If you would rather avoid delving into your future during tarot readings, you can instead focus on your past or present issues. Asking questions relating to your past or present can help you understand the why and how of it. It can also work to help you create a plan of action which can guide you in the future.

Tarot readings can also be a way to make yourself think about what happened in your past, and what is going on in your current life. You can reflect on your thoughts and feelings, and how they may be bringing about the issues concerning you. They can also be used to help children tell what is on their minds, what happened to them in the past that they don’t want to talk about, making tarot readings an interesting counseling tool.

If you happen to be a writer, whether it’s poems, books, or songs, the results of tarot readings can make for fun, and entertaining storylines. They can also be used to get the creative juices flowing, and help you get new ideas down on paper.

And last, but not least, tarot readings can be held back and the cards used like they were originally made for, games. An online search will help you to find the rules of the game tarocchi.

Tarot readings can not only answer questions about our past and present, but can be used for fortune-telling, creativity tools, and entertaining games.