Reference · 15 terms

Tarot Glossary

Canonical definitions for tarot terms — Major Arcana, Minor Arcana, suits, court cards, reading concepts, symbolism, and astrology correspondences.

Court Cards Structural: Court cards are the sixteen Page, Knight, Queen, and King cards in the Minor Arcana. They typically represent people, personality archetypes, or aspects of the self in a reading.
Cups Structural: Cups is one of the four Minor Arcana suits, associated with the element of water and themes of emotion, relationships, intuition, and the inner life.
Decanic Astrology: A decan is a 10-degree segment of a zodiac sign. In tarot, the Minor Arcana pip cards (Twos through Tens) each correspond to a specific decan, linking them to planetary and zodiacal energies.
The Fool's Journey Symbolism: The Fool's Journey is the narrative arc through the 22 Major Arcana, from The Fool (0) through The World (21), depicting archetypal stages of growth and self-realization.
Major Arcana Structural: The Major Arcana is the set of 22 trump cards in a tarot deck — numbered zero (The Fool) through twenty-one (The World) — that depict archetypal stages of human experience.
Minor Arcana Structural: The Minor Arcana is the set of 56 cards in a tarot deck divided into four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles), with ten pip cards and four court cards per suit. They depict everyday situations.
Pentacles Structural: Pentacles is one of the four Minor Arcana suits, associated with the element of earth and themes of money, work, health, and the material world.
Querent Reading: The querent is the person asking the question or for whom the tarot reading is being performed. Reader and querent may be the same person in a self-reading.
Reversed Reading: A reversed card is one drawn upside-down relative to the reader. Reversals typically signal the inverted, blocked, or internalized expression of the upright meaning.
Rider-Waite-Smith Symbolism: The Rider-Waite-Smith deck is the 1909 tarot deck designed by A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. Its imagery is the de facto standard for English-language tarot interpretation.
Significator Reading: A significator is a card chosen or drawn to represent the querent or the central subject of a reading. It often anchors the spread and frames how the other cards are interpreted.
Spread Reading: A spread is a layout of cards in defined positions, each carrying a fixed meaning. The querent’s question shapes which spread is used; common spreads include the Celtic Cross and Three-Card.
Swords Structural: Swords is one of the four Minor Arcana suits, associated with the element of air and themes of intellect, conflict, communication, and decisions.
Upright Reading: An upright card is one drawn right-side-up relative to the reader. The upright orientation expresses the card’s primary, outward meaning.
Wands Structural: Wands is one of the four Minor Arcana suits, associated with the element of fire and themes of inspiration, action, ambition, and creative energy.