Archive for the ‘Minor Arcana’ Category

Three of Pentacles

Monday, July 16th, 2007

3pentacoli.jpg This card shows a more traditional depiction of the Minor Arcana. The three of Pentacles often indicates the beginning of a project or laying the foundations for long term growth and gain. It is the card of the apprentice, or the student. If this card comes up in a reading, the querant may be learning something new, either formally at school or university, or informally through learning a new hobby or on-the-job training.

Tarot 101 - Minor Arcana and the 4 Elements

Thursday, May 17th, 2007

Just like a deck of ordinary playing cards, the Tarot has 4 suites.  In fact, the Minor Arcana was originally a card game and not intended for divinatory purposes.  The 4 suites of the Minor Arcana are usually Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles and relate to the 4 Elements - Fire, Water, Air and Earth.  The 4 Elements relate to aspects of our lives:

Wands/Fire = activity and energy

Cups/Water = love and emotions

Swords/Air = Thought and intellect

Pentacles/Earth = Resources and money

Some decks show different names for the four suites, such as:

Pentacles could be called Discs or Coins.

Swords could be called Birds or Daggers

Cups could be called Chalices or Cauldrons

Wands could be called Rods or Lances.

The most important this is not what the name of the suite is, but which element it corresponds to.

Some decks even swap Wands and Swords, so  that Wands is the element of Air and Swords is the element of Fire.   So here is a little challenge.  The first person to leave a comment and ccurately tell me the reason for this swap wins a free Personality profile report which includes your personal numerology, your personal Tarot card and your personal Sun and Moon signs.  Be quick ;-)