✶ Encyclopedia of Tarot

Every card, suit and idea of the tarot — the reference your tarot readings link to.

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Look things up rather than read in order: each entry explains one card or one idea, what it shows upright and reversed, and links to what it depends on.

The lessons

1. The Fool The beginning before the beginning — a fresh start, trust, curiosity and the step into the unknown.
2. The Magician Will and skill brought together — the power to turn an idea into something real.
3. The High Priestess Inner knowing and the unspoken — intuition, mystery, silence and what is not yet revealed.
4. The Empress Abundance and care — fertility, nature, comfort and things growing in their season.
5. The Emperor Structure and authority — order, protection, leadership and the rules that hold things together.
6. The Hierophant Tradition and teaching — shared beliefs, institutions, mentors and the wisdom handed down.
7. The Lovers Love and choice — attraction, union, honest connection and the decisions that shape who we are.
8. The Chariot Determination and direction — willpower, self-control and moving forward against the odds.
9. Strength Gentle courage — patience, compassion and the quiet power that tames rather than forces.
10. The Hermit Solitude and inner light — reflection, wisdom sought alone and a lantern held up for others.
11. Wheel of Fortune Cycles and turning points — change, timing, luck and the sense that life keeps moving.
12. Justice Fairness, honesty and the weighing of cause and consequence — seeing a matter clearly and acting on it.
13. The Hanged Man A pause by choice — letting go, waiting, and seeing a situation from a completely different angle.
14. Death An ending that makes room for something new — transformation, rarely anything literal.
15. Temperance Balance, moderation and patient blending — finding the middle way and letting things combine well.
16. The Devil What binds us — habits, appetites and fears that hold more power than they should, and the freedom to step out of them.
17. The Tower Sudden change that clears away what was built on false ground — a shake-up that makes room for the truth.
18. The Star Hope, renewal and quiet faith in the future — healing after a hard time.
19. The Moon Uncertainty, dreams and intuition — a path walked by half-light, where not everything is as it seems.
20. The Sun Joy, warmth, success and clarity — one of the brightest and most welcome cards in the deck.
21. Judgement A call to awaken — renewal, reckoning with the past, and answering what one is meant to do next.
22. The World Completion and wholeness — a cycle brought to its fulfilment, and the threshold of the next.
23. Ace of Wands The first spark of the suit of fire — a beginning, an idea or an urge to act, still raw and full of life.
24. Two of Wands Standing on the battlements with the world in your hand — planning, ambition and the choice of where to go next.
25. Three of Wands Ships setting out under a watching eye — enterprise under way, foresight and the first returns on effort.
26. Four of Wands A garland between four staves — celebration, homecoming and a moment of settled harmony.
27. Five of Wands Five youths sparring with staves — competition, friction and the struggle of many wills at once.
28. Six of Wands A laurelled rider in procession — victory, recognition and confidence after a contest.
29. Seven of Wands One figure on high ground holding off six staves — courage, conviction and standing your ground.
30. Eight of Wands Eight staves in flight across open country — speed, momentum and news on its way.
31. Nine of Wands A wounded guard leaning on his staff before a palisade — resilience, vigilance and the last stretch of effort.
32. Ten of Wands A man bent under ten staves, trudging towards a town — burden, overwork and the weight of success.
33. Page of Wands A young messenger with a sprouting staff — enthusiasm, curiosity and the first news of something new.
34. Knight of Wands A rider on a rearing horse, charging ahead — boldness, adventure, haste and sudden departures.
35. Queen of Wands A sunflower queen with a black cat at her feet — warmth, confidence, vitality and magnetic presence.
36. King of Wands A king with a flowering staff before lions and salamanders — vision, leadership, honesty and directed fire.
37. Ace of Cups The source of the suit of Cups — feeling, love and openness of heart, offered as a gift.
38. Two of Cups Two people meeting as equals — attraction, partnership, friendship and a promise exchanged.
39. Three of Cups Friends raising a toast — celebration, community and shared good fortune.
40. Four of Cups Turning inward and turning away — boredom, discontent, and an offer not yet noticed.
41. Five of Cups Grief over what has spilled — loss and regret, with something still standing behind.
42. Six of Cups Memory and innocence — childhood, nostalgia, kindness and a gift from the past.
43. Seven of Cups Many dreams and no decision — imagination, temptation, wishful thinking and choices to sort.
44. Eight of Cups Walking away from what no longer satisfies — a quiet departure in search of something deeper.
45. Nine of Cups The wish card — contentment, pleasure and satisfaction with what one has.
46. Ten of Cups Happiness shared — family, home, lasting love and emotional fulfilment.
47. Page of Cups The young dreamer of the suit — a tender message, a creative idea, feelings beginning to show.
48. Knight of Cups The romantic messenger — an invitation, a proposal, a heart that follows its ideals.
49. Queen of Cups The intuitive heart — compassion, emotional depth and care that also acts.
50. King of Cups Calm on a moving sea — emotional maturity, steady kindness and wise counsel.
51. Ace of Swords The first clear thought — a breakthrough in understanding, the truth cut free, a decision made.
52. Two of Swords A held balance — a truce, a choice put off, a mind keeping two things in check.
53. Three of Swords Heartache named honestly — grief, disappointment or a painful truth, and the beginning of healing.
54. Four of Swords Rest after strain — retreat, recovery and the quiet needed to think clearly again.
55. Five of Swords A hollow win — conflict, sharp words and the question of what winning has cost.
56. Six of Swords Moving on — a passage away from difficulty towards calmer water.
57. Seven of Swords Strategy and stealth — a clever plan, a quiet exit, or something not quite above board.
58. Eight of Swords Feeling trapped — a restriction that is often looser than it seems, and the first step out.
59. Nine of Swords Worry in the night — anxiety and sleepless thoughts, often larger in the dark than in daylight.
60. Ten of Swords The end of a hard chapter — it cannot get worse, and dawn is already on the horizon.
61. Page of Swords The curious, watchful mind — new ideas, questions, news and a sharp eye for detail.
62. Knight of Swords Thought at full gallop — decisive, brave and direct, sometimes faster than is wise.
63. Queen of Swords Clear-sighted and honest — wisdom earned through experience, kind but not easily fooled.
64. King of Swords Authority through reason — fair judgement, clear principles and the responsibility to use them well.
65. Ace of Pentacles The seed of Earth — a solid new beginning in work, body, home or resources.
66. Two of Pentacles Juggling two demands at once — balance kept by staying light on your feet.
67. Three of Pentacles Skilled work done together — craft, collaboration and the first recognition of good work.
68. Four of Pentacles Holding on tight — security, control and the cost of not letting go.
69. Five of Pentacles Hard times and feeling left out in the cold — and the help that may be closer than it looks.
70. Six of Pentacles Giving and receiving — generosity, fairness and the balance of power between them.
71. Seven of Pentacles Pausing to look at what has grown — patience, assessment and the slow return on effort.
72. Eight of Pentacles Practice and diligence — learning a craft by doing it well, one piece at a time.
73. Nine of Pentacles Self-made comfort — independence, refinement and enjoying what you have earned.
74. Ten of Pentacles Lasting foundations — family, home, inheritance and what is passed between generations.
75. Page of Pentacles The eager student of Earth — curiosity, study and the first steps of a practical plan.
76. Knight of Pentacles Slow, steady and reliable — the one who keeps going until the job is done.
77. Queen of Pentacles Practical care and abundance — the one who makes a home, a body and a life feel secure.
78. King of Pentacles Mastery of the material world — steady leadership, provision and success built to last.
79. Wands The suit of Fire — drive, ambition, enterprise, creativity and the will to act.
80. Cups The suit of Water — feeling, love, friendship, imagination and the inner life.
81. Swords The suit of Air — thought, truth, conflict, decisions and the mind's double edge.
82. Pentacles The suit of Earth — work, money, the body, the home and what is built over time.
83. Pages The youngest of the court cards — learners, messengers and fresh beginnings, one in each suit.
84. Knights The mounted court cards — the suit's energy in motion, pursuing, carrying forward, sometimes overshooting.
85. Queens The enthroned court cards who hold their suit from within — care, understanding and mastery lived rather than imposed.
86. Kings The ruling court cards — the suit's quality directed into the world through authority, responsibility and decision.
87. The Aces The ones of each suit — the seed, the gift, the suit's element in its purest form before anything has shaped it.
88. The Twos The second card of each suit — a meeting, a balance or a choice, where the Ace's single force first finds a partner.
89. The Threes The third card of each suit — the first result, where what met in the Two takes shape, is shared or bears early fruit.
90. The Fours The fourth card of each suit — stability, a foundation, rest; and sometimes a stillness that turns stale.
91. The Fives The fifth card of each suit — the shake-up, where the Four's stability is disturbed by conflict, loss or strain.
92. The Sixes The sixth card of each suit — recovery and harmony after the Five's trouble: give and take, moving on, a balance found again.
93. The Sevens The seventh card of each suit — the test: something to assess, defend or choose between, and a result that depends on what you do.
94. The Eights The eighth card of each suit — effort and movement: work, momentum, leaving something behind, or the feeling of being caught.
95. The Nines The ninth card of each suit — almost there: the suit's experience at its fullest, as deep satisfaction or the strain just before the end.
96. The Tens The last numbered card of each suit — completion: the suit carried as far as it will go, with its rewards and its burdens, before a new Ace.
97. Spreads and positions The pattern cards are laid out in, where each place gives the card in it a question to answer.
98. Three-card spread Three cards laid side by side, each answering one question — the most widely used spread in tarot.
99. Celtic Cross The best-known ten-card spread — a cross of six cards beside a column of four — laid out in more than one order.
100. One-card draw A single card drawn as a focus for the day or a short answer to one question — the simplest spread of all.
101. Significator A card chosen before the reading to stand for the querent, or for the matter asked about.
102. Querent The person who asks the question a reading answers — whether that is someone else or the reader themselves.
103. Major Arcana The twenty-two picture cards, from the Fool to the World, that stand for the great themes of a life.
104. Minor Arcana The fifty-six suit cards — four suits of Ace to Ten plus four court cards — that describe everyday life.
105. Court cards The Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings — people, roles and sides of the self.
106. Numbered cards (pips) The Ace to Ten of each suit, where the number gives the theme and the suit the setting.
107. Reversed cards A card that lands upside down, and the different ways readers interpret it — or choose not to.
108. Elemental dignities The Golden Dawn method of judging a card's strength by the elements of the cards beside it.
109. Synchronicity Jung's name for coincidences linked by meaning rather than cause — an idea often used to explain tarot, though not an established finding.
110. The Fool's Journey The twenty-two Major Arcana read in order as one story — the Fool setting out and meeting each card until arriving at the World.
111. Multiples in a spread Reading the spread as a whole before the single cards — several cards of one number, a suit that takes over or goes missing, many Majors, many court cards, many reversals.
112. Decans in tarot How the Golden Dawn gave the numbered cards, the court cards and many Majors a place in the zodiac, and how those places meet a birth chart, the sky and one another.
113. The Golden Dawn attributions How a Victorian magical order tied every card to Hebrew letters, planets, signs and decans — and shaped the modern deck.
114. The Rider–Waite–Smith deck (1909) The 1909 London deck drawn by Pamela Colman Smith to Arthur Edward Waite's plan, whose illustrated numbered cards became the model for most modern tarot.
115. The Tarot de Marseille The classic French pattern of tarot, printed from the seventeenth century on, with pictured trumps and courts and numbered cards that show only their suit signs.
116. The Thoth Tarot Aleister Crowley's deck, painted by Lady Frieda Harris between 1938 and 1943 and first printed in full colour around 1969 — the Golden Dawn system, reworked.
117. Etteilla Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738–1791), the Paris card reader who made tarot a tool of divination and in 1789 published the first deck designed for it.
118. Éliphas Lévi The French writer on magic (1810–1875) whose Dogme et rituel de la haute magie tied the twenty-two trumps to the Hebrew alphabet and made the tarot a key to occult thought.
119. Pamela Colman Smith The artist (1878–1951) who drew all seventy-eight cards of the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith deck, giving every numbered card a scene of its own.
120. Arthur Edward Waite The writer on mysticism (1857–1942) who planned the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith deck and wrote The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.
121. The Tree of Life The Kabbalistic diagram of ten spheres and twenty-two paths onto which the Golden Dawn mapped the whole deck — the numbered cards on the spheres, the trumps on the paths.