The 78 Tarot Cards: Complete Reference List (2026)
Table of Contents
The standard 78-card tarot deck has been stable for over a century, fixed by the Rider-Waite-Smith deck of 1909. Half the value of tarot is the structure itself: two halves, four suits, sixteen courts, and a story arc that repeats through every reading.
The 22 Major Arcana
| Number | Card | Core Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | The Fool | New beginnings, leap of faith |
| I | The Magician | Willpower, manifestation, skill |
| II | The High Priestess | Intuition, mystery, inner knowledge |
| III | The Empress | Abundance, nurture, creativity |
| IV | The Emperor | Structure, authority, stability |
| V | The Hierophant | Tradition, guidance, belief systems |
| VI | The Lovers | Union, choice, values |
| VII | The Chariot | Victory, willpower, control |
| VIII | Strength | Courage, patience, gentle power |
| IX | The Hermit | Solitude, introspection, seeking |
| X | Wheel of Fortune | Change, cycles, destiny |
| XI | Justice | Fairness, truth, cause and effect |
| XII | The Hanged Man | Surrender, new perspective |
| XIII | Death | Endings, transformation, release |
| XIV | Temperance | Balance, moderation, blending |
| XV | The Devil | Bondage, temptation, shadow |
| XVI | The Tower | Sudden change, awakening, collapse |
| XVII | The Star | Hope, healing, inspiration |
| XVIII | The Moon | Illusion, dreams, the unconscious |
| XIX | The Sun | Joy, success, vitality |
| XX | Judgement | Rebirth, reckoning, calling |
| XXI | The World | Completion, wholeness, arrival |
The 56 Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana is four suits of 14 cards each: 10 numbered cards (Ace through Ten) and 4 court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King). Each suit maps to an element and a life domain.
| Suit | Element | Domain | Key Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wands | Fire | Action, passion, creativity | Ace (spark), Eight (speed), Ten (burden) |
| Cups | Water | Emotion, relationships, intuition | Ace (love), Three (celebration), Ten (fulfillment) |
| Swords | Air | Thought, conflict, truth | Ace (clarity), Three (heartbreak), Ten (overload) |
| Pentacles | Earth | Money, work, the body | Ace (opportunity), Four (security), Ten (legacy) |
Suits and Numbers
The numbered cards follow a progression from 1 to 10 in every suit: the Ace is the raw seed, the middle cards are the growth and struggle, and the Ten is the completion or overload of that suit's theme. The courts sit above the numbers: Page (beginner), Knight (pursuer), Queen (internal master), King (external master).
How to Use This List
- Look up a card the moment it appears in a spread; lookup is practice.
- Study the Majors as a sequence once a week to build the Fool's Journey skeleton.
- Learn one suit at a time, then compare the same number across suits.
- Reversed meanings flip or soften the core meaning; check the reversal guide for depth.
- Let the question, position, and surrounding cards refine the one-line meaning above.
FAQ
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These guides work with pen and paper, but a digital tool makes them faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there 78 cards and not 52 like playing cards?
Tarot adds the 22 Major Arcana and swaps jacks for four courts, giving 78. The Minor Arcana still resembles a playing-card deck because both descend from the same Italian origins.
Do I need to memorize all 78 before reading?
No. Readers look cards up for years. What matters is structure: know the Majors as a sequence and the suits as elements, and lookup fills the rest.
Which deck are these meanings based on?
The Rider-Waite-Smith system, the most common and the basis of most modern decks and apps, including the Rider-Waite Tarot app.
References
- Waite, A. E. (1910). The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.
- Pollack, R. (1980). Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom.
- Bunning, J. (1998). Learning the Tarot.