Tarot Card Meanings

When you’re learning to read Tarot cards, the natural first step is to learn the Tarot card meanings.

But don’t just learn any meanings.Learn the Tarot card meanings that most resonate with you and that give you the best information in your Tarot readings.

When I was learning to read Tarot cards back in the late 1990s, I started writing down the meanings of each card as I experienced them and posting them to my website. Over the years, my understanding of the Tarot cards have evolved (they will for you, too!), and now the Biddy Tarot Card Meanings Library is one of the most popular and useful collections of Tarot card interpretations online!

I’ve purposefully created Tarot card meanings that are easy-to-understand, applicable to the ‘real world’ and useful and empowering in Tarot readings.

It’s my wish that the Tarot cards guide you to create life of peace, meaning, freedom and prosperity.

As you get into the Tarot card meanings, remember one thing. This isn’t about learning the ‘right’ Tarot card meanings or showing you the ‘only’ way to read Tarot cards – far from it.

This is about helping you to connect with the collective wisdom of Tarot and inspiring you to create your own personal and intuitive connection with the Tarot cards. I’m simply here as a guide!

Tarot Card Meanings – The Basics

The Tarot deck is made up of 78 Tarot cards, each with its own unique Tarot card meaning. There are 22 Major Arcana cards and 56 Minor Arcana cards across four suits (Cups, Pentacles, Swords and Wands).

The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards that reflect key archetypes or spiritual lessons in our lives.

The Minor Arcana consists for four suits—Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands. Each of these suits contains 14 cards, which reflect the day-to-day activities in our lives.

The Tarot Card Meanings Library

The Biddy Tarot Card Meanings Library will help you interpret and understand the Tarot card meanings, whether a card appears upright or reversed.
It’s free for everyone. Always has been. Always will be.
Have fun exploring the Tarot deck, and remember… the cards speak to each of us in their own way, if we allow them. Enjoy!

Major Arcana

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Also known as the Trump Cards.

The Major Arcana Tarot cards form the foundation of the Tarot deck and consists of twenty-one numbered cards and one unnumbered card (the Fool).

They represent a path to spiritual self-awareness and depict the various stages we encounter as we search for greater meaning and understanding. In this way, they hold deeply meaningful lessons.

The Major Arcana Tarot card meanings illustrate the structure of human consciousness and, as such, hold the keys to life lessons passed down through the ages.

Suit of Cups

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Representative of the element of water.

The Suit of Cups Tarot card meanings deal with the emotional level of consciousness and are associated with love, feelings, relationships and connections. Cups are about displays of emotion, expression of feelings and the role of emotions in relation to others. The Cups Tarot cards indicate that you are thinking with your heart rather than your head, and thus reflect your spontaneous responses and your habitual reactions to situations. Cups are also linked to creativity, romanticism, fantasy and imagination.

Suit of Pentacles

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Representative of the element of Earth

The Suit of Pentacles (also known as Coins or Disks) card meanings cover material aspects of life including work, business, trade, property, money and other material possessions. The positive aspects of the Suit of Pentacles include manifestation, realisation, proof and prosperity.

Pentacles deal with the physical or external level of consciousness and thus mirror the outer situations of your health, finances, work, and creativity.

Suit of Swords

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Representative of the element of Air

The Suit of Swords Tarot card meanings are associated with action, change, force, power, oppression, ambition, courage and conflict. Action can be both constructive and/or destructive, sometimes resulting in violence. This suit can also mean hatred, battle, and enemies, and of all the suits, this one is considered to be the most powerful and dangerous.

The Suit of Swords deals with the mental level of consciousness that is centred around the mind and the intellect

Suit of Wands

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Representative of the element of Fire

The Suit of Wands Tarot card meanings are associated with primal energy, spirituality, inspiration, determination, strength, intuition, creativity, ambition and expansion, original thought and the seeds through which life springs forth. Wands deal with the spiritual level of consciousness and mirror what is important to you at the core of your being. They address what makes us tick – our personalities, egos, enthusiasms, self-concepts, and personal energy, both internal and external.

Wands are also indicative of all things that you do during the day to keep you busy, be it working at the office, home or the great outdoors.

The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Card Meanings

all in one place!

Get the meanings to all 78 cards in the Tarot deck – at your fingertips! I’ve assembled all the meanings of all the cards (both upright and reversed) in one place, and added extra content to boost your intuition and spot-on insights. Includes how each Tarot card meaning relates to what matters most – your love, money, career, health, work, spiritual life – plus, a bonus chapter on my favorite 3 card spreads and more. (330 pages; PDF)

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