Tarot cards are an aid to get a better knowledge of yourself. Eventually this will result in a happier and well-balanced life.

Love tarot

However, in this article I will not tell you more about what Tarot is. Instead I want to talk you about the structure of a tarot card deck.

A tarot card deck has 78 cards and is divided in 2 series:
-    Major Arcana
-    Minor Arcana

The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana consist of 22 cards, numbered from 0 (The Fool) up to 21 (The Universe).  They are the most important cards in a tarot card deck. The cards of the Major Arcana represent our motives and inner forces. They are connected to the archetypes of Jungian psychology.

Eliphas Levi and later the Order of the Golden Dawn connected the Tarot cards to the Qabalah (in general Kabbalah corresponds to the Jewish view while Qabalah is the more hermetic point of view). They associated the 22 cards of the Major Arcana with the 22 paths that connect the Sephiroth in the Tree of Life.

The Minor Arcana

The 56 cards of the Minor Arcana are divides in 4 series of 16 cards. Each of the series is connected to one of the 4 Elements. They show more of our day to day life. Each series has 10 numbered cards and 4 court cards.

The 4 series are:
-    Wands: correspond to the element Fire and represent energy and dynamic force and action
-    Cups: are connected to Water and stands for creativity, emotions and empathy
-    Swords: represent the element Air and show our rational and communicative possibilities
-    Pentacles: correspond to the element Earth and represent more materialistic and tangible matters.

In the Qabalistic view the 4 series correspond to the 4 letters of the Tetragrammaton. Via the Elements the Minor Arcana is also connected to the 4 worlds of the Qabalah:
-    Atziluth is the World of Emanation (Fire)
-    Briah is the Wold of Creation (Air)
-    Yetsirah is the World of Formation (Water)
-    Assiah is the World of Material Form (Earth).

Each numbered card is associated to a Sephirah: aces with Kether, two's with Chokmah, and so on.

For me court cards don't (or very rarely) represent persons. I see them more as follows:
-    Kings: are the active properties of their series; they are the spirit
-    Queens: stand for the passive properties of their series; they are the soul
-    Knights: express moods connected to the properties of their series
-    Pages: these show opportunities in matters that correspond to their color.

Love tarot