Essential tarot terms, explained through one spread

A manual asks you to “interpret the reversed Major Arcana card in the obstacle position”. If you have just bought your first deck, nearly every part of that sentence may be new. This glossary turns common terms into concrete actions. It uses one question throughout, so every term has a place: “What do I need to prepare before discussing a change to my working hours?”

A typical deck has 78 cards: four suits containing 56 cards, 21 trumps and the Fool. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the V&A explain this structure. Modern names do not always match the language used by people who played with the earliest decks. We will point out when a term belongs to a later practice.

Deck, suit and numbered card

Deck: the physical set of cards you will use, from a particular edition. Saying “I use tarot” does not tell someone whether you have Marseille, Rider–Waite–Smith or a reinterpretation. To follow a book, note the title on the box and the publisher. The images you observe in our example question depend on that choice.

Suit: one of tarot's four groups of ordinary cards: Cups, Swords, Wands and Coins in the Italian tradition. A publisher may translate or rename the suits. If you draw a Cups card, check how your method connects that suit to the question. Do not automatically infer that the conversation will be romantic.

Numbered card: a card from Ace to Ten within a suit. Its number may be shown by a count of suit symbols or accompanied by a scene. A Marseille-style Five of Cups need not tell the visual story of a Rider–Waite–Smith Five. Look at your own card before repeating a description.

Court card: a Page, Knight, Queen or King of a suit, under whatever names your edition uses. In a spread, a court card may act as a person, a role or an attitude, depending on the position and question. The Queen of Swords alone does not identify anyone's gender or profession.

Trump, Fool and Arcana

Trump: a pictorial card added to the suited cards, historically connected with trick-taking play. The Met describes 21 trumps and a Fool. In a present-day reading, you can study the Chariot's or Justice's image without claiming that their first use was divination.

Fool: the distinctive card that completes the 78. It may be unnumbered, marked zero or handled differently by an editor. If a book calls it “Arcanum 0” but your deck has no printed zero, identify the card by its name and image.

Major Arcana card: a modern term for a card in the group of 22 formed by the trumps and the Fool. “Major” names a category; it does not guarantee that this card matters more than any Minor Arcana card in a particular reading.

Minor Arcana card: a modern term for any of the 56 suited cards. “Minor” does not mean trivial. In our question about working hours, an Eight of Pentacles in the “concrete step” position may point more directly to a practical review of time and resources than a Major Arcana card in a background position.

The V&A places the spread of the terms “Major” and “Minor” within esoteric developments after tarot's early life as a game. We use them to communicate today without presenting them as words printed on the first cards.

Spread, position and neighbouring card

Spread: the arrangement of one or more cards used to explore a question. It can be as simple as two positions. For the conversation about working hours, decide on “what I already know” and “what I need to clarify” before drawing. Adding a third card after an uncomfortable answer may change the exercise until it says what you wanted to hear.

Position: the job assigned to a place in the spread. Justice is not read in the same way as “criterion I should apply” and “criterion I have not asked about”. The position is not printed on the card. You define it before shuffling.

Neighbouring card: another card close by in the spread. If Cups appears beside Swords, you can explore how relationships and communication connect within your method. Proximity does not impose a universal compatibility chart; it gives you two parts to compare in the context of the question.

Summary: a sentence connecting the cards without reciting their separate meanings. “Before asking for the change, gather the actual schedules and clarify how much flexibility the other person has” is a summary you can check. “Chariot, Justice, Cups” is only a list of names.

Reversal, significator and consultation

Reversed card: a card turned upside down relative to the reader. Some methods interpret a reversal as a nuance; others do not use reversals. Decide whether you will use them before shuffling. You need not double 78 definitions. Explain what orientation does in your method and apply that consistently.

Significator: a card chosen to represent a person or issue in certain spreads. It is optional and should not be assigned by age or gender without consent. If you use one, explain beforehand why that card represents the question.

Consultation: the meeting or exercise in which someone asks a question and cards are interpreted. A useful consultation defines its subject, scope and room for action. “What do I need to clarify before discussing my working hours?” has more focus than “what will happen to my working life?”

Words to use carefully

“Prediction”, “energy”, “blockage” and “destiny” can mean different things to different authors. Before putting any of them in your notes, ask what action or observation the word describes. If “blockage” means “missing information”, say that. If “energy” means “pace of activity”, a concrete description will help another person understand you. A suggestive word without a definition does not improve a reading.

The final test for this glossary is a two-card spread explained without jargon: “I asked this question, assigned these two roles, observed this on each card and propose checking this fact.” You can then translate that sentence into the technical terms. If the vocabulary adds no precision, you do not need to force it.

To practise your questions, read how to ask useful tarot questions. To understand where the deck's structure comes from, continue with why tarot decks usually have 78 cards.

One final distinction: “card” and “meaning”

The card is the concrete object you can show another person. A meaning is an interpretation proposed for a question, a position and a system. Saying “this card has only one meaning” erases those conditions. If two readers disagree, first compare whether they are looking at the same edition and know the same question. Only then does it make sense to discuss their interpretations. This last pair of terms often prevents more confusion than memorising another dozen esoteric words.

Sources consulted

• Tim Husband, “Before Fortune-Telling”, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed 26-09-2026.
• “A history of tarot cards”, Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed 26-09-2026.