Tarot Card Cheat Sheet
Learning tarot is a rewarding experience that can help you access deeper levels of your mind and intuition and have a better understanding of the world around you. Something that often surprises new readers is how much depth a tarot practice entails.
Each card holds its own world, allowing you to get lost in its meaning and symbolism. When you start to learn tarot, it can be overwhelming trying to master learning all of the card descriptions. Luckily, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to help strengthen your practice. Having a tarot cheat sheet can help you get in tune with the cards, especially at the beginning of your practice.
Note that this guide is not a full breakdown of what all the cards mean–there is so much complexity and nuance to the Rider-Waite Smith deck that we’ve created a whole masterclass to learn it. Instead, we are giving you the tools to quickly understand what a card's meaning is without having to memorize all 78 book meanings (or, 156 if you include reversed!)
Minor Arcana
In tarot readings, the minor arcana deal with the day-to-day, and can sometimes be a supplement to major arcana cards as they illustrate where the major life themes will transpire in your life.
There are four suits throughout the minor arcana deck. Each suit contains its own symbol and element association.
Elements
Each of the tarot cards in the Rider Waite Smith deck is associated with a particular element.
Swords are associated with the element of air.
Air is associated with thoughts, invention, inspiration, ideas, and innovation.
Cups are associated with the element of water.
Water is associated with emotions, communication, connection, and the subconscious.
Wands are associated with the element of fire.
Fire is associated with passion, drive, initiative, and creativity.
Pentacles are associated with the element of earth.
Earth is associated with money, materialism, abundance, and careers.
Numbers
You can use the numbers associated with each minor arcana card and relate it back to numerology for a more in-depth reading. But, to keep it simple here, just understand that each number is associated with a concept. They are as follows:
Unity; partnership
Growth; progress
Rest; having the foundation built and taking a break before moving forward
Conflict
Restoration of stability
Wisdom; development of newfound perspective
Positive change
Transition; the final hurdle
Completion
So, for example: if you pull the two of cups, you know it has to do with some kind of emotional unity or partnership. That, paired with the image on the card, easily leads to understanding its meaning.
For another example, the ten of pentacles is about manifesting the fruits of your career/business endeavors. You can see the abundance in the card's image.
It also benefits knowing what comes before or after any card. The 6 of swords shows a family paddling away from something–what does that have to do with peace and stability? Well, the card before it is the 5 of Swords, a card of war and conflict. With this in mind, the 6 makes sense because they're now understood to be escaping a bad situation.
When cards like this come up in Tarot readings, you can use this knowledge to land close to, or right on, any Tarot card meanings.
Ace & Court Cards
The Ace of each suit is like the Fool; it represents a point of maximum potential. There is an opportunity for new and exciting things to come into the scene. It occurs at the beginning of a journey, along which there is much growth, loss, wisdom, joy, suffering, and fulfillment to be found. In the minor arcana, Aces represent the purest energy of each suit.
The Court Cards are the personifications of each suit. They are people who represent what it means to embody the energy of the suit.
The Page and Knight are the adolescent feminine and masculine energies of the suit. Not quite a child, but not fully grown yet, either.
The Queen and King are the mature feminine and masculine energies of the suit. They are developed, authoritative and powerful. You will find some similarities between these cards and the Empress and Emperor of the Major Arcana.
Major Arcana
The major arcana symbolize the major life themes within a reading.
Each of the major arcana tarot card meanings follows a sequence known as the fool's journey.
Let the major arcana guide you toward finding the overall theme or main message of the reading.
The Fool's Journey
The best way to understand the Major Arcana is to listen to the Fool's Journey, the story that is told through them. There is no way to make an easy "cheat" for 22 unique cards, but its much easier to remember the general steps along the way of a story.
Watch it here:
Reversals
Reversal tarot card meanings aren't always negative. In fact, many reversals are simply a more in-depth clue or need to provide a different perspective.
What kinds of questions can you ask a tarot deck?
When asking the tarot for answers, keep in mind that the answers may not be simple or straightforward. Rather, they will provide guidance and open up new avenues for investigation.
When asking your tarot deck a question, think about what you want to learn about yourself or your situation. "What do I need to know about this decision I have to make?" and "What can I do better in my current relationship?" are two good examples of tarot reading-related queries.
How to ask questions about your tarot deck?
By asking the right questions of your tarot deck, you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself and uncover hidden answers and gain clarity on any issue. Knowing how to ask the right questions is essential for gaining insight from your tarot readings.
Concentrate on the type or area of life that you want to investigate through your reading. Instead of asking a general question, you'll get more insightful answers if you're specific about what kind of information you want from the cards. Make sure that each question has only one answer; this will help ensure that the cards are interpreted correctly.
You can ask tarot questions about relationships, spirituality, manifestation, enlightenment, your career, abundance, truth, mystery, improvement, negativity--basically anything that inspires a question for you to ask.
Can you ask a yes or no question to tarot?
Those seeking immediate answers to a specific issue in their lives will typically ask yes or no questions. This type of question can help you gain clarity and move forward with more confidence.
Tarot cards contain many layers of symbolism and meaning that can provide direct yes or no answers. The cards themselves do not always provide straightforward 'yes' or 'no' answers but rather open up possibilities for further investigation, allowing you to interpret the answer through your own understanding and intuition.
Which tarot cards mean 'Yes'
The Sun card is the most commonly associated tarot card with 'yes;' it represents success and joy. The Wheel of Fortune is another card that usually means 'yes,' as it represents luck and opportunity.
The World and Ten of Cups are two other common 'yes' cards that represent harmony and joy in a situation or experience.
Finally, when interpreting tarot readings, it's critical to consider the context of each individual card when determining whether it means 'yes' or not.
Which tarot cards mean 'No'
The Three of Swords is the most common tarot card that represents heartache, disappointment, and sorrow. This card represents a significant impediment that cannot be overcome.
The Ten of Cups also represents a 'no,' implying an internal block or difficulty that must be addressed before progress can be made.
Similarly, the Ten of Pentacles represents stagnation and lack of progress as a result of an inability to move forward.
How to interpret tarot cards?
The first step in learning to read tarot cards is to become acquainted with the symbolism associated with each card.
The Major Arcana are thought to represent larger concepts in life, such as death or love, whereas the Minor Arcana represent more mundane events, such as arguments or career choices.
Once you understand what each card means on its own, you'll be able to combine those meanings when interpreting more complex card spreads.
As you begin learning how to interpret cards, you'll strengthen your self awareness and inner knowledge and be able to look at each image and determine exactly how it makes you feel or think.
Listen to Your Emotions
By paying attention to how each card makes you feel, you can access the deeper spiritual messages hidden within them and use them to guide your life.
Take note of the physical sensations that arise when you focus on each card when reading tarot cards. Curiosity, fear, and happiness are all examples of sensations.
They may be accompanied by physical responses such as a racing heart or tingling throughout your body.
Pay attention to any additional details that emerge, such as images or memories, in order to decipher deeper meanings behind each card.
Have Patience
The most valuable tool you can have when learning tarot is patience. Learning the cards can be a long process, and learning how to accurately read and learn how each card interacts with each other is also a process.
Using patience throughout the process allows you enough time to curate your own practice, giving you more authority over your readings and helping you learn the cards at a pace that works for you.
Closing Thoughts: The Most Important "Cheat"
The single greatest help you can have in a Tarot reading is not this cheat sheet. It's not memorizing all the book meanings or understanding ancient symbolism (although those things can be helpful).
Rather, it's connecting to your Intuition. It's about knowing how to hear it and having the faith to trust it.
Use cheat sheets to get up and running. But, before too long, let your Intuition take the wheel.
See our masterclass to learn how to best channel your intuition: