Major Arcana

Tarot card meanings

Tarot card meanings describe what a card is traditionally read to say, upright and reversed. This guide covers the 22 Major Arcana in Rider–Waite–Smith order, from The Fool through The World. The same pictures are in VeilReader’s deck.

A meaning is the card by itself. A reading is that card inside a question and a spread. For a single card today, use the daily tarot draw. For a one-card lean, use yes or no tarot. Spread shapes are on the tarot spreads page.

What are tarot cards?

A tarot deck has 78 cards. The Major Arcana are 22 named scenes. The Minor Arcana are 56 cards in four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles, each with ace through ten and four court cards. VeilReader reads both, with the full text on your phone. The pages here answer the Major Arcana in the open.

• The Fool beginnings
• The Magician skill
• The High Priestess stillness
• The Empress abundance
• The Emperor structure
• The Hierophant tradition
• The Lovers choice
• The Chariot will
• Strength patience
• The Hermit solitude
• Wheel of Fortune turning point
• Justice fairness
• The Hanged Man pause
• Death ending
• Temperance balance
• The Devil bondage
• The Tower upheaval
• The Star hope
• The Moon intuition
• The Sun clarity
• Judgement reckoning
• The World completion

Questions

What are tarot cards?

Tarot cards are a 78-card deck used for reflection and storytelling. Twenty-two Major Arcana cards carry big themes, from The Fool to The World. Fifty-six Minor Arcana cards split into Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. VeilReader uses the Rider–Waite–Smith pictures.

What is the difference between tarot meaning and a tarot reading?

A tarot meaning is the traditional sense of one card, upright or reversed. A tarot reading places one or more cards in a spread and reads them together. This site publishes Major Arcana meanings and a one-card draw. Multi-card readings live in the VeilReader app.

Where is the full tarot cards list?

The 22 Major Arcana are linked below with upright and reversed meanings. The Minor Arcana are listed by name on this page. Full meanings for all 78 cards ship inside VeilReader on Android.

Tarot cards list

Every card in the 78-card deck VeilReader shuffles. Major Arcana names link to a meaning. Minor Arcana names are listed here; their upright and reversed text is in the app, so this page does not pretend to be 56 extra articles.