The Minor Arcana might not be as well-known or flashy as the Major Arcana, but I find there’s a quiet magic to these 56 cards, which is perhaps unsurprising given how much I write about the magic of everyday life. While the Major Arcana explores big life events and our personal stories written in the stars, the Minor Arcana is all about daily life.
It consists of 56 cards and four suits: the pentacles, the wands, the swords, and the cups. Each suit has numbered cards starting with Aces and ending with 10s. Then, they have the court cards, consisting of pages, knights, queens, and kings. I know! It’s a lot to keep track of. But don’t worry—each of these aspects of the Minor Arcana will be covered in separate blog posts. The big thing to remember here is that there are way more Minor Arcana cards than Major Arcana cards, and for good reason, metaphysically speaking. The reality is that we have a lot more ground to cover in our daily lives and often only get glimpses of the big picture via the Major Arcana.
Themes of the Minor Arcana
The Minor Arcana cards are the ones we go to when our here and now feels overwhelming, stagnant, or otherwise in need of tending. Sometimes, we just want to chat with the cards about our daily lives and get a little nudge in the right direction or make sure this good feeling is legit. Quite often these daily issues seem like big deals, but just as often, the Minor Arcana sweeps in to let us know that what we’re worried about is really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things—or that the innocuous synchronous thing we’ve been mulling over for a few days is actually very important! In short, these cards ask us to tune into our daily lives and find better ways to let the magic flow.
The Minor Arcana can also represent all the little life things that lead up to big Major Arcana transformations. A small choice made today can have a bigger long-term impact on our Fool’s Journey. But these cards are mostly about temporary or fleeting situations that might feel important now but won’t be a few days, months, or years down the road. Often, this is reassuring news along the lines of “this too shall pass.” Other times, it’s a call to action as with the Aces or the Pages—the energy is there for innovation, romance, and transformation, but you have to act NOW, or the inspiration will be lost.
We might lose track of the big picture once in a while, might even forget that we’re on this Fool’s Journey called life, because the day-in, day-out stuff takes up so much of our time, energy, and attention. Honestly? I think this is what I enjoy about the Minor Arcana. It’s all about the little things that can build up to big magical somethings if we learn to follow the flow of the cards.
The Suits in the Minor Arcana
Isn’t that what everyday magic is about? Learning to follow the flow of daily life? To do that, we seek advice from these four suits, which correlate to the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water).
The Swords are all about our intellectual world. As the suit of the air element, it deals with the stuff going on in our head, how we conjure through our thoughts in good and bad ways (hey, we are what we think). It’s also about being clear-minded in our integrity and values. The Swords's dark side is about being “too in your head” at the expense of your body and heart.
The Cups represent water and all things feelings and relationships. These are the cards of passion, (self)love, romance, and healthy relationships with self and others. When they appear, they are asking you to trust and nurture your feelings over anything else in a given situation. That said, it’s important not to get swept up in your motions with the Cups. Instead, learn how to listen to them without getting overwhelmed by them.
The Pentacles are the grounding suits, as they represent the earth element. They deal with the fundamental survival stuff like money, work, home, and food. These cards keep us from getting too lost in the cerebral world of the Swords and the big feels of the Cups by focusing on the physical world and our physical needs. That said, you never want to get too tight or energetically miserly with these cards. Really, the suits work best together to balance one another out.
Lastly, The Wands bring in the fire energy of the suits. This is our internal spark, our healthy masculinity (regardless of a person’s gender), and the inspiration that drives us. It’s our ambition, our passion, our inspiration that makes us conjure change and dream big. But there’s always the risk of burning too hot! The Wands energy is so strong, but, as with all suits, it has its dark side, so it is best to balance that energy with the cooling Cups, the clear-headed Swords, and the practical Pentacles.
When these Minor Arcana cards appear, they’re asking you to clean house! The tarot is always forward-thinking and forward-moving, so they always helping you remove stagnant energy and embrace change.
