What are the different types of Tarot cards?

There are many varieties of tarot card spreads, or in other words, tarot reading layouts, that can be used in reading Tarot cards. The tarot card reader will mostly determine which tarot spread will best suit the reading purpose and what the tarot user wants to achieve from the tarot cards reading. On 78 tarot card deck has a special meaning that only that tarot card can give to you. Therefore it’s very important to choose the right kind of tarot reading for every situation you’re currently facing.

Type of Tarot Cards

Tarot Deck

A Tarot deck consists of 78 cards. A traditional deck has 22 Major Arcana (or trumps) which are the archetypal images. There are 56 Minor Arcana cards, sixteen Court or Personality cards; the Kings, Queens, Princes, and Pages, just like modern playing cards. There are four elements or suits: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water, with 10 cards in each.

There are two type sets of cards in a tarot deck known as

Major Arcana

Minor Arcana

The Major Arcana Tarot Cards

The word “arcana” means “secrets.” As such, the Major Arcana cards reveal major secrets. There are 22 Major Arcana cards, out of which 21 are numbered and one of them, i.e. The Fool holds the number 0. When one of these 22 cards appear in your psychic reading it usually indicates something important and of spiritual significance. Known as the Trump cards, they point out life-changing situations, important karmic lessons, and stages throughout your life’s spiritual journey.

A major arcana card is always given extra weight in a reading. When one of these cards appears, you know the issues at stake are not mundane or temporary. They represent your most basic concerns – your major feelings and motivations. are used for daily free card tarot reading

The Minor Arcana Tarot Cards

The Minor Arcana (or Lesser Arcana) are the 56 suit cards of the 78-card deck of tarot cards. Minor Arcana cards address what’s happening in your daily life — the small wins, struggles, interactions, and thoughts that you face regularly.

Minor Arcana 56 cards are divided into four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.

• Wands

  The Wands cards are the suit of creativity, action and movement. They are associated with such qualities as enthusiasm, adventure, risk-taking, and confidence. This suit corresponds to the yang, or masculine principle, in Chinese philosophy and is associated with the element Fire. A flickering flame is the perfect symbol of the Wands force. This energy flows outward and generates passionate involvement.

• Cups

  The Cups suit of cards is the suit of emotions and spiritual experience. They describe inner states, feelings and relationship patterns. The energy of this suit flows inward. Cups correspond to the yin, or feminine principle, in Chinese philosophy and are associated with the element Water. The ability of water to flow and fill up spaces, to sustain and to reflect changing moods makes it the ideal symbol of the Cups suit.

• Swords

  The Swords are the suit of intellect, thought and reason. They are concerned with justice, truth, and ethical principles. Swords are associated with the element Air. A cloudless sky, open and light-filled, is a symbol of the mental clarity that is the Swords ideal. This suit is also associated with states that lead to disharmony and unhappiness. Our intellect is a valuable asset, but as an agent of ego, it can lead us astray if it is not infused with the wisdom of our Inner Guide.

• Pentacles

  The Pentacles are the suit of practicality, security and material concerns. They are associated with the element Earth and the concrete requirements of working with matter. In Pentacles, we celebrate the beauty of nature, our interactions with plants and animals and our physical experiences in the body. Pentacles also represent prosperity and wealth of all kinds. Sometimes this suit is called the Coins, an obvious symbol of the exchange of goods and services in the physical world.

The Three Card Spread

The three tarot card spread is one of the most simple tarot card spread. Three cards are spread out and they represent the past, present, and future. This spread can be used for general reading but works best when answering a specific question. For example, if you have a specific issue in your life, the three card spread will tell you how time will affect it. The first card tells you what effect the past had on the issue and how it came about. The second card explains the situation at present and what is standing in your way. The third card describes the future and how best to solve the problem and move on.

Celtic Cross Spread

The Celtic Cross is probably the best known and most popular tarot card spread. The Celtic Cross is divided into two sections: the cross on the left and the staff on the right. The cross is made up of six cards and the staff is made up of four.

Two crosses make up the cross section: the central one, made up of two cards, and the larger one surrounding it, made up of four cards. The smaller cross represents what is most important to you at the time of the reading. The larger cross is made up of two lines that overlay the smaller one. The horizontal line represents time. The vertical line represents your conscious mind.

The staff sections of the cards represent your life in general, outside of the current issue. It helps you understand your life and the lessons it teaches you and others in it.

The Horseshoe Spread

The Horseshoe Tarot spread is excellent for answering specific questions. There are seven cards in the spread, each with a different meaning. The first card in the spread represents the past and its influences on your question.

The second tarot card is the present and the situation at this moment in time. The third tarot card symbolizes the hidden influences, things you may not know are having an impact on your question. The fourth card represents any obstacles you may need to overcome and the fifth card shows any outside influences and the attitudes of other people.

The sixth card represents the best course of action and the last card depicts the outcome. Moreover, the cards are always laid out in a horseshoe pattern and the positions of the cards always have the same meaning, tarot card readers don’t always reveal the cards in the same order, as some prefer to gather the information surrounding the problem in different ways so they can get a clearer picture.

The Fan Spread

The Fan Spread is useful if you need a general life reading when you don’t have a specific question or problem that needs addressing. There are 22 cards in the spread. The first card represents you, and this lies in the center of the spread. This card is usually a Court Card of the Minor Arcana. Surrounding this card are the other 21 cards, in seven groups of three, spread out in a fan.

Each group of cards represents a different aspect of your life. The first group explains your character, and what makes you as a person. The second group represents the relationships in your life and any emotional links that you have. Groups three and four represent your desires and what you expect to get out of life. The fifth group explains any factors that you may not expect to have an impact on your life. The penultimate card represents what will happen in the near future, and the final card represents what the distant future has in store for you.

The Zerner-Farber Tarot Deck

The Zerner-Farber tarot card deck was created by the famous Amy Zerner and Monte Farber with a total of 78 cards and is a rework of the great Enchanted Tarot card deck by the same writers. The images are more or less whimsical and do includes the suits of hearts, pentacles, wands, and swords. The strongest influence of this deck is love. The Zerner-Farber tarot card deck is perfect for beginners, as it deals with lighter readings.

The New Mythic Tarot Deck

Again this card deck is a  rework of the well known Mythic Tarot with an ancient Greek theme of tarot, this new deck was created by Giovanni Caselli and Liz Greene and published in 2009. Like the ZF deck, it has a huge collection of 78 cards. The New Mythic Tarot deck demonstrates a real passion for the classical world.

The Deviant Moon Tarot Deck

Created by Patrick Valenza, this has moonlit artwork that is very unique compared to other decks. It aims to illuminate the deeper subconscious with a detailed orientation of imagery and theme variation. Readers looking for something out of the ordinary are often drawn to the Deviant Moon tarot deck.