thumb|The [[King of Swords card from the Rider–Waite tarot]]
The Minor Arcana, sometimes known as the Lesser Arcana, are the suit cards in a cartomantic tarot deck.
Ordinary tarot cards first appeared in northern Italy in the 1440s and were designed for tarot card games. They typically have four suits each of 10 unillustrated pip cards numbered one (ace) to ten, along with 4 court cards (face cards). Tarot games are still widely played in central and southern Europe; French Tarot is the second most popular card game in France after Belote.
By contrast, cartomantic tarot cards emerged in France in the late 18th century, popularised by occultists such as Etteilla. The terms "Major" and "Minor Arcana" originate with Jean-Baptiste Pitois (1811–1877), nom de plume Paul Christian.
In their contemporary versions, the Minor Arcana are often illustrated—a convention popularized by the Rider–Waite tarot in 1910. Used in a tarot card reading in conjunction with the Major Arcana, the cards of the Minor Arcana suggest subtleties and details, and signify day-to-day insights.
Cartomantic tarot cards derived from Latin-suited packs typically have a Minor Arcana of 56 cards, with 14 cards in each suit: Wands (alternately batons, clubs, staffs, or staves), Cups (chalices, goblets, or vessels), Swords (or blades), and Coins (pentacles, disks, or rings). Some variations have princess and prince cards replacing the page, maid, knight, and mounted lady cards, reducing it to four; some added the princess and prince, resulting in eight court cards.
While the historical Tarot of Marseilles contains 56 cards, later packs based on the French suits of clubs (♣), hearts (), spades (♠), and diamonds () have only three court cards per suit, with a jack in addition to the queen and king. While mounted ladies, maidens faded away or survive in minor regional patterns like the Tarocco Siciliano, knights were dropped in favour of queens in non-tarot French decks. In contemporary times, only four court cards are commonly used: the original three male cards (page, knight, and king) and one female card (queen).
Symbolism
In divinatory, esoteric and occult tarot, the Minor Arcana are believed to represent relatively mundane features of life. The court cards may represent the people whom one meets.
Each suit also has distinctive characteristics and connotations commonly held to be as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
! Latin suit
! French suit
! Element
! Class
! Faculty
|-
| Wands, batons, clubs, staves
| ♣️ Clubs
| Fire
| Artisans
| Will and creativity, or physical attraction and anger
|-
| Swords, blades
| ♠️ Spades
| Air
| Nobility and military
| Reason or logic, wisdom, and intellect
|-
| Cups, chalices, goblets, vessels
| ♥️ Hearts
| Water
| Clergy
| Spiritual matters, or emotions and love
|-
| Pentacles, coins, disks, rings
| ♦️ Diamonds
| Earth
| Merchants
| Material matters, or possessions and career
|}
Gallery of card suits
Illustrations from the Rider–Waite tarot, the most popular amongst English speakers, divided by suit and arranged in ascending order of face value.
Cups
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Cups01.jpg|Ace of Cups
image:Cups02.jpg|Two of Cups
image:Cups03.jpg|Three of Cups
image:Cups04.jpg|Four of Cups
image:Cups05.jpg|Five of Cups
image:Cups06.jpg|Six of Cups
image:Cups07.jpg|Seven of Cups
image:Cups08.jpg|Eight of Cups
image:Cups09.jpg|Nine of Cups
image:Cups10.jpg|Ten of Cups
</gallery>
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Cups11.jpg|Page of Cups
image:Cups12.jpg|Knight of Cups
image:Cups13.jpg|Queen of Cups
image:Cups14.jpg|King of Cups
</gallery>
Pentacles
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Pents01.jpg|Ace of Pentacles
image:Pents02.jpg|Two of Pentacles
image:Pents03.jpg|Three of Pentacles
image:Pents04.jpg|Four of Pentacles
image:Pents05.jpg|Five of Pentacles
image:Pents06.jpg|Six of Pentacles
image:Pents07.jpg|Seven of Pentacles
image:Pents08.jpg|Eight of Pentacles
image:Pents09.jpg|Nine of Pentacles
image:Pents10.jpg|Ten of Pentacles
</gallery>
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Pents11.jpg|Page of Pentacles
image:Pents12.jpg|Knight of Pentacles
image:Pents13.jpg|Queen of Pentacles
image:Pents14.jpg|King of Pentacles
</gallery>
Wands
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Wands01.jpg|Ace of Wands
image:Wands02.jpg|Two of Wands
image:Wands03.jpg|Three of Wands
image:Wands04.jpg|Four of Wands
image:Wands05.jpg|Five of Wands
image:Wands06.jpg|Six of Wands
image:Wands07.jpg|Seven of Wands
image:Wands08.jpg|Eight of Wands
File:Wands09.jpg|Nine of Wands
image:Wands10.jpg|Ten of Wands
</gallery>
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Wands11.jpg|Page of Wands
image:Wands12.jpg|Knight of Wands
image:Wands13.jpg|Queen of Wands
image:Wands14.jpg|King of Wands
</gallery>
Swords
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Swords01.jpg|Ace of Swords
image:Swords02.jpg|Two of Swords
image:Swords03.jpg|Three of Swords
image:Swords04.jpg|Four of Swords
image:Swords05.jpg|Five of Swords
image:Swords06.jpg|Six of Swords
image:Swords07.jpg|Seven of Swords
image:Swords08.jpg|Eight of Swords
image:Swords09.jpg|Nine of Swords
image:Swords10.jpg|Ten of Swords
</gallery>
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Swords11.jpg|Page of Swords
image:Swords12.jpg|Knight of Swords
image:Swords13.jpg|Queen of Swords
image:Swords14.jpg|King of Swords
</gallery>
Planetary associations
In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, number cards are associated with planets, corresponding to their placement in Kabbalah.
- Threes - Saturn
- Fours - Jupiter
- Fives - Mars
- Sixes - Sun
- Sevens - Venus
- Eights - Mercury
- Nines - Moon
- Tens - Earth
References
External links
de:Tarot#Die kleinen Arkana