Tarot Card Suits

Tarot card suits are divided into four classifcations: Tarot Pentacles Tarot Wands Tarot Cups Tarot Swords

This is an ingenious system to assist the mind, psyche and soul in more deeply interpreting the subtle nuances of a reality.

The purpose of the Tarot card suits is to categorize four major areas of life. The underlying thought here is that we are each quite different, yet all of us are ultimately the same, and undergo similar life experiences on our journey.

That is to say, almost all of us deal with thoughts, emotions, finances, health, and relationships on a daily basis. These core features of life are inevitable and inescapable for every human.

The creators of the Tarot understood this, and so created Tarot card suits to classify each of these separate issues so that interpreters of the cards could more clearly grasp the essence of the larger picture.

Paradoxically, by dividing out the four major aspects of the human saga, our psyche is able to magnetize all the pieces together into a full-featured masterpiece.

That’s what the psyche does best. It transforms choppy bits of data into a fluid, unified stream of full awareness. This is also the process of Tarot interpretation. Essentially, the Tarot is designed much the same way our psyche in constructed. This is why the Tarot, to this day, is still the most utilized oracle and psychic development tool.

In this light, we can see the value of separate Tarot suits. It is when we delve deeper into each suit meaning that our understanding surpasses category, and flows into the unique wholeness of wisdom that the Tarot can provide.

The following is a chart of associations & symbols for the Tarot card suits. Most associations are self-explanatory. A.K.A. stands for “also known as” and notes other terms to which each suit might be referred. Also included in this comprehensive chart are playing cards associated with the Tarot suits, as well as color, season, and other associations.

	Pentacles	Wands	Cups	Swords
A.K.A.:	Discs, Coins	Rods, Staves	Chalices, Goblets	Blades, Athame's
Symbolism:	Health, Wealth, Physical	Creativity, Action, Passion	Love, Emotion, Empathy	Thought, Challenge, Observation
Colors:	Green	Yellow	Red	Indigo
Seasons:	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Zodiac:	Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn	Aries, Leo, Sagittarius	Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces	Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Elements:	Earth	Fire	Water	Air
Realm:	Home	Spirit	Heart	Mind
Playing Card:	Diamonds	Clubs	Hearts	Spades
Gender:	Female	Male	Female	Male
Directions:	East	South	West	North

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Tarot suit images shown in the above chart are from the Morgan-Greer deck (lovely, aren't they?). Permission for image use granted by US Games, Inc.