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All Tarot Card Meanings

If you’ve pulled a card and have no idea what it means, you’re in the right place. If you’re trying to get your head around tarot properly and want a solid reference point, also the right place. And if you’ve been reading for a while and just need to look something up, same.

All seventy-eight cards are here, each with their own page breaking down the symbolism, upright and reversed meanings, and how the card tends to show up across different areas of life.

Build a Relationship With the Cards, Not a Memory of Them

I’ve read a lot of tarot books. They’ve all fed into how I read. But none of them made me a better reader. The readings did that.

These pages give you the fundamentals. The traditional meanings, the symbolism, the keywords. And that’s genuinely useful. But it’s a starting point, not an endpoint. The readers who actually get good at this aren’t the ones who’ve memorised the most. They’re the ones who’ve spent the most time sitting with the cards, noticing what they see, and building their own sense of what each one means.

If you look at the individual card pages, you’ll see a section called Gord’s Thoughts on each one. That’s my personal read on the card. Sometimes it lines up with the traditional meaning, sometimes it goes somewhere different. It’s there because I want you to see that your interpretation matters. There’s no single correct answer. There’s just you, the card, and what it’s pointing at in this moment.

Gord’s Tarot Journal is where I collect all of that. My interpretations, the stories I tell in actual readings, the ways my thinking shifts over time. It’s a living document, not a finished one, and it’s exclusive to Simply Tarot Members. There’s a preview on every card page. You can get access as part of the Simply Tarot Membership.

The Only Thing That Actually Builds Confidence

Here’s the bit nobody wants to hear: you can read every card meaning page on this site and still freeze up the moment you try to do a real reading. Because reading about tarot and reading tarot are two completely different things.

What actually builds confidence is doing readings. Lots of them. For yourself, for other people, for anyone who’ll sit still long enough. That’s it. That’s the whole secret.

The problem is most people don’t have anyone to practice with, and practising alone has limits. That’s why I run the Simply Tarot Circle every week. A live session on Zoom where members read together, work through cards, ask questions, and build that confidence with other people who are figuring it out at the same time. It’s not a lecture. It’s practice.

The Circle is part of the Simply Tarot Membership, along with Gord’s Tarot Journal, the Simply Tarot Fundamentals PDF, and 20% off readings. Fifteen quid a month (roughly $19 USD).

Major Arcana Meanings

Twenty-two cards. The big ones.

The Major Arcana covers the significant stuff. The turning points, the deep patterns, the moments in life that genuinely ask something of you. When these cards show up in a reading they’re usually worth slowing down for.

They run from The Fool through to The World, and between those two points they cover pretty much every major human experience going.

Minor Arcana Meanings

Fifty-six cards across four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.

Where the Major Arcana deals with the bigger picture, the Minor Arcana is in the detail. The specific situation you’re in right now. The feeling you can’t quite name. The decision sitting in front of you.

A reading full of Minor Arcana is often the most useful kind because it’s meeting you exactly where you are.

Tarot Symbolism

Most of what’s on these pages is rooted in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909. The majority of modern tarot decks are either directly based on this imagery or in conversation with it, which is why it’s the foundation for most tarot teaching.

The imagery matters. Colours, figures, animals, what’s happening in the background. None of it is arbitrary. In my card breakdowns I go into the symbolism where it actually adds something, because learning to read what you see in front of you is a more reliable skill than memorising definitions.

If you’re using a different deck, pay attention to what your specific deck is showing you rather than trying to map it onto imagery from a different one.

Your Complete Tarot Card Reference GuideOver 500 Pages Get All 78 Cards in One Downloadable PDF Easy Reference Whenever You Need It£5 INSTANT DOWNLOAD

Frequently Asked Questions

How many tarot cards are there?

A standard tarot deck has seventy-eight cards: twenty-two Major Arcana and fifty-six Minor Arcana. Most decks follow this structure, though some creators add extra cards or adjust the system. Worth checking the guidebook for your specific deck if anything looks unfamiliar.

Do all tarot decks have the same meanings?

The framework is broadly consistent, but artwork shifts how you read things. Different artists interpret the same card differently, and what you notice in the imagery will vary depending on which deck you're using. Pay attention to what your deck is actually showing you rather than overriding it with a definition from a different one.

Should I memorise all tarot card meanings?

No. Familiarity, not memorisation. There's a difference between knowing a card well enough that something clicks when you see it, and being able to recite a definition on demand. The first is what you're after, and that comes from using the cards, not just reading about them.

Can I learn tarot without a guidebook?

Yes. Pull cards, look at them, notice what you see, do readings. A reference point helps early on, but your experience of the cards in actual use will teach you more than reading about them ever will.

What is the best way to start learning tarot?

Most people find it easier to start with the Major Arcana before getting into the Minor. Twenty-two cards is a manageable chunk. After that, work through the suits one at a time or go for all seventy-eight at once, whatever fits how you learn. The only thing that matters is that you're using the cards, not just reading about them.