Welcome back to the Hermit's Journey!
Today, we will be discussing the Minor Arcana suits and exploring how to best interpret these important cards. For reference, this discussion will encompass the aces up to the king cards in the suits of swords, wands, cups, and pentacles.
The Minor Arcana cards can be quite intimidating for those learning tarot, as they make up the bulk of the full tarot deck, and sometimes their meanings can blur together a bit. As a beginner, nuance is not your friend, so I will do my best to provide clear guidance to help you navigate the essence of tarot.
As mentioned previously in the blog, there are two ways to divide the Minor Arcana. The first is through numerology, which we have already covered in depth. We know that each of the four sets of cards in the Minor Arcana can be clustered together with a shared meaning. For example, when it comes to the 3s, we know that each of them deals with some sort of creative burst of energy. But, what is that energy exactly? We will answer this question today.
Elemental Principles
If you have any experience in metaphysics or even just a cursory knowledge of Avatar: The Last Airbender, you will already be aware of the four basic elements in our world: air, fire, water, and earth. These building blocks make up all matter around us, as well as our psychosocial lives. In the tarot, these elements relate to specific "domains" or "spheres" of our consciousness, which culminate to create a whole person.
It is important to note that within the elements, there are complementary and conflicting principles at work. If we consider the element of fire and water, we intuitively sense that there is going to be some tension occurring (the same goes for air and earth). The organizing principle of this conflict is expressed in the tarot through gender.
Gender in this context refers to the qualities of masculinity and femininity; rather than dichotomous sex or gender categories in our social and biological environment. Masculinity refers to the principle of acting on one's environment, while femininity refers to being receptive to one's environment. Both of these principles, while opposite each other, are both necessary to be a full human.
In the tarot, the masculine elements are swords and wands, while the cups and pentacles represent the feminine elements. Understanding the gender of the element can give us a better idea of how these suits work with and against each other. However, there are some exceptions: wands and pentacles are neither in conflict nor harmony with each other in the same way that swords and cups are not.
Tarot Tip
When giving a reading, before you start to assess the meaning of each individual card, it can be helpful to understand the mood of the reading first through an analysis of the elements present. Doing so will help you orient yourself and the querent to the theme of the reading that you will explore in more depth. Here are some tips:
Single Suit: This reading is going to be very one-sided. If the querent thinks their issue is complicated, it is not. Rather, this is an invitation to simplify one's life and go for the parsimonious answer.
Half & Half: If the Minor Arcana in the spread seem to be evenly split, then you can use your principles of conflict and harmony to orient the reading. For example, there may be an equal number of cups and wands in a spread. In this situation, you can infer that the querent feels like they are being pulled in two different directions and experiencing some turmoil. But, if the cups and the pentacles are equally present, then you can start to interpret that the querent has a healthy, feminine approach to their problem, but may have an immature masculinity that needs to be developed.
2/3 Suit: If your reading has a dominant amount of one suit but not the full spread, then you can start to assess the development of that quality. For example, let's say the spread is predominantly made up of pentacles, but there are two wands and a sword also present. In this situation, I would interpret the sword and wands to play supporting roles to the dominant focus of the pentacles. This gives the querent the insight to nurture their masculinity as it drives and supports their feminine priorities.
A Cocktail: Lastly, and most frequently, you will have a mixture of the different suits in a spread. In this case, look at when different suits are clustering and where those clusters are in relation to the rest of the suits. If you are doing a past-present-future spread with a bunch of clarifier cards, and you notice that feminine cards are tending to be drawn around the "past" side of the spread, while masculine cards are being drawn on the "future" side of the spread, you can interpret that there will need to be a change in approach to life for the querent if they wish to achieve what they are seeking.
Connecting the Major and Minor Arcana
As mentioned previously, the Major Arcana are the main points of a reading. These cards will take precedence and guide the narrative arc you are telling when doing an interpretation; however, the Minor Arcana are not just sitting in the background doing their own thing. You can think of the Minor Arcana as support cards that can provide further details or complicate the reading itself.
For example, you might have a reading where the querent is looking for ways to combat their writer's block and find their love for their craft again.
Let's say you've pulled the following cards:
The Chariot
The Star
2 of Wands
9 of Swords
Ace of Swords
6 of Wands
In this example, you would first assess the Major Arcana, which are The Chariot and The Star. These cards might stick out as both movement and perspective on the surface or possibly as the combined qualities of Cancer and Aquarius, leading you to think of managing one's emotions and leaning into one's individuality and self-actualizing goals.
Next, you'd assess the elements of the Minor Arcana. There are only masculine cards present, and they are evenly split between wands and swords. This gives you a clue that the querent might be forcing themselves too hard to enjoy and maintain their writing, and perhaps a more feminine approach is needed here.
Lastly, you'll interpret the individual cards and gather that their issue might be related to having too high expectations on themselves to write something great and receive public approval (2 of Wands; 6 of Wands). These expectations are causing them anxiety (9 of Swords), and they are losing sight of the actual work that needs to go into writing (Ace of Swords).
Thus, you might recommend that the querent needs to reevaluate their priorities with their writing and change their perspective on why they are doing what they are doing. There seems to be a disconnect between their ideal and the quality of their reality, which needs to be addressed inwardly. Further, the querent might also benefit from taking what they have currently written and working more on finding an audience for it to better provide some external feedback for their work.
Ace in the Hole Spread
As we wrap up this week's Hermit's Journey, I would like to give you another spread I hope you'll find useful in your learning. The Ace in the Hole spread was designed to help you find balance between your elements by investigating the relationships between each of the tarot suits. I would recommend that you use this spread to identify how each of the elements is relating to each other in your life and what kind of actions you can take to improve the harmony between them.
To build this spread, you will first remove each of the aces in the deck and arrange them in a diamond (see above). Then, you will shuffle the deck and draw eight cards to place at the intersections of each of the aces. Lastly, you will draw a final card to place in the middle; this card represents the overall balance in your life.
To interpret the spread, you will first start with the inside cards that connect each of the aces. These cards are a diagnostic of the relationship between each of the elements. Next, you will read the outside cards, which advise you on the best way to improve the flow between the corresponding elements. Lastly, you will read the inside card, which will give you an idea of your overall flow and tips for improving your balance in life.
Enjoy the spread, and thank you again for joining me on this week's Hermit's Journey!
-Tomlin Basilbrook
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