Tarot · 78 cards

Tarot card meanings and readings

A plain guide to all 78 tarot cards: what each one means upright and reversed, and what it says about love, work and money. Below are today’s card, your tarot birth card and the card of your zodiac sign.

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Upright

Your card of the day

Strength · Upright

Courage, Patience, Inner strength

One card for everyone, chosen by today’s date in Indian time and the same all day. Treat it as a theme to watch for, not a forecast.

Read the full meaning

The five groups of cards

A tarot deck has 22 Major Arcana cards for the big chapters of life and 56 Minor Arcana cards in four suits for day-to-day matters: Wands for work and drive, Cups for feelings, Swords for thoughts and decisions, Pentacles for money and the body.

Major Arcana22 cards
Wands14 cards · Fire
Cups14 cards · Water
Swords14 cards · Air
Pentacles14 cards · Earth

Find your tarot birth card

Your birth card is the Major Arcana card for the sum of your date of birth, much as numerology adds up the date to find your Bhagyank. Some dates give a single card, many give a pair that share a number, and a few give three.

How the birth card is worked out

How a tarot reading works

You bring one question
Open questions work best, such as “What should I understand about this job change?” rather than “Will I get the job?”. The guide to asking a tarot question, linked below, has 25 examples.
The cards are shuffled and laid out
The reader shuffles and lays the cards in a spread: one card for a quick theme, three for what led here, where things stand and the next step, or a larger spread such as the Celtic Cross for a full picture.
Each card is read in its place
A card’s meaning depends on its position in the spread, whether it falls upright or reversed, and the cards beside it. The Ten of Swords next to The Star reads very differently from the Ten of Swords on its own.
You leave with a clearer view
Tarot is a tool for reflection. It brings out the themes around your question and the choices in front of you. The decisions stay with you.

How to ask a tarot question · Tarot spreads for beginners

Tarot cards of the zodiac signs

In the Western tarot tradition every zodiac sign has its own Major Arcana card and three Minor Arcana cards, one for each ten-day part of the sign. Zodiac signs

All 78 tarot cards

Tarot guides for beginners

A tarot reading with Namieta

Namieta Modi gives tarot readings by video call to people anywhere in India. If your question also touches your numbers or your Kundli, she can look at those alongside the cards. Tarot card reading

Questions about tarot

How many cards are there in a tarot deck?

78. There are 22 Major Arcana cards, numbered 0 (The Fool) to 21 (The World), and 56 Minor Arcana cards in four suits of 14: Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. Each suit runs from Ace to Ten, followed by four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King.

Can tarot predict the future?

Tarot works best as a tool for reflection. The cards describe the themes around a question and the direction things are likely to take if nothing changes. They do not fix events in advance, and your own choices still shape what happens.

What does a reversed card mean?

A card that falls upside down is usually read as the same energy blocked, delayed, turned inward or overdone. The Sun reversed, for example, is still a good card, only a dimmer one. See reversed tarot cards for more examples.

Is the Death card bad?

No. Death almost never means physical death. It is read as an ending that makes room for something new: closing a chapter at work, ending a pattern in a relationship, letting go of an old habit. See the Death card and tarot myths.

How should I ask a tarot question?

Ask an open question about something you can act on, such as “What do I need to know before I sign this lease?”. Questions that ask for a date or a flat yes or no are harder for the cards to answer well. See how to ask a tarot question, with 25 examples.

How is tarot different from astrology and numerology?

Astrology reads your birth chart, and numerology reads the numbers in your date of birth and name; both describe patterns that stay with you through life. Tarot looks at one question you are holding now. See tarot, astrology or numerology.

Tarot card meanings and readings

Your card of the day

The five groups of cards

Find your tarot birth card

How a tarot reading works

You bring one question

The cards are shuffled and laid out

Each card is read in its place

You leave with a clearer view

Tarot cards of the zodiac signs

All 78 tarot cards

Major Arcana

Wands

Cups

Swords

Pentacles

Tarot guides for beginners

A tarot reading with Namieta

Questions about tarot