The Major Arcana has 22 cards that disclose greater mysteries, while the Minor Arcana is divided into four suits and contains 56 cards that reveal minor secrets. The suits of the Minor Arcana are wands, swords, cups, and pentacles. 

Each suit’s fourteen cards are made up of Ace through Ten, plus the court cards: Page (Princess), Knight (Prince), Queen, and King. The names of the decks are subject to change. The suits and individual cards are not always referred to by the same name, although their basic meanings are quite universal. 

The Knight, for example, symbolizes the King rather than the prince in some decks. The manual that comes with most decks can be used to familiarize oneself with the specifics. The Minor Arcana of the Tarot portrays everyday life, offering insight into our challenges, abilities, opportunities, and ups and downs. 

Fire is represented by wands, air by swords, water by cups, and earth by pentacles. The suits can signify a fiery personality, for example, or someone who is “up in the air” or “down to earth.” The question, the reader, the person receiving the reading, and the placement of the other cards in the spread all play a part in establishing the significance of a card. 

The Major Arcana are numbered 0 through 21 and start with The Fool and end with The World. The “Hero’s Journey,” as described in Joseph Campbell’s book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” corresponds to the turning moments in one’s life story. 

In this approach, the Major Arcana cards represent the 22 ineluctable phases or passages of the journey we’ll all take in our lives (not necessarily in this order). These phases might potentially recur multiple times during one’s life, culminating in a cyclical nature with no obvious beginning or end.