Aug 9, 2010

The Four Suits

Each Tarot suit represents one of the four elements, Fire, Water, Air or Earth. The Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles each correspond to an area in life. Understanding these correspondences can give a quick sense of what the cards are trying to say.. All of us deal with thoughts, emotions, finances, health, and relationships on a daily basis. Even if you don't know the precise meaning of a card, combining the suit's symbolism with the energy represented by the number of the card you can grasp of the card's interpretation.


Swords (blades, athame's)


Element: Air
Playing card suit: spades
Zodiac: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius
Season: Winter


The Swords are often misunderstood due to their reputation. Admittedly, this suit can appear to have a somber tone but Swords are about movement and struggle associated with matters of conflict, both physical and moral. Many Swords in a reading indicate action of course, but can also indicate struggle since they represent the effort before the end result. Swords govern intellectual activity and is essentially male in character and represent the intellect in its best and most controlled aspect.


Wands (staves, batons)


Element: Fire.
Playing card suit: clubs
Season: Spring
Zodiac: Leo, Aries and Sagittarius


When you think of the Wand cards, think of fire. Some decks have images of burning objects on them . Wands indicate passion and desire, ambitions, creativity, vitality, self-development, growth, and perception. The Wands present future-oriented energy that is active and inventive. .The suit of Wands has both positive and negative aspects. The negative associated with the Wands is the scorching side of the fire - restlessness, anger, violence, pride, mischief, disruption and willfulness.


Cups (goblets, chalices, cauldrons)


Element: Water
Zodiac: Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio
Playing Card Suit: Hearts
Season: Summer




The Cups focus on emotions and matters of the heart. The meaning of each Tarot card in the Cups suit tend to guide emotional questions of almost any nature. If you have a number of Cups in a readings it may indicate that emotional issues have not yet physically materialized. The realm of the Cups is filled with new promise and can represent the desire for harmonious relationships.


Pentacles (Coins and Disks)


Element: Earth
Zodiac: Taurus, Capricorn and Virgo
Playing card suit: diamonds
Season: Autumn


Pentacles stand for the actual manifestation of an idea. They are about results, fruition, realization and prosperity. Pentacles represent abundance on all different levels....not just in your wallet, but also your status, the home you are able to obtain, the lifestyle you are able to lead, the work environment that you enjoy. They gauge how well you hit the mark set by your own inner self.


1 comment:

Eliza said...

Thanks for explaining that.