Editing Minor Arcana

{{Short description|Type of occult tarot cards}}
[[Image:Swords14.jpg|thumb|The [[King of Swords]] card from the [[Rider–Waite tarot]]]]
The '''Minor Arcana''', sometimes known as the '''Lesser Arcana''', are the [[Suit (cards)|suit cards]] in a [[Cartomancy|cartomantic]] [[tarot]] deck.

Ordinary tarot cards first appeared in northern Italy in the 1440s and were designed for [[tarot card games]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Husband |first1=Tim |title=Before Fortune-Telling: The History and Structure of Tarot Cards |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/in-season/2016/tarot |website=The Met Museum |access-date=18 September 2022}}</ref> They typically have four suits each of 10 unillustrated [[pip cards]] numbered one ([[ace]]) to ten, along with 4 [[Face card|court cards (face cards)]]. Tarot games are still widely played in central and southern Europe; [[French Tarot]] is the second most popular card game in France after [[Belote]].

By contrast, cartomantic tarot cards emerged in France in the late 18th century, popularised by occultists such as [[Etteilla]]. The terms "Major" and "Minor Arcana" originate with [[Jean-Baptiste Pitois]] (1811–1877), ''[[nom de plume]]'' Paul Christian.<ref name="DeckerDepaulisDummett">Ronald Decker, Thierry Depaulis, and Michael Dummett. ''A Wicked Pack of Cards. The Origins of the Occult Tarot''. New York. St. Martin's Press, 1996</ref>

In their contemporary versions, the Minor Arcana are often illustrated&mdash;a convention popularized by the [[Rider–Waite tarot]] in 1910. Used in a [[tarot card reading]] in conjunction with the [[Major Arcana]], the cards of the Minor Arcana suggest subtleties and details, and signify day-to-day insights.<ref name=Tarot.com>{{cite web |title=The Minor Arcana Tarot Cards |url=http://www.tarot.com/articles/tarot/about-tarot-cards-minor-arcana |publisher=Tarot.com |access-date=11 December 2014 |archive-date=11 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211041515/http://www.tarot.com/articles/tarot/about-tarot-cards-minor-arcana |url-status=live }}</ref>

Cartomantic tarot cards derived from [[Latin-suited pack]]s typically have a Minor Arcana of 56 cards, with 14 cards in each suit: [[Suit of wands|Wands]] (alternately batons, clubs, staffs, or staves), [[Suit of cups|Cups]] (chalices, goblets, or vessels), [[Suit of swords|Swords]] (or blades), and [[Suit of coins|Coins]] (pentacles, disks, or rings).  The four court cards are commonly: [[Jack (playing card)|page]] (jack or knave), [[Knight (playing card)|knight]], [[Queen (playing card)|queen]], and [[King (playing card)|king]]. Some variations have princess and prince cards replacing the page and knight cards; the historical [[Visconti-Sforza Tarot]] expands the court with two additional cards: the damsel and the mounted lady. While the historical [[Tarot of Marseilles]] contains 56 cards, later packs based on the [[French-suited playing cards|French suits]] of clubs (♣), hearts ({{Red|♥}}), spades (♠), and diamonds ({{Red|♦}}) have only three court cards per suit, with a jack in addition to the queen and king.

==Symbolism==
In [[divinatory, esoteric and occult tarot]], the Minor Arcana are believed to represent relatively mundane features of life. The court cards may represent the people whom one meets.

Each suit also has distinctive characteristics and connotations commonly held to be as follows:<ref>{{cite book |last=Dee |first=Jonathan |editor=Liz Dean |title=Tarot, An illustrated guide |year=2002 |publisher=Silverdale Books |isbn=1-85605-685-6 |chapter=Introduction to the Minor Arcana}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Latin suit
!French suit
! Element
! Class
! Faculty
|-
| [[Suit of wands|Wands, batons, clubs, staves]]
| ♣️ [[Clubs (suit)|Clubs]]
| [[Fire (classical element)|Fire]]
| Artisans
| Will and creativity
|-
| [[Suit of swords|Swords, blades]]
| ♠️ [[Spades (suit)|Spades]]
| [[Air (classical element)|Air]]
| Nobility and military
| Reason or logic, wisdom, and intellect
|-
| [[Suit of goblets|Cups, chalices, goblets, vessels]]
| ♥️ [[Hearts (suit)|Hearts]]
| [[Water (classical element)|Water]]
| Clergy
| Spiritual matters, or emotions and love
|-
| [[Suit of coins|Pentacles, coins, disks, rings]]
| ♦️ [[Diamonds (suit)|Diamonds]]
| [[Earth (classical element)|Earth]]
| Merchants
| Material matters, or possessions and career
|}

==Gallery of card suits==
Illustrations from the Rider–Waite tarot, the most popular amongst English speakers, divided by suit and arranged in ascending order of [[face value]].

===Cups===
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Cups01.jpg|[[Ace of Cups]]
image:Cups02.jpg|[[Two of Cups]]
image:Cups03.jpg|[[Three of Cups]]
image:Cups04.jpg|[[Four of Cups]]
image:Cups05.jpg|[[Five of Cups]]
image:Cups06.jpg|[[Six of Cups]]
image:Cups07.jpg|[[Seven of Cups]]
image:Cups08.jpg|[[Eight of Cups]]
image:Cups09.jpg|[[Nine of Cups]]
image:Cups10.jpg|[[Ten of Cups]]
<br>
image:Cups11.jpg|[[Page of Cups]]
image:Cups12.jpg|[[Knight of Cups]]
image:Cups13.jpg|[[Queen of Cups]]
image:Cups14.jpg|[[King of Cups]]
</gallery>

===Pentacles===
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Pents01.jpg|[[Ace of Coins|Ace of Pentacles]]
image:Pents02.jpg|[[Two of Coins|Two of Pentacles]]
image:Pents03.jpg|[[Three of Coins|Three of Pentacles]]
image:Pents04.jpg|[[Four of Coins|Four of Pentacles]]
image:Pents05.jpg|[[Five of Coins|Five of Pentacles]]
image:Pents06.jpg|[[Six of Coins|Six of Pentacles]]
image:Pents07.jpg|[[Seven of Coins|Seven of Pentacles]]
image:Pents08.jpg|[[Eight of Coins|Eight of Pentacles]]
image:Pents09.jpg|[[Nine of Coins|Nine of Pentacles]]
image:Pents10.jpg|[[Ten of Coins|Ten of Pentacles]]
<br>
image:Pents11.jpg|[[Page of Coins|Page of Pentacles]]
image:Pents12.jpg|[[Knight of Coins|Knight of Pentacles]]
image:Pents13.jpg|[[Queen of Coins|Queen of Pentacles]]
image:Pents14.jpg|[[King of Coins|King of Pentacles]]
</gallery>

===Wands===
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Wands01.jpg|[[Ace of Wands (Tarot card)|Ace of Wands]]
image:Wands02.jpg|[[Two of Wands]]
image:Wands03.jpg|[[Three of Wands]]
image:Wands04.jpg|[[Four of Wands]]
image:Wands05.jpg|[[Five of Wands]]
image:Wands06.jpg|[[Six of Wands]]
image:Wands07.jpg|[[Seven of Wands]]
image:Wands08.jpg|[[Eight of Wands]]
File:Tarot Nine of Wands.jpg|[[Nine of Wands]]
image:Wands10.jpg|[[Ten of Wands]]
<br>
image:Wands11.jpg|[[Page of Wands]]
image:Wands12.jpg|[[Knight of Wands]]
image:Wands13.jpg|[[Queen of Wands (Tarot card)|Queen of Wands]]
image:Wands14.jpg|[[King of Wands]]
</gallery>

===Swords===
<gallery mode=packed heights=135>
image:Swords01.jpg|[[Ace of Swords]]
image:Swords02.jpg|[[Two of Swords]]
image:Swords03.jpg|[[Three of Swords]]
image:Swords04.jpg|[[Four of Swords]]
image:Swords05.jpg|[[Five of Swords]]
image:Swords06.jpg|[[Six of Swords]]
image:Swords07.jpg|[[Seven of Swords]]
image:Swords08.jpg|[[Eight of Swords]]
image:Swords09.jpg|[[Nine of Swords]]
image:Swords10.jpg|[[Ten of Swords]]
<br>
image:Swords11.jpg|[[Page of Swords]]
image:Swords12.jpg|[[Knight of Swords]]
image:Swords13.jpg|[[Queen of Swords]]
image:Swords14.jpg|[[King of Swords]]
</gallery>

==Planetary associations==
In the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], number cards are associated with planets, corresponding to their placement in [[Kabbalah]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCann |first1=David |editor1-last=Houlding |editor1-first=Deborah |title=Mercury in Myth & Occult Philosophy |journal=The Traditional Astrologer |url=https://www.skyscript.co.uk/mercurymyth.html |publisher=Ascella |location=Nottingham, UK |access-date=2019-09-27 |archive-date=2019-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927044758/https://www.skyscript.co.uk/mercurymyth.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

*Threes - Saturn
*Fours - Jupiter
*Fives - Mars
*Sixes - Sun
*Sevens - Venus
*Eights - Mercury
*Nines - Moon
*Tens - Earth

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Minor Arcana}}

{{Minor Arcana}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Minor Arcana| ]]
[[Category:Tarot|Arcana, Minor]]

[[de:Tarot#Die kleinen Arkana]]