T he minor arcana are the fifty-six cards in the deck composed of the four suits and their association with the elements. There is a debate among the tarot community as to which came first, playing cards or the tarot? Most historical evidence points to decks of playing cards using four suits associated with the elements were around centuries before the formalized tarot emerged in the mid 1500s. Versions of cards with suits and varying numbers of court cards have been in use for hundreds of years. Contemporary playing cards clearly associate the minor arcana with the following connections, respectively: disks/pentacles—diamonds—earth; cups—hearts—water; swords—spades—air; wands—clubs—fire.
The popularization of tarot by Arthur Waite and Pamela Colman Smith portrayed figures engaged in activities, thus deepening the meaning of the minor arcana and making them more accessible for anyone to read. Each of the minor arcana cards are situational archetypes which illustrate processes moving more quickly through our lives than the major arcana. They are not as powerful as the major arcana archetypes and yet still have clear indicators to help us better understand our relationships, career, health, creative projects, home situations, and more.
The most important aspects of developing your understanding of the minor arcana besides practice is through studying the elements and the numerology of each card. Spending time connecting to each element—earth, water, air, and fire—allows you to develop an embodied and personal connection to each suit. The following explanations of the minor arcana include ceremonies, exercises, and visualizations to assist in your practice of working and using the elements in association with the minor cards helps you to embody the tarot as a living system. Reading through and contemplating the numerology of the cards will anchor your ability to give readings for self and others more quickly and effectively.
Elemental Practices
The elements are directly connected to the minor arcana and will offer deeper insights into both the suits and court cards. To deepen your connection to the elements in relation to the minor arcana, choose one of the four elements and spend two weeks (fourteen days) practicing a fifteen-minute meditation on the element. Fourteen days allows for a practice of one day per card for the minors which include ten numbered cards plus four court cards. This also corresponds to the moon cycle and can be started on the day of the full or new moon to enhance your practice. Each day, contemplate the minor arcana and element associated with that suit. For example, if you want to work with the cups and water, start with the Ace of Cups and then follow progressively through the suit from ace to king, one card per day.
While you are working on that particular suit, also take time to delve into the qualities, insights, and essences of that particular element. It is helpful to make an offering each day before your practice. For example: earth, offer some rice or salt; air, offer incense; water, offer water in a small bowl; fire, offer flame by lighting a candle. Meditate for fifteen minutes contemplating the element and feeling into its qualities, how it shows up in your life through your body, the weather, in the food and drink you take in, as well as energetically through thoughts and emotions. Write down any insights that arise from the meditation. Link the quality of the element with the particular minor arcana with which you are working. Notice how a teaching may arise during the day that connects you to the card. Embodying the minor arcana in this way will provide powerful insights into the cards to strengthen your practice.