The King of Swords card from the Rider–Waite tarot
The Minor Arcana, sometimes known as Lesser Arcana, are the suit cards in a cartomantic tarot deck.
Ordinary tarot cards first appeared in northern Italy in the 1440s and were designed for tarot card games.[1] They typically have four suits each of 10 unillustrated pip cards numbered one (ace) to ten, along with 4 court cards (face cards). Tarot games are still widely played in central and southern Europe and 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), writing under the name Paul Christian.[2]
In their contemporary versions, the Minor Arcana are often illustrated—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.[3]
Cartomantic Tarot cards derived from Latin-suited packs typically have a Minor Arcana of 56 cards, with 14 cards in each suit: Wands (alternately batons, clubs, staffs, or staves), Cups (chalices, goblets, or vessels), Swords (or blades), and Pentacles (coins, disks, or rings). The four court cards are commonly: page, knight, queen, and 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 suits of clubs (♣), hearts (♥), spades (♠), and diamonds (♦) have only three court cards per suit, with a jack (also known as a page or knave) in addition to the queen and king.
^Husband, Tim. "Before Fortune-Telling: The History and Structure of Tarot Cards". The Met Museum. The Met Museum. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
^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
^"The Minor Arcana Tarot Cards". Tarot.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
The MinorArcana, sometimes known as Lesser Arcana, are the suit cards in a cartomantic tarot deck. Ordinary tarot cards first appeared in northern Italy...
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cards are referred to as "arcana", with the Fool and 21 trumps being termed the Major Arcana and the suit cards the MinorArcana, terms not used by players...
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consists of 78 cards, which can be split into two groups, the Major Arcana and MinorArcana. French-suited playing cards can also be used; as can any card...
convention Arcana Studio, a comic book company Major Arcana, the trumps of Tarot cards MinorArcana, the numbered pip Tarot cards Knowledge (Arcana), a skill...
Two of Cups is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries, where...
The Seven of Swords is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries...
include tarot decks. It is part of what tarot card readers call the "MinorArcana" Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
include tarot decks. It is part of what tarot card readers call the "MinorArcana". Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
include tarot decks. It is part of what tarot card readers call the "MinorArcana". Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
The Nine of Wands is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries...
The Five of Cups is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries,...
include tarot decks. It is part of what tarot card readers call the "MinorArcana". Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
The Four of Cups is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries,...
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including tarot decks. It is part of what tarot card readers call the "MinorArcana". Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
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the suit of cups. In Tarot, it is part of what card readers call the "MinorArcana", and as the first in the suit of cups, signifies beginnings in the area...
The Queen of Wands is a court card in the MinorArcana set of the tarot. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking...
The Five of Swords is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries...
include tarot decks. It is part of what tarot card readers call the MinorArcana. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
the Three of Pentacles) is part of what tarot card readers call the "MinorArcana". Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
include tarot decks. It is part of what tarot card readers call the "MinorArcana". Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games...
Seven of Cups is a MinorArcana tarot card of the suit of the cups. Generally speaking, Arthur Edward Waite describes these cups as strange chalices of...
The Two of Swords is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries...
The Six of Cups is a MinorArcana tarot card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries, where...
of Batons, is a playing card of the suit of wands. In tarot, it is a MinorArcana card. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card...
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