Tarot Card Meanings

Definition

The set of interpretations conventionally attached to each of the 78 tarot cards, upright and reversed, codified in writing since the late 18th century.

Origin

The first published meanings appeared in Antoine Court de Gébelin's Le Monde Primitif (1781) and Etteilla's practical manuals of the 1780s and 1790s. Earlier card games used the cards without fixed allegorical meanings.

Development

Modern English-language meanings derive primarily from A. E. Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) and Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth (1944). Continental traditions follow Marseille-derived sources (Papus, Wirth). Each tradition has subtle differences, especially for reversed cards.

In Practice

Beginners benefit from memorising 1-2 keywords per position (upright/reversed) and growing meanings organically through practice. Advanced readers eventually replace memorised meanings with intuitive responses to specific spread contexts.

Deeper Reading

Whether tarot meanings are "real" properties of the cards or projections by the reader is a philosophical question. Both views can coexist: the cards provide structured ambiguity, and readers find within them the patterns relevant to the question asked.

See Also

• card interpretations
• card definitions
• significados de las cartas