Forty cards of the minor arcana show no human figures, only a number of objects: from one to ten cups, coins, swords or wands. For many beginners these are the most silent cards in the deck, especially in tarots of the Marseille tradition, where the pip cards present only a decorative arrangement of symbols. Yet there is a simple and coherent way to make them speak: read each number as a stage on a path that runs from beginning to completion.
Two traditions of imagery
Before turning to the numbers, it is useful to recall a difference between decks.
- In Marseille tarots the pip cards are "non-scenic": one sees only the cups, the coins, the crossed swords or the interlaced wands, with floral motifs. The reader must derive the meaning from the number and the suit.
- In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck every pip card has a scene: a person working, celebrating, weeping, resting. Pamela Colman Smith drew on, at least for some cards, a fifteenth-century Italian deck, the Sola Busca, one of the few early decks with fully illustrated pip cards.
The scenes help beginners a great deal, but they can also make the reading rigid. Knowing the symbolic value of the number allows you to read any deck.
The path of the ten numbers
Here is a key many readers share, though with different nuances.
| Number | Stage | Keyword |
|---|---|---|
| Ace | The seed, pure potential | Origin |
| Two | Encounter, choice, polarity | Relationship |
| Three | First expression, growth | Development |
| Four | Structure, stability | Foundation |
| Five | Crisis, challenge, movement | Trial |
| Six | Harmony regained, exchange | Balance |
| Seven | Reflection, assessment | Search |
| Eight | Organised strength, rhythm | Mastery |
| Nine | Ripening, almost the goal | Fullness |
| Ten | Completion, the close of the cycle | Conclusion |
Remember that the Ten, in its completion, already contains a passage: the end of one cycle prepares a new Ace. It is the same principle that, in the major arcana, brings the Fool back after the World.
Combining number and suit
The concrete meaning of a card arises from the meeting of number and suit. Let us look at some examples.
The Aces
The Ace of Cups is the opening of the heart; the Ace of Coins a concrete opportunity; the Ace of Swords a clear insight or a sharp decision; the Ace of Wands a spark of creative energy. They are the roots of each suit.
The Fives
The five breaks the stability of the four. In cups it may indicate an emotional disappointment; in coins a material hardship; in swords a conflict that leaves bitterness; in wands a competition or heated confrontation. In every case there is a trial to pass through.
The Nines
The nine is almost the end. In cups it is often read as satisfaction; in coins as independence achieved; in swords as night-time worry, the mind that finds no peace; in wands as endurance after many trials. The same number, in different suits, takes on tones that can even be opposite.
A method for practising
A useful exercise is to lay out in a row the ten cards of a single suit, from Ace to Ten, and tell a story that runs through all of them. For example, with coins: an opportunity arises (Ace), one must choose how to handle it (Two), work begins with others (Three), the result is consolidated (Four), a difficulty arrives (Five), a fair exchange is restored (Six), the harvest is patiently assessed (Seven), one refines one's skill (Eight), one enjoys what has been built (Nine), something is passed on to the next generation (Ten).
By repeating the exercise with each suit, the pip cards stop being silent and become chapters of four parallel stories.
An example reading
Someone asks how a period of inner change is going. The Five of Cups, the Six of Cups and the Eight of Cups come up. The numerical path is evident: a disappointment, a return to comforting memories and affections, and finally the choice to move away from what no longer nourishes in order to seek something else. Even without knowing the scenes on the individual cards, the progression of numbers tells a coherent story.
In short
- The forty pip cards run from Ace to Ten in each of the four suits.
- Marseille decks have unillustrated pip cards; the Rider-Waite-Smith depicts them with scenes.
- Each number marks a stage: origin, relationship, development, foundation, trial, balance, search, mastery, fullness, conclusion.
- The concrete meaning arises from combining number and suit.
- Telling the ten cards of a suit in sequence is an excellent learning exercise.
