Tarot elements?

Great question, @Garnet!

I was taught the following:

The suit of wands :wand_tarot: = fire :fire_element:
The suit of cups :cup_tarot: = water :water_element:
The suit of swords :sword_tarot: = air :air_element:
The suit of pentacles/coins :pentacle_tarot: = earth :earth_element:

These elements are the basic associations for each suit, so any tarot deck that has all four suits (which should be all but the most abstract tarot decks) will have all four elements.

That being said, take a look at the imagery in the art of your tarot deck- do you see a lot of water? A lot of earth and nature? Or perhaps do many pictures depict flames and sparks?

The imagery and overall feel from your cards can help you identify if all four of the elements are displayed evenly, or if your tarot deck favors some elements over others.

For example, in my Anima Mundi deck- take a look at the cards:


Picture from Tarot Deck Review ~ Anima Mundi

Plenty of water and earth, lots of animal critters, but no fire. I consider this deck to be heavily rooted in the earth element with water and air as sub-elements. With the exception of one card (The Tower is a volcano erupting :volcano:) fire is pretty much non-existent in the deck.

This is actually something I’ve noticed in several of my decks- for whatever reason, I tend to favor decks that lean towards water and earth, and avoid decks that favor fire. If you’re up for a little reflective challenge, sit down with your decks and take some time to see what your tarot decks reveal about you? :grinning:


That being said, the balance or lack of balance in elemental imagery doesn’t make or break a deck- it’s simply something to consider when deciding if a tarot deck is right for you or not. You can always consider the element of fire whenever you draw wand cards :wand_tarot: - no matter what the visual imagery shows.

Blessed be and happy tarot readings! :flower_playing_cards: :sparkles:

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