November 21, 2024 • 17 mins
Today on CARD TALK, I’ll cover:
-what the minor arcana is
-pips vs. court cards
-why "mundane" isn't exactly the same as "boring"
-ways to understand these cards
-ways to get to know these cards
-basic keywords for elements and numbers
Additional resources:
Call Your Coven podcast
Devils & Digits and Card Connections through the 3am.tarot conservatory
Free elements email series
Free tarot by the numbers lecture
devils & fools silver membership exploring numerology
For more on Meg, check out 3amtarot.com, and order your copy of Finding the Fool through Bookshop.org or your favorite local bookstore.
Find episode transcripts and more over on the CARD TALK website. And as a special thank you for CARD TALK listeners, click here to download a completely free, exclusive workbook for building your best personal tarot practice.
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CARD TALK is written, edited, and produced by Meg Jones Wall of 3am.tarot. Theme music created by PaulYudin.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I'm Meg Jones-Wall and this is Card Talk, a mini
podcast for tarot basics andevergreen insights.
I'm here to help you build atarot practice that works for
you.
Glad you're here.
Glad you're here.
In today's episode, we aregoing to be talking about the
(00:32):
minor arcana pips, which is tosay, the numbered suited cards
in the tarot's minor arcana.
Now, we've been talking aboutthe major arcana, about
different ways that you canunderstand them and also
different ways that you caninterpret them in your readings,
and while I did take a fewweeks to offer some election
support, now we're going toshift our focus to the minor
arcana, starting today with aquick introduction into what
these cards are.
Now, if the major arcana arethe cards with names or the
(00:54):
named cards, the minor arcana ingeneral are the suited cards,
of which there are 56 total.
Remember, we have 78 cards inthe deck 22 majors, and so the
remainder of the deck are theminor arcana.
Now, each of the four suitsthat make up the minor arcana
contain 14 cards.
These include the pips, whichare the numbered cards one
through 10 or ace through 10, aswell as the court cards, which
(01:18):
are often drawn or depicted ashuman figures or sometimes
animal figures and include fourdifferent ranks or types of
people.
Now this episode and the onefollowing is going to be
specifically on the pips, whichare those numbered cards, but
don't worry, because after thatI'm going to cover the court
cards In general.
When we think about the numberedcards, or the pips of the minor
arcana, we're often thinkingabout these as our everyday
(01:41):
cards.
These are cards that are reallycommonly read to reflect more
mundane activities advice,emotions, connections or
interrogations.
Every suit in the minor arcanais often associated with a
particular kind of energy ordrive or aspect of life and
follows a particular kind ofjourney.
Because these cards areliterally numbered, every card,
(02:02):
by definition, is going to beassociated with a specific
number or have a numerologicalcorrespondence of one through 10
.
Additionally, many people,myself included, also associate
each of the four suits with oneof the four classical elements,
and I'll talk about that in moredetail in a moment.
Now, I mentioned that thesecards are often read to reflect
mundane activities, and I wantto be clear that I think we
(02:25):
actually do ourselves and thetarot itself a disservice when
we conflate something beingmundane or every day with it not
being important.
Mundane is a word with a lot ofdifferent meanings and while
some of those meanings doconnect to ideas like boredom or
tedium, I really personallyprefer the definitions of
mundane that are around material, common, terrestrial, normal,
(02:48):
carnal, earthy, day-to-day, thatkind of thing.
The minor arcana pip cards arenot boring, nor are they
insignificant, but these arecards that reflect our lived
experience as human beings, incontrast with the majors, which
are often talked about as beingthese larger-than significant
spiritual or collectiveexperiences or transformations
(03:09):
or discoveries.
The majors can feel really bigwhile the minors often feel a
little easier to kind of wrapour hands on our minds around.
For example, you might notimmediately know exactly what a
chariot day would look likeright, In a tangible way.
You might not necessarily havean immediate idea of how that
energy is going to show up inyour life or what that might
feel like for you, but you mighthave a better idea of what a
(03:33):
seven of cups day might look orfeel like for you.
That might feel a little biteasier to relate to.
And that's kind of what I'mtalking about when I say that
these cards are mundane.
It's not that they're boring oruninteresting or unimportant,
but they are a little bit moretangible and grounded in our
daily experience.
Because these cards are a littlebit simpler and they have this
(03:54):
more tangible connection todaily life, and because of their
built-in correspondences aroundnumerology and the elements, I
think that the Minor Arcana Pipscan actually be some of the
easier cards for people toconnect to when they're starting
out with the tarot, especiallyif you're looking at imagery
from the Solibusca deck or theRider-Waite-Smith deck or decks
that are inspired by thoseimagery traditions.
(04:15):
They're really going to seescenes from daily life depicted
right on those cards.
So pips can offer us a reallyimmediate way to start to
connect personally to each partof the story through our own
daily experiences.
But this isn't just about yourliteral kind of mundane daily
activities.
The minors can really hold alot of depth, especially if you
(04:36):
read them in a Marseille style,the way that I do.
We can look at the variouscorrespondences for these cards
and think about all of the waysthat the different
correspondences intersect.
Now, to be clear, just becausesomething doesn't significantly
impact the entire trajectory ofyour life doesn't mean it can't
still feel like a big deal inthe moment when it's happening,
in other words, every daydoesn't mean that these cards
(04:58):
can't still representexperiences that might feel
challenging, like grief, loss,pain, loneliness, anger,
frustration, sadness, confusion,stagnation, obstacles,
anxieties, illness and so muchmore, but in the same way, the
other side of that coin right,is that these cards can also
explore the most beautiful partsof being a human, like joy,
(05:20):
connection, satisfaction, healthacceptance, momentum connection
satisfaction, health acceptance, momentum, creativity,
expression, wonder,no-transcript.
I think that when you'regetting to know this portion of
the tarot, this section of theminor arcana, they can feel a
little bit strange or hard toconnect to or overwhelming,
(05:40):
simply because there's so manyof them.
But when you start to breakthem down into their groups and
see them as just as important asthe majors, you can start to
build some really coolconnections, and I'm going to
talk you through some differentways that you can do that.
Right now, just like in theintroduction to major arcana
archetypes episode, I'm going tooffer you a couple of different
ways to think about and workwith these cards from a study
(06:02):
perspective, or, in other words,this is going to be about ways
that you can spend time with thecards outside of readings.
But in the next episode I'mgoing to provide you some
additional advice for how youcan start to process these cards
or interpret them when theyshow up in your readings.
We're going to cover both baseshere.
(06:22):
So first, how can we see thesecards?
How can we understand the pipsbeyond or outside of our
readings?
My three major suggestions forhow you can see these cards
might not surprise you.
The first is as story beats oras parts of a journey or moments
of a narrative or sections of astory that is happening, a
story arc.
The second is as dailyexperiences.
These can be reflections of oureveryday lives, things that we
(06:44):
might be actively feeling orthinking or pursuing or creating
.
And the third way to see themis as energies, as feelings or
sensations or activations ormotivations PIPs representing
ways of being and feeling,representations really of the
literal energy that we'reholding right now.
If you just listened to themajor arcana episodes and you're
(07:05):
thinking, huh, meg, that's kindof similar to the major arcana
archetypes, then yes, welcome.
You're right, they're all tarotcards.
You don't have to interpret theminor arcana pips in a
completely different way thatyou interpret the majors or any
other card in the deck.
I find the minor arcana pips tobe particularly grounded in the
here and now.
I think of all the cards in thedeck.
(07:26):
They are the most relatable ina tangible, practical, everyday
way because they are connectedto the physical experience of
being a human being, and soseeing them as daily experiences
and starting to connect yourown daily experiences to
specific cards can be a reallyparticularly helpful way to
start understanding them andbuilding a personal relationship
(07:46):
with or map for those cards.
Now, when it comes to strategiesfor actually getting to know
these cards and starting to diga little bit deeper than the
basic meanings that you mightfind in whatever little white
book came with your deck, Ireally do think that study and
correspondences is the best wayto go.
It's my personal favorite wayto build deeper relationships
(08:07):
with these cards in particular,again, because I do read in a
Marseille style and focusing onthe numerology and the elements
is really key to that style ofreading.
Now, in a practical sense, thismeans first spending some time
with the elements andconsidering how each suit could
be an exploration of thatelement, how the suit represents
different energies of thatelement, how the suit shows
(08:29):
different expressions of thatelement, how the suit displays
various ways that the elementcan be used as a tool or a
medicine or a way of being, etcetera.
Right.
Working with the elements andallowing those elements to
become a really present part ofyour interpretation of the cards
is going to help make yourrelationship with the pips
immediately more tactile andmore tangible, and it can also
(08:51):
just help you connect with themmore easily in a personal way.
If you don't know anythingabout the elements, that's
totally okay.
I have a free, very basicintroductory email course you
can check out.
I'll include a link in the shownotes.
But the elements in general arereally fun to work with.
There are a lot of simple waysin your daily life that you can
start to pay attention to theelements and you can start to
(09:11):
connect the elements to thevarious parts of your life.
Now, if you're brand new andyou don't really understand what
I'm talking about, that'stotally fine.
I'm going to quickly rattle offjust a few basic keywords for
each of the four suits to helpyou understand what I mean.
I want you to start thinking ofeach suit as a story or as a
narrative that starts with aceand ends with the nine and the
(09:32):
10.
And to think about how thosesuits might connect or tell
stories connected to variousaspects of your life or human
experience.
First, let's talk about the suitof wands quickly Now.
I tend to associate this suitwith the element of fire, but
some people do associate it withthe element of air.
So, depending on whichresources you're looking at, you
might see one or the other, butI consistently talk about wands
(09:54):
as connected to fire, and sofor me, you can think about this
as the suit of instinct, andyou can think about the story of
the suit of wands as tellingnarratives around motivation,
passion, energy, creativity,eroticism, pursuit and
expression.
The next suit I'll mention isthe suit of swords, which again
(10:15):
you might see.
Some people associate that withthe element of fire, but I
always associate it with theelement of air, which means that
this is our suit of intellect,and we can see this as a suit
that tells stories of analysis,perception, information,
comprehension and communication.
Next is the suit of cups, andgenerally this is pretty
universally associated with theelement of water.
(10:37):
We can see this as our suit ofemotion, one that's telling
stories of connection,relationship, intimacy,
vulnerability, sensitivity,faith and observation.
And, last but not least, Iassociate pentacles with the
element of earth, and I thinkthat's fairly common as well.
You can think about this as oursuit of embodiment, and this is
(10:58):
all about telling stories ofphysicality, sensuality,
resources, experience,responsibility and legacy.
Beyond the elements, you canalso get to know these minor
arcana pips by studying thenumbers one through 10, which
helps with the idea of story ingeneral, as well as more general
vibes or general energy.
(11:19):
Now, numerology is a big topicand there are a number of
different kinds of numerology,but I talk a lot about
Pythagorean numerologyspecifically because it really
helped me understand tarot as awhole when I started to learn
numerology, especially withinthe minor arcana.
It just made everything clickinto place for me in a way that
was deeply relatable and that Ifeel very passionate about
(11:41):
passing on to others.
Now, just like with the freeelements course that I have, I
also do have a free lecture ontarot numerology If you're brand
new to this and want some morein-depth information than what
I'm about to offer here.
But I do also have a bigstandalone course called devils
and digits that's availablethrough my monthly membership
conservatory program, and I alsohave a tier actually that
(12:02):
explores tarot numerology on mynewsletter.
It's the silver tier, so I'llinclude links to both of those
in the show notes as well Ifyou're really intrigued by tarot
numerology and want to learnmore.
Just to give you a jumping offpoint here, I'm going to give
you one keyword to keep in mindfor each of the numbers in the
(12:23):
minor arcana pips For the numberone or for aces.
I want you to think aboutinitiation.
For the number two, I want youto think about decision.
For number three, expression.
Number four, foundation.
Number five, expansion.
Number six, connection.
Number seven, interrogation.
Number eight, devotion.
Number nine, revelation.
(12:45):
And number 10, completion andtransition.
Now I have big plans for CardTalk.
I have so many more episodes torecord around this.
I plan to do episodes on eachelement, each suit, each number
and each individual cardeventually.
But it's going to take a whileto get to all of that, which is
why I wanted to start you oneach element, each suit, each
number and each individual cardeventually.
But it's going to take a whileto get to all of that, which is
(13:05):
why I wanted to start you offwith some basic information so
that you can start to connectthese cards together through
correspondences and in a varietyof ways that are going to work
for you.
But if you just can't wait oryou want more from me
specifically on these topics,might I recommend my first book,
finding the Fool A TerraJourney to Radical
Transformation.
It's a really great companionfor keywords.
It includes correspondences onnumerology, astrology and the
(13:28):
elements, and it also featuresembodied descriptions and
journal prompts.
For every card in the deck it'sless than 20 bucks.
It's available everywhere andalso at libraries.
So if buying a new book is notin the cards for you right now,
sorry about the pun.
That really was an accident.
If buying a new book is not inthe cards for you right now,
sorry about the pun.
That really was an accident.
If buying a new book for you,it's just not affordable right
now, that's totally fine.
Request it from your locallibrary.
You should be able to find it.
(13:48):
But especially if you'restruggling with the minors, I
really do recommend focusing onthose correspondences and
numerology in particular.
It completely changed the gamefor me when I was learning tarot
.
Now I always like to end theseepisodes with a tip or a trick,
and while this entire episodehas kind of been a practical tip
or trick, I want to just letyou know that in a general sense
, I do urge you to start lettingthese cards become real to you,
(14:11):
to make them personal, to startfinding ways to connect them to
actual parts of your life,instead of just theoretical
things that could happen to youor that you might do life,
instead of just theoreticalthings that could happen to you
or that you might do.
Find connections between eachof these suits and each of these
cards and real parts of yourpersonality, your life, your
community, your history.
Really start to breathe lifeinto them, and don't be afraid
(14:31):
to get kind of weird with it orget sort of silly with these
cards.
It's okay to make these cardsyour own, even if it feels
strange.
No one else has to understandit, but you.
This is really about you.
Now, if you're using an olderdeck or a Rider-Waite-Smith
style deck or the imagery on thecard doesn't necessarily have
anything to do with your life.
Let yourself reimagine it.
Like look, I don't know you, Idon't know your life, but I
(14:54):
personally never sleep with fourswords dangling over my head
and it's definitely not relaxing.
Yet for a lot of folks, that'show they're going to interpret
the four of swords from theminor arcana.
It gets interpreted as thiscard of mental rest and mental
boundaries, which is just to sayget creative, get curious, get
weird and don't be afraid toexplore those correspondences in
(15:14):
surprising ways.
Let them take you to someplaces and develop some
interpretations that might feelreally different than what you
start to see in your deck'simagery.
Don't be afraid to do that.
Now I know I've alreadymentioned a couple of resources,
but I do want to mention onemore.
If you want help thinkingbeyond the imagery of your deck
and you don't want to buy 10more decks, I also do have a
journaling series called CardConnections that's specifically
(15:37):
designed to help you buildpersonal relationships and
meanings for every single cardin the deck.
It's only available through theconservatory membership that I
have, but you can.
Even if you can't afford thator it's just not something
you're interested in doing rightnow, you can absolutely do this
on your own, just by lettingyourself think outside of the
box, start to build thosepersonal connections to the
cards and spend timeunderstanding the
(15:59):
correspondences.
It does take a while.
This isn't something you'regoing to start to do overnight,
but it is worth it and it'sgoing to make your work with the
tarot a lot more dynamic,engaging and personal.
That is all I have for you today, but, as always, thank you so
much for spending this time withme, sending you a lot of love
and safety right now, and I willbe back again soon with more
card talk, card talk.
(16:21):
Lot of love and safety rightnow, and I will be back again
soon with more Card Talk.
Card Talk episodes are alwaysfree for everyone to enjoy, so
if you love what you hear,please consider supporting the
podcast by subscribing,recommending Card Talk to a
friend or two or donating tohelp with production costs.
You can find episodetranscripts.
Learn more about me and join mysignature Tarot Conservatory
membership program through mywebsite, 3amtarotcom.
(16:42):
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time.
I'm Meg Jones-Wall and this is Card Talk, a mini
podcast for tarot basics andevergreen insights.
I'm here to help you build atarot practice that works for
you.
Glad you're here.
Glad you're here.
In today's episode, we aregoing to be talking about the
(00:32):
minor arcana pips, which is tosay, the numbered suited cards
in the tarot's minor arcana.
Now, we've been talking aboutthe major arcana, about
different ways that you canunderstand them and also
different ways that you caninterpret them in your readings,
and while I did take a fewweeks to offer some election
support, now we're going toshift our focus to the minor
arcana, starting today with aquick introduction into what
these cards are.
Now, if the major arcana arethe cards with names or the
(00:54):
named cards, the minor arcana ingeneral are the suited cards,
of which there are 56 total.
Remember, we have 78 cards inthe deck 22 majors, and so the
remainder of the deck are theminor arcana.
Now, each of the four suitsthat make up the minor arcana
contain 14 cards.
These include the pips, whichare the numbered cards one
through 10 or ace through 10, aswell as the court cards, which
(01:18):
are often drawn or depicted ashuman figures or sometimes
animal figures and include fourdifferent ranks or types of
people.
Now this episode and the onefollowing is going to be
specifically on the pips, whichare those numbered cards, but
don't worry, because after thatI'm going to cover the court
cards In general.
When we think about the numberedcards, or the pips of the minor
arcana, we're often thinkingabout these as our everyday
(01:41):
cards.
These are cards that are reallycommonly read to reflect more
mundane activities advice,emotions, connections or
interrogations.
Every suit in the minor arcanais often associated with a
particular kind of energy ordrive or aspect of life and
follows a particular kind ofjourney.
Because these cards areliterally numbered, every card,
(02:02):
by definition, is going to beassociated with a specific
number or have a numerologicalcorrespondence of one through 10
.
Additionally, many people,myself included, also associate
each of the four suits with oneof the four classical elements,
and I'll talk about that in moredetail in a moment.
Now, I mentioned that thesecards are often read to reflect
mundane activities, and I wantto be clear that I think we
(02:25):
actually do ourselves and thetarot itself a disservice when
we conflate something beingmundane or every day with it not
being important.
Mundane is a word with a lot ofdifferent meanings and while
some of those meanings doconnect to ideas like boredom or
tedium, I really personallyprefer the definitions of
mundane that are around material, common, terrestrial, normal,
(02:48):
carnal, earthy, day-to-day, thatkind of thing.
The minor arcana pip cards arenot boring, nor are they
insignificant, but these arecards that reflect our lived
experience as human beings, incontrast with the majors, which
are often talked about as beingthese larger-than significant
spiritual or collectiveexperiences or transformations
(03:09):
or discoveries.
The majors can feel really bigwhile the minors often feel a
little easier to kind of wrapour hands on our minds around.
For example, you might notimmediately know exactly what a
chariot day would look likeright, In a tangible way.
You might not necessarily havean immediate idea of how that
energy is going to show up inyour life or what that might
feel like for you, but you mighthave a better idea of what a
(03:33):
seven of cups day might look orfeel like for you.
That might feel a little biteasier to relate to.
And that's kind of what I'mtalking about when I say that
these cards are mundane.
It's not that they're boring oruninteresting or unimportant,
but they are a little bit moretangible and grounded in our
daily experience.
Because these cards are a littlebit simpler and they have this
(03:54):
more tangible connection todaily life, and because of their
built-in correspondences aroundnumerology and the elements, I
think that the Minor Arcana Pipscan actually be some of the
easier cards for people toconnect to when they're starting
out with the tarot, especiallyif you're looking at imagery
from the Solibusca deck or theRider-Waite-Smith deck or decks
that are inspired by thoseimagery traditions.
(04:15):
They're really going to seescenes from daily life depicted
right on those cards.
So pips can offer us a reallyimmediate way to start to
connect personally to each partof the story through our own
daily experiences.
But this isn't just about yourliteral kind of mundane daily
activities.
The minors can really hold alot of depth, especially if you
(04:36):
read them in a Marseille style,the way that I do.
We can look at the variouscorrespondences for these cards
and think about all of the waysthat the different
correspondences intersect.
Now, to be clear, just becausesomething doesn't significantly
impact the entire trajectory ofyour life doesn't mean it can't
still feel like a big deal inthe moment when it's happening,
in other words, every daydoesn't mean that these cards
(04:58):
can't still representexperiences that might feel
challenging, like grief, loss,pain, loneliness, anger,
frustration, sadness, confusion,stagnation, obstacles,
anxieties, illness and so muchmore, but in the same way, the
other side of that coin right,is that these cards can also
explore the most beautiful partsof being a human, like joy,
(05:20):
connection, satisfaction, healthacceptance, momentum connection
satisfaction, health acceptance, momentum, creativity,
expression, wonder,no-transcript.
I think that when you'regetting to know this portion of
the tarot, this section of theminor arcana, they can feel a
little bit strange or hard toconnect to or overwhelming,
(05:40):
simply because there's so manyof them.
But when you start to breakthem down into their groups and
see them as just as important asthe majors, you can start to
build some really coolconnections, and I'm going to
talk you through some differentways that you can do that.
Right now, just like in theintroduction to major arcana
archetypes episode, I'm going tooffer you a couple of different
ways to think about and workwith these cards from a study
(06:02):
perspective, or, in other words,this is going to be about ways
that you can spend time with thecards outside of readings.
But in the next episode I'mgoing to provide you some
additional advice for how youcan start to process these cards
or interpret them when theyshow up in your readings.
We're going to cover both baseshere.
(06:22):
So first, how can we see thesecards?
How can we understand the pipsbeyond or outside of our
readings?
My three major suggestions forhow you can see these cards
might not surprise you.
The first is as story beats oras parts of a journey or moments
of a narrative or sections of astory that is happening, a
story arc.
The second is as dailyexperiences.
These can be reflections of oureveryday lives, things that we
(06:44):
might be actively feeling orthinking or pursuing or creating
.
And the third way to see themis as energies, as feelings or
sensations or activations ormotivations PIPs representing
ways of being and feeling,representations really of the
literal energy that we'reholding right now.
If you just listened to themajor arcana episodes and you're
(07:05):
thinking, huh, meg, that's kindof similar to the major arcana
archetypes, then yes, welcome.
You're right, they're all tarotcards.
You don't have to interpret theminor arcana pips in a
completely different way thatyou interpret the majors or any
other card in the deck.
I find the minor arcana pips tobe particularly grounded in the
here and now.
I think of all the cards in thedeck.
(07:26):
They are the most relatable ina tangible, practical, everyday
way because they are connectedto the physical experience of
being a human being, and soseeing them as daily experiences
and starting to connect yourown daily experiences to
specific cards can be a reallyparticularly helpful way to
start understanding them andbuilding a personal relationship
(07:46):
with or map for those cards.
Now, when it comes to strategiesfor actually getting to know
these cards and starting to diga little bit deeper than the
basic meanings that you mightfind in whatever little white
book came with your deck, Ireally do think that study and
correspondences is the best wayto go.
It's my personal favorite wayto build deeper relationships
(08:07):
with these cards in particular,again, because I do read in a
Marseille style and focusing onthe numerology and the elements
is really key to that style ofreading.
Now, in a practical sense, thismeans first spending some time
with the elements andconsidering how each suit could
be an exploration of thatelement, how the suit represents
different energies of thatelement, how the suit shows
(08:29):
different expressions of thatelement, how the suit displays
various ways that the elementcan be used as a tool or a
medicine or a way of being, etcetera.
Right.
Working with the elements andallowing those elements to
become a really present part ofyour interpretation of the cards
is going to help make yourrelationship with the pips
immediately more tactile andmore tangible, and it can also
(08:51):
just help you connect with themmore easily in a personal way.
If you don't know anythingabout the elements, that's
totally okay.
I have a free, very basicintroductory email course you
can check out.
I'll include a link in the shownotes.
But the elements in general arereally fun to work with.
There are a lot of simple waysin your daily life that you can
start to pay attention to theelements and you can start to
(09:11):
connect the elements to thevarious parts of your life.
Now, if you're brand new andyou don't really understand what
I'm talking about, that'stotally fine.
I'm going to quickly rattle offjust a few basic keywords for
each of the four suits to helpyou understand what I mean.
I want you to start thinking ofeach suit as a story or as a
narrative that starts with aceand ends with the nine and the
(09:32):
10.
And to think about how thosesuits might connect or tell
stories connected to variousaspects of your life or human
experience.
First, let's talk about the suitof wands quickly Now.
I tend to associate this suitwith the element of fire, but
some people do associate it withthe element of air.
So, depending on whichresources you're looking at, you
might see one or the other, butI consistently talk about wands
(09:54):
as connected to fire, and sofor me, you can think about this
as the suit of instinct, andyou can think about the story of
the suit of wands as tellingnarratives around motivation,
passion, energy, creativity,eroticism, pursuit and
expression.
The next suit I'll mention isthe suit of swords, which again
(10:15):
you might see.
Some people associate that withthe element of fire, but I
always associate it with theelement of air, which means that
this is our suit of intellect,and we can see this as a suit
that tells stories of analysis,perception, information,
comprehension and communication.
Next is the suit of cups, andgenerally this is pretty
universally associated with theelement of water.
(10:37):
We can see this as our suit ofemotion, one that's telling
stories of connection,relationship, intimacy,
vulnerability, sensitivity,faith and observation.
And, last but not least, Iassociate pentacles with the
element of earth, and I thinkthat's fairly common as well.
You can think about this as oursuit of embodiment, and this is
(10:58):
all about telling stories ofphysicality, sensuality,
resources, experience,responsibility and legacy.
Beyond the elements, you canalso get to know these minor
arcana pips by studying thenumbers one through 10, which
helps with the idea of story ingeneral, as well as more general
vibes or general energy.
(11:19):
Now, numerology is a big topicand there are a number of
different kinds of numerology,but I talk a lot about
Pythagorean numerologyspecifically because it really
helped me understand tarot as awhole when I started to learn
numerology, especially withinthe minor arcana.
It just made everything clickinto place for me in a way that
was deeply relatable and that Ifeel very passionate about
(11:41):
passing on to others.
Now, just like with the freeelements course that I have, I
also do have a free lecture ontarot numerology If you're brand
new to this and want some morein-depth information than what
I'm about to offer here.
But I do also have a bigstandalone course called devils
and digits that's availablethrough my monthly membership
conservatory program, and I alsohave a tier actually that
(12:02):
explores tarot numerology on mynewsletter.
It's the silver tier, so I'llinclude links to both of those
in the show notes as well Ifyou're really intrigued by tarot
numerology and want to learnmore.
Just to give you a jumping offpoint here, I'm going to give
you one keyword to keep in mindfor each of the numbers in the
(12:23):
minor arcana pips For the numberone or for aces.
I want you to think aboutinitiation.
For the number two, I want youto think about decision.
For number three, expression.
Number four, foundation.
Number five, expansion.
Number six, connection.
Number seven, interrogation.
Number eight, devotion.
Number nine, revelation.
(12:45):
And number 10, completion andtransition.
Now I have big plans for CardTalk.
I have so many more episodes torecord around this.
I plan to do episodes on eachelement, each suit, each number
and each individual cardeventually.
But it's going to take a whileto get to all of that, which is
why I wanted to start you oneach element, each suit, each
number and each individual cardeventually.
But it's going to take a whileto get to all of that, which is
(13:05):
why I wanted to start you offwith some basic information so
that you can start to connectthese cards together through
correspondences and in a varietyof ways that are going to work
for you.
But if you just can't wait oryou want more from me
specifically on these topics,might I recommend my first book,
finding the Fool A TerraJourney to Radical
Transformation.
It's a really great companionfor keywords.
It includes correspondences onnumerology, astrology and the
(13:28):
elements, and it also featuresembodied descriptions and
journal prompts.
For every card in the deck it'sless than 20 bucks.
It's available everywhere andalso at libraries.
So if buying a new book is notin the cards for you right now,
sorry about the pun.
That really was an accident.
If buying a new book is not inthe cards for you right now,
sorry about the pun.
That really was an accident.
If buying a new book for you,it's just not affordable right
now, that's totally fine.
Request it from your locallibrary.
You should be able to find it.
(13:48):
But especially if you'restruggling with the minors, I
really do recommend focusing onthose correspondences and
numerology in particular.
It completely changed the gamefor me when I was learning tarot
.
Now I always like to end theseepisodes with a tip or a trick,
and while this entire episodehas kind of been a practical tip
or trick, I want to just letyou know that in a general sense
, I do urge you to start lettingthese cards become real to you,
(14:11):
to make them personal, to startfinding ways to connect them to
actual parts of your life,instead of just theoretical
things that could happen to youor that you might do life,
instead of just theoreticalthings that could happen to you
or that you might do.
Find connections between eachof these suits and each of these
cards and real parts of yourpersonality, your life, your
community, your history.
Really start to breathe lifeinto them, and don't be afraid
(14:31):
to get kind of weird with it orget sort of silly with these
cards.
It's okay to make these cardsyour own, even if it feels
strange.
No one else has to understandit, but you.
This is really about you.
Now, if you're using an olderdeck or a Rider-Waite-Smith
style deck or the imagery on thecard doesn't necessarily have
anything to do with your life.
Let yourself reimagine it.
Like look, I don't know you, Idon't know your life, but I
(14:54):
personally never sleep with fourswords dangling over my head
and it's definitely not relaxing.
Yet for a lot of folks, that'show they're going to interpret
the four of swords from theminor arcana.
It gets interpreted as thiscard of mental rest and mental
boundaries, which is just to sayget creative, get curious, get
weird and don't be afraid toexplore those correspondences in
(15:14):
surprising ways.
Let them take you to someplaces and develop some
interpretations that might feelreally different than what you
start to see in your deck'simagery.
Don't be afraid to do that.
Now I know I've alreadymentioned a couple of resources,
but I do want to mention onemore.
If you want help thinkingbeyond the imagery of your deck
and you don't want to buy 10more decks, I also do have a
journaling series called CardConnections that's specifically
(15:37):
designed to help you buildpersonal relationships and
meanings for every single cardin the deck.
It's only available through theconservatory membership that I
have, but you can.
Even if you can't afford thator it's just not something
you're interested in doing rightnow, you can absolutely do this
on your own, just by lettingyourself think outside of the
box, start to build thosepersonal connections to the
cards and spend timeunderstanding the
(15:59):
correspondences.
It does take a while.
This isn't something you'regoing to start to do overnight,
but it is worth it and it'sgoing to make your work with the
tarot a lot more dynamic,engaging and personal.
That is all I have for you today, but, as always, thank you so
much for spending this time withme, sending you a lot of love
and safety right now, and I willbe back again soon with more
card talk, card talk.
(16:21):
Lot of love and safety rightnow, and I will be back again
soon with more Card Talk.
Card Talk episodes are alwaysfree for everyone to enjoy, so
if you love what you hear,please consider supporting the
podcast by subscribing,recommending Card Talk to a
friend or two or donating tohelp with production costs.
You can find episodetranscripts.
Learn more about me and join mysignature Tarot Conservatory
membership program through mywebsite, 3amtarotcom.
(16:42):
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time.
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