The elements are five energetic forces that shape our environment. The five elements are Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Aether or Spirit. These elements can be combined or stand alone in our world as energies that influence our daily lives. They are represented by the Tarot in the form of the four suits of the Minor Arcana (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles), and the Major Arcana. Understanding the elements and what they represent guide our interpretations of the cards, and lay an energetic foundation for readings by providing overarching themes and actions that are taken in the spirit of their nature.
Fire | Wands
The Fire element is represented in the suit of Wands. Wands in the Tarot represent active energy driven by passion, desire, and impulse. Scenes within these cards depict ambition, competition, protection and exhaustion. In nearly every card within this suit, the characters seem to be in motion. When Wands show up in readings, we are encouraged to reflect on what lights our inner fire and take actions that are in alignment with those desires. In order to achieve what we want we must take a more aggressive role in our success. Just like humans creating fire millennia ago, the Wands remind us that we have the power to create our own destiny.
Water | Cups
Water corresponds with the Cups suit. The cards that make up this suit represent our emotional energy and how we connect to the spiritual energy of others, ourselves, and the Divine around us. Water is commonly associated with emotions and spiritual transformations, and natural bodies of water are well-known in spiritual communities for their healing properties. The Cups cards depict scenes of emotional connection, introspective reflection, and emotional outpourings of the full spectrum of our feelings from joy to grief. When these cards appear in our readings they call on us to draw from our intuition to act in alignment with our authentic self in all of our relationships, including our relationship with ourselves. Like water we must be willing to adapt to not only ever-changing external situations, but the ever-changing effects they have on our emotional well-being.
Air | Swords
Our ideas and relation to logic and reason are represented by the Swords suit. Swords are commonly associated with valiance, trust, truth, and all that is just and right in the world. The Air element corresponds with all of our mental faculties, as well as objectivity and unbiased, factual information. Expression of thought is also covered within this suit, including written and verbal communication, debate, and disagreement. When this suit appears in readings, we need to take a step back and view our situation from an objective viewpoint. Our emotions can sometimes skew our perception to the point where the facts of our situation are distorted in the mind. Swords ask us to bring it back to basics and take a realistic look at what’s going on in our lives, and encourage us to seek logical resolutions.
Earth | Pentacles
The suit of Pentacles represents the Earth element, grounded energy, and actions that produce tangible results. The Earth element commonly corresponds to nature, the human physical body, materialism, financial matters, and physical labor. In the Tarot, the cards within the Pentacles suit show actions that lead to a practical and conclusive means. Hard work leads to financial rewards. Patience in the process leads to the fruits of that labor. When these cards appear in our tarot readings, the “earthly” matters in our lives require our attention; it may be time to look at your finances, your physical health, and the work you’re putting in to realize your goals. Finding the resources to manifest our intentions sometimes means we must put forth the energy to create them ourselves.
Aether/Spirit | The Major Arcana
The four elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth comprise the Minor Arcana, also known as the pip cards. The 22 cards of the Major Arcana represent the element of Aether, Spirit, or Source energy. The cards in this “suit” cover major existential themes that we encounter throughout our lives. While the cards of the Minor Arcana depict more mundane or day-to-day situations, the Major Arcana depicts more grandiose subjects that can relate to a wide range of topics. When Major Arcana cards appear in our readings, the energy of these cards is looming large over whatever “smaller” situations we may be experiencing at the time. In these instances, it’s beneficial to examine our relationship to the energy these cards represent, and how best to adapt in order to align with the energy of Spirit and our Higher Selves. While the Minor Arcana provides more specific examples of what areas of our lives are being affected by the current energetic climate, the Major Arcana paints a picture of that climate itself, and what areas of our spiritual development are being called on, tested and challenged.
Utilizing an understanding of the elements and how they are represented within Tarot provide added shades to our readings that allow us to connect and resonate with them more deeply. Looking at the suits as representations of the elements lay a foundation from which to build our interpretations of each card’s imagery and symbolism. Tarot combines a number of different facets of spirituality, religion, and occultism to create a system to compare and relate the daily events of our lives around, and by acknowledging the energy of the elements within the Tarot we acknowledge its presence and influence on us.
