How Many Cards Are in a Tarot Deck?
A standard tarot deck contains 78 cards — 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana across four suits.
If you've ever wondered how many tarot cards are there, the answer is 78 in almost every modern deck. That number has been the standard since the Rider-Waite-Smith deck was published in 1909 and became the blueprint for tarot as we know it today. Understanding how those 78 cards are organized is the fastest way to learn what tarot cards are and how a reading actually works.
Numbered 0 (The Fool) through 21 (The World). These cards mark life's biggest chapters — love, transformation, fate, awakening.
Four suits of 14 cards each. They cover everyday moments — the conversations, choices, and feelings that shape your days.
The four tarot suits
Each suit holds 14 cards: Ace through Ten, plus Page, Knight, Queen, and King.
Passion, creativity, action, drive
Love, emotions, relationships, intuition
Thoughts, decisions, conflict, truth
Money, work, home, the physical body
The math: how 78 breaks down
- • 22 Major Arcana cards
- • 4 suits × 10 numbered cards = 40 numbered Minor Arcana
- • 4 suits × 4 court cards = 16 court cards
- • Total: 22 + 40 + 16 = 78 tarot cards
What are tarot cards, exactly?
Tarot cards are a 78-card symbolic system used for reflection and guidance. Each card carries traditional imagery — figures, elements, numbers, and colors — that a reader interprets in the context of your question. Tarot doesn't predict a fixed future; it reveals the currents at play so you can act with more clarity.
Explore all 78 cards
Browse the full deck with meanings, or pull a free three-card reading now.