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Tarot Card Meanings Cheat Sheet
All 78 cards, one page
Every Rider-Waite card with its one-line upright and reversed meaning and yes/no verdict. Full interpretations at each card’s page; this is the table to keep open during readings.
| Card | Upright | Reversed | Yes/No |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fool Major Arcana |
The Fool is the card of pure beginnings: stepping off the cliff with open skies ahead. | Reversed, The Fool warns of recklessness, leaping without looking, or naive trust placed in the wrong hands. | yes |
| The Magician Major Arcana |
The Magician stands with all four suits on the table: every tool needed is already in hand. | Reversed, the Magician turns manipulative or scattered: talent misused, trickery (from others or self-deception), half-finished power. | yes |
| The High Priestess Major Arcana |
The High Priestess sits between the pillars, guarding what is not yet spoken. | Reversed, she signals ignored intuition, secrets withheld, or being cut off from your inner voice in the noise. | maybe |
| The Empress Major Arcana |
The Empress is abundance embodied: fertility, creativity, sensuality and nurturing growth. | Reversed, the Empress points to smothering, creative blocks, burnout from over-giving, or neglect of the body. | yes |
| The Emperor Major Arcana |
The Emperor is structure, authority and protective order: the builder of systems that last. | Reversed, the Emperor rigidifies: control becoming domination, rules strangling growth, or an authority figure blocking you. | yes |
| The Hierophant Major Arcana |
The Hierophant is tradition, lineage and orthodox learning: institutions, mentors, formal paths and shared ritual. | Reversed, the Hierophant questions dogma: outgrown institutions, rules followed unconsciously, or the call to a personal spiritual path outside established structures. | maybe |
| The Lovers Major Arcana |
The Lovers is union and choice: two forces meeting as equals, and the decision that alignment requires. | Reversed: misalignment, temptation, a choice avoided, or a bond built on attraction without shared direction. | yes |
| The Chariot Major Arcana |
The Chariot is victory through will: opposing forces harnessed to one direction. | Reversed, the Chariot loses its lane: scattered energy, burnout, aggression, or a vehicle (literal or project) careening without steering. | yes |
| Strength Major Arcana |
Strength is the quiet kind of power: courage, patience and compassion taming the lion without a sword. | Reversed, strength lapses: self-doubt, suppressed urges erupting, or forcing what needs soothing. | yes |
| The Hermit Major Arcana |
The Hermit climbs with one lamp: solitude, introspection and the search for inner truth. | Reversed, the Hermit’s cave becomes hiding: isolation, loneliness, refusal of needed help, or withdrawing to avoid a decision. | maybe |
| Wheel of Fortune Major Arcana |
The Wheel turns: luck, cycles and destiny shifting in your favor. | Reversed, the wheel grinds: a downturn, repeated bad timing, or clinging to a cycle that has ended. | yes |
| Justice Major Arcana |
Justice is truth, fairness and consequence: scales level, sword raised. | Reversed, justice is miscarried or avoided: unfairness, hidden bias, dodged accountability, or legal tangles. | maybe |
| The Hanged Man Major Arcana |
The Hanged Man hangs willingly: suspended, seeing the world upside down. | Reversed, the suspension overstays: martyrdom, indecision dressed as patience, or resisting a necessary sacrifice. | no |
| Death Major Arcana |
Death is transformation, almost never literal: an ending that clears ground for the new. | Reversed, the ending stalls: clinging to what is already over, or a change resisted until it turns surgical. | no |
| Temperance Major Arcana |
Temperance blends opposites with a patient hand: moderation, healing flow, and the middle path that includes both extremes. | Reversed, the mixture curdles: excess, impatience, clashing extremes, or a false balance that serves no one. | yes |
| The Devil Major Arcana |
The Devil is bondage with the lock on the inside: attachment, addiction, obsession and the shadow desires we feed. | Reversed, the chains begin to break: recognizing a toxic pattern, beginning release, or the temptation losing its grip. | no |
| The Tower Major Arcana |
The Tower is lightning: sudden collapse of what was built on false foundations. | Reversed, the collapse happens in slow motion or is barely postponed: resisting a necessary demolition, or rebuilding on the same cracked footing. | no |
| The Star Major Arcana |
The Star pours water after the Tower’s storm: hope, healing and serene renewal. | Reversed, hope thins: discouragement, faith shaken, or healing interrupted by impatience with the process. | yes |
| The Moon Major Arcana |
The Moon lights a dream-road: illusion, fluctuation and the unconscious active. | Reversed, the fog thins: confusion lifting, a deception revealed, or fear releasing its grip. | no |
| The Sun Major Arcana |
The Sun is success without qualification: joy, vitality, clarity and warm recognition. | Reversed, the sun dims rather than sets: delayed success, dampened enthusiasm, or joy postponed by excess analysis. | yes |
| Judgement Major Arcana |
Judgement is the trumpet call: awakening, reckoning and rebirth. | Reversed, the call goes unanswered: self-judgment deafening, avoidance of the reckoning, or an awakening resisted out of fear of its cost. | yes |
| The World Major Arcana |
The World is completion: the circle closed, the journey honored, the whole picture visible. | Reversed, the ending needs one more stitch: loose ends, a milestone declared too early, or closure delayed by one unfinished conversation. | yes |
| Ace of Wands Wands |
The Ace of Wands is the spark: raw inspiration, desire and creative ignition. | Reversed, the spark sputters: delays, creative block, or enthusiasm without direction. | yes |
| Two of Wands Wands |
The Two of Wands stands at the balcony with the world in hand: planning, vision and the itch to expand beyond known territory. | Reversed, fear of leaving the balcony: over-planning, playing small, or dithering between known and unknown. | maybe |
| Three of Wands Wands |
The Three of Wands watches ships on the horizon: expansion, foresight and ventures already in motion. | Reversed, the ships stall: delays in returns, limited vision, or expansion outpacing capacity. | yes |
| Four of Wands Wands |
The Four of Wands is the garlanded doorway: celebration, homecoming and stable joy. | Reversed, the celebration wobbles: postponed milestone, unstable home situation, or transition with friction. | yes |
| Five of Wands Wands |
The Five of Wands is the friendly brawl: competition, friction and clashing egos. | Reversed, conflict drains: simmering tension avoided until it explodes, or inner battles projected outward. | no |
| Six of Wands Wands |
The Six of Wands rides through the crowd: public victory, recognition and deserved credit. | Reversed, the laurel slips: credit taken by another, ego overreach, or recognition delayed. | yes |
| Seven of Wands Wands |
The Seven of Wands holds the hill: defending position, boundaries and what you built against competing claims. | Reversed, defense exhausts: overwhelmed by challengers, or fighting for something no longer worth the hill. | yes |
| Eight of Wands Wands |
The Eight of Wands is eight arrows in flight: speed, news and rapid developments. | Reversed, arrows scatter: delays, crossed wires, or too much happening at once without sequencing. | yes |
| Nine of Wands Wands |
The Nine of Wands stands bandaged but armed: resilience at the last fence. | Reversed, the wall cracks: burnout, paranoia from old wounds, or refusing help out of habit. | yes |
| Ten of Wands Wands |
The Ten of Wands carries the whole bundle: success that has become burden, responsibility stacked past comfort. | Reversed, the load drops or is dropped: collapse avoided by release, or dumping duties unfairly. | no |
| Page of Wands Wands |
The Page of Wands is the apprentice flame: enthusiasm, curiosity and the courage of the unjaded. | Reversed, the flame flickers shallow: scattered enthusiasm, half-started passions, or restless boredom dressed as ambition. | maybe |
| Knight of Wands Wands |
The Knight of Wands charges with charisma: passion, daring and full-throttle action. | Reversed, the charge turns reckless: impulsiveness, burnout, drama, or promises made at gallop speed and forgotten at dawn. | yes |
| Queen of Wands Wands |
The Queen of Wands rules warm and bright: confidence, charisma and full life-force. | Reversed, the flame turns inward or outward wrong: jealousy, demanding attention, self-doubt performing as arrogance. | yes |
| King of Wands Wands |
The King of Wands is the visionary as sovereign: bold direction, entrepreneurial command and the will to make others believe. | Reversed, vision turns tyranny or vapor: domineering, impatience with process, or grand plans without follow-through. | yes |
| Ace of Cups Cups |
The Ace of Cups overflows: a new emotional beginning, love offered openly, intuition unlocked. | Reversed, the cup tips: blocked feelings, emotional overflow without container, or love hesitating at the threshold. | yes |
| Two of Cups Cups |
The Two of Cups is mutual recognition: two people meeting as equals, attraction honored on both sides. | Reversed, the exchange breaks: imbalance, one-sided feeling, or a rift between former equals. | yes |
| Three of Cups Cups |
The Three of Cups dances: friendship, community and shared joy. | Reversed, the circle frays: gossip, third-party interference, or social overindulgence. | yes |
| Four of Cups Cups |
The Four of Cups sits bored under the offered cup: apathy, contemplation and re-evaluation. | Reversed, the fog lifts: accepting the offer, new interest awakening, or leaving the meditation with an answer. | no |
| Five of Cups Cups |
The Five of Cups mourns three spilled while two stand behind: grief, regret and loss with a future still intact. | Reversed, grief moves: acceptance beginning, forgiveness of self and others, or the long exhale after loss. | no |
| Six of Cups Cups |
The Six of Cups offers flowers from childhood: nostalgia, innocence and sweet memory. | Reversed, nostalgia curdles: living in the past, idealized memory blocking the present, or childhood patterns replaying. | yes |
| Seven of Cups Cups |
The Seven of Cups dreams among chalices: options, fantasies and beautiful illusions. | Reversed, the mirage resolves: clarity returning, a real option separated from the decorated ones, or fantasy dispersing. | no |
| Eight of Cups Cups |
The Eight of Cups walks away from eight full cups under an eclipsed moon: leaving what no longer feeds the soul, however complete it looks. | Reversed, the leaving stalls: fear of walking away, returning to what emptied you, or wandering without direction. | no |
| Nine of Cups Cups |
The Nine of Cups is the wish card: satisfaction, contentment and appetite fulfilled. | Reversed, satisfaction smokes: getting the wish and finding it thin, overindulgence, or smugness. | yes |
| Ten of Cups Cups |
The Ten of Cups is the rainbow over the family: emotional fulfillment, lasting joy and aligned values at home. | Reversed, the rainbow fades inside: family friction, misaligned values, or the picture-perfect straining at its seams. | yes |
| Page of Cups Cups |
The Page of Cups receives a fish in a cup: tender news, creative stirrings and emotional openness. | Reversed, the message muddles: oversensitivity, immaturity in feeling, or creative blocks weeping instead of writing. | yes |
| Knight of Cups Cups |
The Knight of Cups rides with the cup offered: romance, art and the beautiful gesture. | Reversed, the troubadour oversings: moodiness, idealization without follow-through, or romance as performance. | yes |
| Queen of Cups Cups |
The Queen of Cups holds the ornate chalice: empathy, emotional intelligence and intuitive care. | Reversed, the waters overwhelm: codependency, emotional bleeding, or being everyone’s ocean and no one’s shore. | yes |
| King of Cups Cups |
The King of Cups rides calm water: emotional mastery, diplomacy and deep stability. | Reversed, mastery slips: repression til he leaks, manipulation through guilt, or volatility under a still surface. | yes |
| Ace of Swords Swords |
The Ace of Swords cuts clean: clarity, truth and a decisive breakthrough in thinking. | Reversed, the blade turns: confusion, half-truths, or sharp words doing blunt damage. | yes |
| Two of Swords Swords |
The Two of Swords is blindfolded with crossed blades: stalemate, avoided decision and willful not-seeing. | Reversed, the blindfold slips: information breaking the deadlock, or a decision forced by events. | no |
| Three of Swords Swords |
The Three of Swords is the pierced heart: heartbreak, betrayal and sorrow that must be felt. | Reversed, healing begins: grief releasing, forgiveness starting, or wallow risk. | no |
| Four of Swords Swords |
The Four of Swords rests in the chapel: stillness, recovery and deliberate pause. | Reversed, rest resists: burnout refusing to stop, or restlessness undoing recovery. | no |
| Five of Swords Swords |
The Five of Swords picks up blades after a bitter skirmish: conflict with a cost, hollow victory, or defeat by sharper tactics. | Reversed, the war winds down: releasing grudges, making amends, or leaving the battlefield. | no |
| Six of Swords Swords |
The Six of Swords ferries across gray water: transition, moving on and calmer shores ahead. | Reversed, the boat circles: unfinished business pulling back, resistance to the move, or baggage that traveled with you. | yes |
| Seven of Swords Swords |
The Seven of Swords tiptes away with the blades: strategy, stealth or deception. | Reversed, the theft unravels: deception exposed, conscience returning, or secrets coming to light. | no |
| Eight of Swords Swords |
The Eight of Swords stands blindfolded in a loose cage: feeling trapped where the bars are mostly belief. | Reversed, the knots loosen: seeing options, self-liberation, or the story of powerlessness losing its grip. | no |
| Nine of Swords Swords |
The Nine of Swords sits up at 3 a. | Reversed, dawn comes: worst fears not materializing, or anxiety finally voiced and halved. | no |
| Ten of Swords Swords |
The Ten of Swords lies finished at dawn: rock bottom, betrayal, the definitive end. | Reversed, the worst passes slowly: recovery from betrayal, or a dramatic ending resisted into a longer one. | no |
| Page of Swords Swords |
The Page of Swords watches the horizon with a raised blade: curiosity, alertness and the hunger to learn. | Reversed, watchfulness turns paranoid or gossipy: hypervigilance, scattered study, or words used carelessly. | maybe |
| Knight of Swords Swords |
The Knight of Swords charges at full gallop: ambition, speed and unstoppable argument. | Reversed, the charge is reckless: aggression, burnout, or argument for its own sake. | yes |
| Queen of Swords Swords |
The Queen of Swords sees clearly through experience: honest discernment, clean boundaries and wit that cuts kindly. | Reversed, clarity curdles: bitterness, coldness, or boundaries turning into walls with razor wire. | maybe |
| King of Swords Swords |
The King of Swords rules by reason: intellectual authority, ethics and clear judgment. | Reversed, reason turns rigid or ruthless: cold logic without heart, manipulation via rules, or analysis as paralysis. | yes |
| Ace of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Ace of Pentacles offers the coin in the garden: a new material beginning. | Reversed, the coin is dropped: missed opportunity, or an offer that looks material but is not solid. | yes |
| Two of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Two of Pentacles juggles on a rolling sea: adaptability, time management and dancing between priorities. | Reversed, the balls drop: overcommitted, dropped priorities, or false balance across too many projects. | maybe |
| Three of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Three of Pentacles builds by committee: teamwork, craft recognized, and collaboration where each contributes mastery. | Reversed, the scaffolding sags: miscommunication in the team, unrecognized work, or poor delegation. | yes |
| Four of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Four of Pentacles clutches the coins: security, control and holding tight. | Reversed, the grip loosens: releasing control, spending on what matters, or generosity returning flow. | maybe |
| Five of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Five of Pentacles passes the lit window in the snow: hardship, exclusion, money trouble, feeling locked out. | Reversed, the thaw: recovery beginning, help accepted, or hardship’s end in sight. | no |
| Six of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Six of Pentacles weighs and gives: generosity, charity and fair exchange. | Reversed, giving curdles: strings attached, debt as leverage, charity that humiliates, or refusing to receive. | yes |
| Seven of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Seven of Pentacles leans on the hoe: patience, assessment and long-term investment. | Reversed, patience frays: impatience with slow returns, wasted effort, or bad investment of time. | maybe |
| Eight of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Eight of Pentacles chips coin after coin: diligence, apprenticeship and mastery through repetition. | Reversed, the chisel slips: perfectionism, drudgery without meaning, or scattered effort. | yes |
| Nine of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Nine of Pentacles walks her vineyard with a falcon: luxury earned, independence and self-made refinement. | Reversed, the garden wilts: over-investment in image, golden-cage comfort, or independence calcifying into isolation. | yes |
| Ten of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Ten of Pentacles spans three generations under the arch: wealth, legacy and family foundation. | Reversed, the legacy tangles: family money conflict, short-term thinking, or foundations built on sand. | yes |
| Page of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Page of Pentacles studies the coin in the field: a new practical beginning, student energy applied to real-world goals. | Reversed, study drifts: procrastination on the practical step, or goals without follow-through. | yes |
| Knight of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Knight of Pentacles plows the same furrow daily: reliability, routine and steady unglamorous progress. | Reversed, the plow rusts: stagnation, boredom, or work becoming mere motion. | yes |
| Queen of Pentacles Pentacles |
The Queen of Pentacles holds court in the garden: practical nurturing, abundance managed with warmth. | Reversed, the queen overwaters: work-life imbalance, worry over security, or nurturing everyone but herself. | yes |
| King of Pentacles Pentacles |
The King of Pentacles holds the ripe vine: material mastery, business success and abundance governed well. | Reversed, mastery turns miserly or reckless: greed, materialism, or risk mismanaged. | yes |