Minor Arcana

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Part of the Thoth Tarot series.

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The Minor Arcana (Trumps Minor, Minor Trumps) of the Tarot deck consists of 56 cards, which are closely related to the deck of 52 playing cards used in most modern card games. It is comprised of four suits, entitled Wands, Cups, Swords, and Disks in the Thoth Tarot deck, which correlate to the titles Batons/Clubs/Sceptres/Staves, Chalices, Swords (I've seen no other title), Coins/Money/Pentacles respectively in other Tarot decks. Often, the suits are associated with one of the four classical elements: Wands with fire, Cups with water, Swords with air, and Disks with earth.

In each suit, the Minor Arcana consists of 10 pips, or small cards, being Ace (One), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and the Court Cards, entitled Knight, Queen, Prince, & Princess in the Thoth Tarot deck, which correlate to King, Queen, Knight, & Knave/Maid/Page respectively in other Tarot decks. The title "King" was replaced by Aleister Crowley with "Knight", due to the more active connotations held by the latter term, as opposed to those held by the former.

Modern decks often have the cards named and numbered, though many resemble early decks in that there are no titles or numbers on the cards. The numbered cards usually have the appropriate number of symbols for the suit depicted, and the court cards usually have the corresponding person depicted holding the symbol of their suit.

Modern decks will often have a symbolic scene depicted on the numbered Minors, though this was never the case before the early 20th century when the Rider-Waite-Smith deck was published. Before this, the numbered cards of the Minors showed merely a geometric arrangement of the appropriate number of suit symbols.

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Reference

Wikipedia. (2005). Minor Arcana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_Arcana). Retrieved on 03/27/05.

	Tarot \| Thoth Tarot \| Tarot & the Tree of Life
Major Arcana: The Fool - The Magus - The Priestess - The Empress - The Emperor - The Hierophant - The Lovers - The Chariot - Adjustment - The Hermit - Fortune - Lust - The Hanged Man - Death - Art - The Devil - The Tower - The Star - The Moon - The Sun - The Aeon - The Universe Minor Arcana: Wands \| Cups \| Swords \| Disks

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