Lesson 4 of 10 · 7 min
The four suits and their elements
Use the four suits to recognize which part of a situation a card brings into focus.
Four ways to look at one situation
The Minor Arcana's four suits give you four areas of attention. Wands often concern motivation and action. Cups bring feelings and relationships into view. Swords focus on thought, language, and conflict. Pentacles emphasize resources, the body, and practical work.
Starting a class can involve enthusiasm, friendships, decisions, and costs. A card's suit helps you focus on one aspect.
Following the Majors in lesson three, the suits bring daily life into focus. Each contains an Ace through Ten and four courts.
Learn the elemental associations
A common system used with Rider-Waite-Smith tarot pairs Wands with Fire, Cups with Water, Swords with Air, and Pentacles with Earth. It comes from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in London in 1888, which both Waite and Smith joined. Some traditions and decks use different associations; one variation you may meet swaps Fire and Air, pairing Wands with Air and Swords with Fire. For this course, we will use the pairings below consistently.
Imagine how flame spreads, water flows, air moves, and soil supports growth. These symbolic associations help you remember the suits.
| Suit | Element | Areas of attention | A useful question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wands | Fire | Initiative, desire, creativity, effort | What am I motivated to do? |
| Cups | Water | Feelings, relationships, belonging, imagination | What am I feeling and sharing? |
| Swords | Air | Thinking, communication, decisions, conflict | What needs clearer thought or words? |
| Pentacles | Earth | Work, money, materials, routines, physical care | What resources and practical steps are involved? |
Wands can help you examine enthusiasm and the effort needed to sustain it. Fire offers warmth and energy, and it also needs tending. Ask how you use your drive and where you may be overextending yourself.
Cups invite attention to emotional experience. Water can suggest receptivity, movement, or depth. Explore what you feel, what you need, and how you relate to others. Your feelings deserve attention, while another person's feelings remain theirs to communicate.
Swords can help you examine the words and interpretations shaping a situation. Air suggests the movement of ideas. This suit includes painful images as well as opportunities for clarity, discernment, and honest conversation. Let the individual card guide your reading.
Pentacles concern the tangible conditions of life. Earth suggests cultivation and sustained care. Money belongs here alongside time, tools, skills, physical surroundings, and daily routines. A Pentacles card can invite reflection on what makes a plan workable.
Compare the same number across four suits
The Threes show how much a suit changes a card's emphasis. Look at their pictures before reading the comparisons. A shared number gives you something to investigate, while each scene offers its own meaning.
| Card | What the RWS picture shows | A possible focus |
|---|---|---|
| Three of Wands | A figure looks toward ships from high ground, beside three planted staves. | Extending an effort and considering its wider reach. |
| Three of Cups | Three figures raise cups together, with fruit and vegetation nearby. | Shared joy, friendship, and mutual support. |
| Three of Swords | Three swords pierce a heart against clouds and rain. | Acknowledging hurt and examining painful understanding. |
| Three of Pentacles | A craftsperson works in a building while two other figures look on. | Bringing skills together and discussing the work. |
Consider a shared creative project. The Three of Wands could prompt you to consider how to reach an audience. The Three of Cups could bring attention to enjoying the collaboration and supporting one another.
The Three of Swords might invite you to acknowledge a disappointment already present. It gives you no basis to accuse a collaborator of betrayal. The Three of Pentacles could focus your attention on roles, feedback, and shared standards.
You are reading the suit, number, picture, and question together. Lesson five develops the number patterns in more detail.
Notice how suits shape a whole reading
When several cards share a suit, that area's concerns may deserve closer attention. A reading with several Pentacles could encourage you to examine schedules, available tools, and the ongoing work a plan requires. Several Cups might focus your reflection on emotional needs and support.
Interpret each card individually. Cups include difficult feelings, and Swords include useful clarity.
An absent suit can suggest a question to consider. If a reading about a project contains no Pentacles, you might ask whether the budget and practical arrangements need attention. The absence itself cannot establish that you have neglected those things. A small spread contains only a few cards.
Try a four-suit check-in today
Choose a small, current concern, such as preparing a meal with friends or making time for a hobby. Write four sentences about it, one for each suit.
- Wands asks what you want to initiate and what motivates you.
- Cups asks how you feel and what connection you need.
- Swords asks what needs deciding or communicating.
- Pentacles asks what time, materials, and routines will support it.
Then select one card from each suit, using your deck or the card library. Describe one visible detail and connect it to your concern. If a connection feels forced, record that and try a more modest interpretation.
Finish by choosing one manageable action. You might send an invitation, clarify a plan, gather supplies, or set aside practice time. Use these perspectives to guide your next step.
To see each element in its Ace, how a spread with a missing element can be read, and the optional Golden Dawn idea of elemental dignities, read the four elements in tarot.