Tarot card meanings
Tarot as feelings.
All seventy-eight.
Almost every relationship spread has a position for what somebody else feels, and the card that lands there is the one people go looking for by name. This is what each of the seventy-eight says in that position — upright and reversed, read for a new connection, a relationship you are already in, an ex, and a feeling neither of you has said out loud.
Each entry below is the card's answer in one sentence. Open a card for the full reading, including what it cannot tell you, which is the part this category usually leaves out.
22 cards
The Major Arcana
Twenty-two themes large enough to be running the situation rather than reacting to it.
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14 cards
Wands · Fire
Desire and momentum. What somebody wants and is moving toward, rather than what they feel about it.
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14 cards
Cups · Water
The emotion itself, before anything has been decided, declared or done about it.
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14 cards
Swords · Air
What has been concluded and what is prepared to be said. The account rather than the state underneath it.
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14 cards
Pentacles · Earth
What has actually been done. In this suit behaviour is the evidence and words are a commentary on it.
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Keep going
A feelings card is one position in a spread.
The full meanings — upright, reversed, love, career, money and the symbolism each painting carries — are on the card pages. If you have not drawn anything yet, the reading below deals a real card.
Clear answers
Frequently asked questions
What does a “feelings position” mean in a tarot reading?
It is a place in a spread that asks what somebody feels, usually about the person asking. The card that lands there is read as a quality of emotion rather than as an event — what the feeling is like, how it is being held, and whether it is likely to become behaviour. It does not identify a person and it does not predict what they will do.
Which tarot cards mean strong feelings?
The Cups court cards, the Two and Ten of Cups, the Lovers and the Sun all describe feeling that is both substantial and visible. Strong is not the same as good: the Devil, the Eight of Cups and the Nine of Swords all describe intense feeling as well, and none of them is comfortable to be the subject of.
Does the suit change what a feelings card means?
It changes it more than the picture does. Cups report the emotion itself, Wands report desire and momentum, Swords report what somebody has concluded and is prepared to say, and Pentacles report what they have actually done about it. The same rank in two suits describes two genuinely different states.
How do you read a reversed card in a feelings position?
Not as the opposite. A reversal blocks, delays, internalises or overextends the upright card. An Ace reversed usually means an opening nobody took up; a middle number reversed usually means the feeling went private rather than disappearing; a court card reversed is usually the same temperament under pressure.
Can a tarot card tell me if someone loves me?
It can describe a quality of feeling with real precision and it cannot confirm a fact about another person. A feelings card is one input, and a card that contradicts six months of consistent behaviour is a card that needs the rest of the spread rather than one that has revealed a secret.
