The Major Arcana — life's big themes
The 22 Major Arcana are the deck's archetype layer — The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, all the way to The World. Each one names a major theme: beginnings, willpower, intuition, abundance, transformation, completion. When a Major Arcana card appears in a reading, the energy it points to is usually big and slow-moving — the kind of theme that defines a year of your life, not a Tuesday afternoon.
The Minor Arcana — daily textures
The 56 Minor Arcana are organised into four suits: Wands (fire, creativity, action), Cups (water, emotion, relationships), Swords (air, intellect, conflict), and Pentacles (earth, money, work, body). Each suit runs from Ace to Ten plus four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King). Where the Major Arcana name life's big themes, the Minor Arcana describe the daily textures — what is happening this week, what is on your desk, what your relationship is doing right now.
When the two halves appear together
A reading with mostly Major Arcana is telling you the question you asked is bigger than you realised — fate-level, identity-level. A reading with mostly Minor Arcana is telling you the question is practical and answerable — the next move is a real next move, not a life-rearrangement. A balanced reading (a mix of both) is usually the most accurate; it means the situation has both a big-picture and a practical layer, which is how most real situations actually work.
The court cards — people in the deck
The Page, Knight, Queen, and King in each suit are the "people cards." They can represent literal people in your life (the Queen of Pentacles as your nurturing friend, the Knight of Swords as your fast-talking colleague), or they can represent parts of yourself, or they can describe the energy you need to bring to the situation. Beginners often find court cards the hardest to read — when one shows up, ask yourself first who it reminds you of.