Reading Tarot With Playing Cards? Here’s a Complete Guide

Can you read tarot with playing cards? Yes! It takes a little bit of know-how, but it can be done. Here’s how to read tarot with playing cards and still get a real reading.

Tarot cards and playing cards have some major differences, but they have enough in enough in common to make a reading possible.

Tarot Cards vs. Regular Playing Cards

The first thing to understand is that a deck of regular playing cards is a much smaller deck of cards than a standard tarot deck.  Modern tarot decks consist of 78 cards, compared to just 52 cards in a deck of regular playing cards.

When we read tarot with playing cards, what we’ll be doing is basically a Minor Arcana-only tarot reading.

The deck of 78 tarot cards are typically divided into 2 parts: There are the “numbered” cards called the Minor Arcana, and “picture” cards called the Major Arcana. We’ll be focusing on  just the Minor Arcana here.

The 56 cards of the Minor Arcana are divided into 4 suits, and are roughly equivalent to the 52 cards in a deck of regular playing cards.

So, big picture: When we read tarot with playing cards, what we’ll be doing is basically a Minor Arcana-only tarot reading.

Tarot Suits vs. Playing Card Suits

The most obvious difference between the Minor Arcana of tarot cards and regular playing cards is that the 4 suits are somewhat different.

Tarot suits are typically: Cups, Wands, Pentacles and Swords —although their precise names often differ. (Here’s a deeper dive on tarot suits)

Playing-card suits are of course: Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades.

Here’s how tarot suits relate to playing-card suits:

Playing Card Suits	Tarot Suits
Clubs	Wands
Spades	Swords
Hearts	Cups
Diamonds	Pentacles

If you’re already familiar with tarot reading, the above table may be all you need. It’s almost enough to jump right in and start reading tarot with playing cards.

Except one tricky problem.

 

Tarot cards have 4 royals. Playing cards have 3.

The only remaining issue is that our playing cards don’t actually line up perfectly to the Minor Arcana of tarot cards. Why? Because tarot has 14 cards per suit, and playing cards only have 13 cards per suit.

The difference is that tarot decks have an extra court card, the Knight.

Tarot courts cards are: Page, Knight, Queen King. Playing cards by contrast have just three: Jack, Queen and King.

But, for reasons we’ll get to in a minute, we’re going to promote the Jacks to Knights.

So to make this work we’re going to have ignore the poor Pages from our reading.  Sorry, Pages. You’re out.

 

Page or Knight? Who gets cut?

Since playing cards have three royals or “court cards” per suit, and tarot cards have four, we have to lose one Minor Arcana card when reading tarot with playing cards. In the above chart, we obviously chose to give the Pages the boot. You might be wondering, “Why not convert Jacks to Pages instead, and kick out the Knights?”

You can. This choice is up to you.

Logically speaking, this isn’t a terrible idea. It can be argued that the concept of a “Jack” is closer to a Page. Centuries ago, the Jack card was also known as a “Knave card”, or a “Valet card” — both of which are closer to “Pages” than “Knights”. So there’s a good argument for reading your Jacks as Pages if you want to.

On the other hand, in vintage 17th century European cards, the Jacks were frequently portrayed as valiant warriors, who were much closer to the concept of Knights. Here are two old French playing cards as an example:

So by that measure, Jacks are closer to Knights.

The choice of how to translate between the tarot and playing card decks is up to you. I think a good reason to read the Jack playing cards as tarot Knights is that Knight cards tend to be much more important cards in a tarot deck. So, it’s nice to preserve the Knight card meanings when doing a playing card tarot reading.

Again, how to read tarot with playing cards isn’t an exact formula. Deciding how to account for the 4 court cards in tarot cards vs. the 3 court cards in playing cards is an open debate. I lean towards preserving Knights and booting the Pages.

 

So, no Major Arcana when reading tarot with playing cards?

As discussed above, you won’t be using the Major Arcana when reading tarot with playing cards, but there is one exception: The Joker card does make an excellent Fool card.

So you can optionally keep one Joker card in the deck and have at least one Major Arcana card in your playing card tarot reading.

 

List of tarot meanings for every playing card

Now that we have our system set up, you’ve probably already figured out how to read tarot with playing cards. Use the table below to look up the tarot meaning for each regular playing card.  Click the highlighted links for more information about the corresponding tarot meaning.

 

Playing Card	Relative Tarot Card	Quick Meaning
Ace of Hearts	Ace of Cups	Creative energy, passion, new romance
Two of Hearts	Two of Cups	Combining of energy, partnership, attraction, relationships
Three of Hearts	Three of Cups	Collaboration, celebration, friendship, community
Four of Hearts	Four of Cups	Meditation, contemplation, re-evaluation
Five of Hearts	Five of Cups	A setback, disappointment, negative thoughts
Six of Hearts	Six of Cups	Joy, nostalgia, childhood memories
Seven of Hearts	Seven of Cups	Choices, imagination, options, illusion
Eight of Hearts	Eight of Cups	Disappointment, abandonment, withdrawal
Nine of Hearts	Nine of Cups	Wishes fulfilled, comfort, happiness, satisfaction
Ten of Hearts	Ten of Cups	Harmony, marriage, happiness, alignment
Jack of Hearts	Knight of Cups	Romance, charm, imagination
Queen of Hearts	Queen of Cups	Emotionally secure, calm, intuitive, compassionate
King of Hearts	King of Cups	Emotional balance, mentoring, generosity
Ace of Diamonds	Ace of Pentacles	Manifestation, new financial opportunity, prosperity
Two of Diamonds	Two of Pentacles	Balance, adaptability, time management, prioritisation
Three of Diamonds	Three of Pentacles	Teamwork, initial fulfilment, collaboration, learning
Four of Diamonds	Four of Pentacles	Financial savings, stability, security, conservatism
Five of Diamonds	Five of Pentacles	Isolation, insecurity, worry, financial loss, poverty
Six of Diamonds	Six of Pentacles	Generosity, charity, giving, prosperity, sharing wealth
Seven of Diamonds	Seven of Pentacles	Vision, perseverance, profit, reward, investment
Eight of Diamonds	Eight of Pentacles	Apprenticeship, education, quality, engagement
Nine of Diamonds	Nine of Pentacles	Opulence, luxury, self-sufficiency, independence
Ten of Diamonds	Ten of Pentacles	Wealth, inheritance, family, establishment, retirement
Jack of Diamonds	Knight of Pentacles	Routine, conservatism, a methodical approach, diligence
Queen of Diamonds	Queen of Pentacles	Practical, motherly, down-to-earth, nuturing
King of Diamonds	King of Pentacles	Security, control, power, discipline, abundance
Ace of Spades	Ace of Swords	Raw power, victory, break-throughs, mental clarity
Two of Spades	Two of Swords	Indecision, choices, truce, stalemate, blocked emotions
Three of Spades	Three of Swords	Painful separation, sorrow heartbreak, grief, rejection
Four of Spades	Four of Swords	Contemplation, recuperation, passivity, relaxation, rest
Five of Spades	Five of Swords	Conflict, tension, loss, win at all costs, betrayal
Six of Spades	Six of Swords	Regretful but necessary transition, rite of passage
Seven of Spades	Seven of Swords	Betrayal, deception, getting away with something, stealth
Eight of Spades	Eight of Swords	Isolation, self-imposed restriction, imprisonment
Nine of Spades	Nine of Swords	Depression, nightmares, anxiety, despair
Ten of Spades	Ten of Swords	Back-stabbed, defeat, crisis, betrayal, endings, loss
Jack of Spades	Knight of Swords	Ambition, haste, action-oriented, communicative
Queen of Spades	Queen of Swords	Quick thinker, organised, perceptive, independent
King of Spades	King of Swords	Clear thinking, intellectual power, authority, truth
Ace of Clubs	Ace of Wands	Inspiration, creation, beginnings, potential
Two of Clubs	Two of Wands	Future planning, progress, decisions, discovery
Three of Clubs	Three of Wands	Preparation, enterprise, expansion, travel
Four of Clubs	Four of Wands	Celebration, hospitality, friends, reunion
Five of Clubs	Five of Wands	Disagreement, competition, strife, tension, conflict
Six of Clubs	Six of Wands	Public recognition, victory, progress, self-confidence
Seven of Clubs	Seven of Wands	Challenge, competition, perseverance, defense
Eight of Clubs	Eight of Wands	Speed, action, momentum, air travel
Nine of Clubs	Nine of Wands	Courage, persistence, test of faith, resilience
Ten of Clubs	Ten of Wands	Burden, responsibility, hard work, completion
Jack of Clubs	Knight of Wands	Action, forward energy, impulse, adventure
Queen of Clubs	Queen of Wands	Confidence, social adeptness, determination
King of Clubs	King of Wands	Natural-born leader,entrepreneur, vision, honour
Joker	The Fool	Beginnings, a free spirit, innocence, optimism

 

Now it’s time to read tarot with playing cards

The first thing to do is shuffle your cards. Remember to meditate on your tarot question while shuffling.  It may help to lower the lights and get in the mood, and mentally connect to the Universe.

You can ask simple questions and draw single playing cards. After drawing each card, check the list above to find the tarot card equivalent for each playing card.

For more complicated questions, and deeper insight, it’s a good idea to use a layout or a tarot card spread.

 

Tarot reading with playing cards, yes or no

For quick tarot questions, like yes or no questions, there are two ways to go:

• You can use tarot card yes or no meanings. (Here’s a guide to the “yes” or “no” meaning of each tarot card.)
• Or: A every simple way to do a yes or no tarot reading with playing cards is to assign “Yes” answers to the red cards, and “No” answers to the black cards.

For more serious questions, you’ll probably want to look up the tarot meaning of each playing card, but if you’re in a hurry, the red/black method is always an option.

 

Tarot with playing cards spreads

The tarot spreads you’ll use when reading with playing cards are more or less the same as the spreads you would create with a normal tarot deck.

But because the deck is smaller, it’s probably a good idea to stick with relatively simple three card tarot readings, like the Past, Present and Future spread or Situation, Action, Outcome.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of tarot spreads, they’re very simple: Each card in your playing card layout has a different meaning, and applies to a different facet of your question.

For example, if you’re looking doing a Situation, Action, Outcome layout, then you’ll be drawing three cards. The playing card in the first position will give you insight into the “Situation” you’re asking about, as a whole. The playing card in the second position would give you insight into the “Actions” you should take. The last card will give you foresight into the “Outcome” of the situation, or something to focus on in order to avoid that outcome.

However, there’s no reason you can’t do a larger tarot spread, like a Celtic Cross reading with playing cards. Keep in mind though that for these larger, more in-depth types of tarot spreads, you’re still working without a Major Arcana when tarot reading with playing cards. For those unfamiliar with the Celtic Cross tarot spread, here’s an overview.

 

Is reading tarot with playing cards a real tarot reading?

Well, no. It’s good in a pinch, but a major part of tarot insight comes from the 22 Major Arcana cards, which aren’t a part of any playing card tarot reading (except the Fool card if you have a Joker handy).  While there’s plenty of wisdom and insight to be had in the Minor Arcana cards, it’s more of “lite” tarot reading.

Of course, if you find yourself without a deck of tarot cards and you’re in need of a tarot reading, may I suggest iFate’s award-winning web-based free tarot readings?