The numbers, ace to ten
In every suit the numbers follow the same arc. Ace is the seed. Two is a choice or a pair. Three is the first result. Four is rest, or a rut. Five is loss and struggle. Six is relief and help. Seven is the test of patience. Eight is the grind. Nine is nearly there, with the cost showing. Ten is the end of that cycle, for better or worse.
Why this shortcut works
Forty of the 78 cards are numbered ace to ten across four suits. Learn the ten stages and you can read any of them, because the number gives the stage and the suit gives the subject.
Five of cups is loss in love. Five of pentacles is loss of money or health. Same stage, different room of your life.
The low and the high
Fives are the hardest number in the deck. All four of them hurt. When a five turns up, the honest reading is that this part is meant to be difficult and it is not a mistake you made.
Tens end things. Ten of cups and ten of pentacles end them well. Ten of swords and ten of wands end them exhausted. Either way, something is over and pretending otherwise costs you more.
Reading two numbers together
Two low numbers mean you are early. Two high numbers mean you are late and the decision has mostly been made. A low next to a high often means one part of your life is ending while another is barely starting.
What to remember
- The number gives the stage, the suit gives the subject.
- Every five is hard on purpose. That is the stage, not your fault.
- High numbers together mean the decision is nearly made already.
Try it now
Look up the four fives in the library, one after another. They are the same wound in four different rooms.
✶ Open the card libraryCards in this lesson
Common questions
What do numbers mean in tarot?
Numbers mark the stage of a cycle. Aces begin, fives break, tens end. The suit then tells you which area of life the stage belongs to, so the ten of cups is an emotional ending and the ten of pentacles a material one.
Which tarot numbers are the hardest?
The fives, in every suit. Five of cups is grief, five of swords is a fight you won badly, five of wands is friction, five of pentacles is being left out in the cold. Nines run a close second, because the cost is visible by then.
What does an ace mean in tarot?
An ace is a beginning offered to you, not one you already took. It is potential in its purest form: a new feeling, a new idea, a new job, a new spark. Aces ask whether you will reach out and accept.