Tarot glossary
What is an arcanum in tarot?
Published on
Arcanum is the traditional name for a single tarot card. The word comes from the Latin arcanum, meaning secret or mystery. A full deck has 78 arcana, split into 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana, and each one works as a symbol to be interpreted in a reading.
Where the word comes from
Arcanum comes from the Latin for something kept hidden, something not shown to everyone (the plural is arcana). In the esoteric circles of the 18th and 19th centuries, the word came to describe tarot cards, seen as carriers of symbolic knowledge waiting to be deciphered.
Today the term is more a habit of vocabulary than a promise of secrets. Many people use arcanum and card as synonyms, and that rarely causes confusion.
How the arcana divide
The 78-card deck has two families. The Major Arcana gather 22 cards with broad images and themes, such as The Fool, Death and The World. The Minor Arcana add up to 56 cards, organized in four suits, and deal with more everyday situations.
- 22 Major Arcana, numbered 0 to 21.
- 56 Minor Arcana, in four suits of 14 cards.
- A total of 78 arcana in a full deck.
Is an arcanum just a card, or something more?
In practice, an arcanum is the card as a unit of reading. When you ask which arcanum came up in a spread, you are asking which card landed in that position.
There is also the personal arcanum, a number calculated from your birth date and used as a theme for reflection. It is a more recent use of the term and is not part of the classic definition.
Frequently asked questions
- Are an arcanum and a card the same thing?
- In everyday language, yes. Arcanum is the more traditional term and card is the more common one, but both point to any one of the 78 cards in the deck.
- How many arcana does the tarot have?
- A full deck has 78 arcana: 22 Major and 56 Minor. Some oracle decks have a different number of cards and do not use this division.
- Does arcanum mean secret?
- The Latin origin of the word points to a secret or mystery. In current practice, it simply names the card and its symbolic value.
Educational content, for reflection. Tarot does not replace medical, legal or financial advice.