Man, oh man, the things you stumble upon when you’re just trying to get through the day. Suits in a tarot deck, right? You see it pop up in strange places, like a crossword puzzle, and suddenly you’re scratching your head, thinking, “Wait, what’s a ‘Wand’ doing next to ‘Clubs’?” It ain’t your usual card game, that’s for sure. Most folks just know the big, fancy cards, the ones like The Tower or The Lovers. But a full deck, a proper one, it’s got a whole structure, especially in what they call the Minor Arcana. That’s where the suits live, plain and simple.
You’ve got four main ones there, just like your regular playing cards, but with different names and, well, a whole lot more baggage. There are the Wands, right? Those are all about fire, passion, ambition, getting things started, creativity. Then you’ve got the Cups, which are exactly what they sound like – water, emotions, relationships, how you feel about stuff. Next up, the Swords. These are the sharp ones, representing air, intellect, logic, challenges, sometimes conflict. And finally, the Pentacles, or sometimes they call ’em Coins. Earth energy, practical matters, money, security, your job, the real-world stuff. Each one speaks to a different slice of life, a different vibe, you know?
Now, how do I know all this jargon? Why am I spilling out information about wands and pentacles like I’m some kind of ancient mystic? Well, it wasn’t because I suddenly decided to pick up fortune-telling, not by a long shot. This all started back a few years ago when I was laid up with a bad back. Slipped on some ice, went down hard, and ended up stuck at home for a good three months. Couldn’t really do much heavy lifting, couldn’t even sit upright for long. My days became this monotonous loop of painkillers, bad TV, and trying to keep my brain from turning to mush.
My wife, bless her heart, she tried to keep me entertained. Brought home books, magazines, even some jigsaw puzzles, which usually drive me nuts. But the one thing I really latched onto was the New York Times crossword. It became my daily challenge, my mental sparring partner. I’d grab the paper, prop myself up just enough to see it, and just go at it. Some days it was easy, some days I’d stare at a blank square for hours, feeling like a complete idiot.
Then it happened. Not once, but a few times over those weeks. A clue would pop up, something like “Tarot suit of intellect” or “Coin in a mystic deck” or “Wands’ counterparts, maybe.” And I’d just be stuck. Like, really stuck. I knew about playing cards, sure, hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds. But ‘Wands’? ‘Pentacles’? What the hell was a ‘suit of swords’ even supposed to mean? It wasn’t just about finishing the puzzle anymore. It became this nagging thing in my head, this little itch I had to scratch.
So, being the stubborn mule I am, I decided to actually figure it out. I mean, what else was I going to do, watch another rerun of some daytime talk show? I started doing some digging on my phone, half-propped up in bed. Just simple searches, trying to make sense of these weird terms. At first, it was just about getting the answer for the crossword. “Oh, ‘Swords’ for intellect, got it.” But the more I looked, the more it opened up. I started seeing how these suits weren’t just random names; they actually connected to real-world concepts, different aspects of being human.
It sounds silly, but suddenly, those long, boring days didn’t feel so boring. I ordered myself a cheap, basic tarot deck online, just to have something concrete to look at. I’d spread them out on the bed, just staring at the pictures, reading what people said about each one. I wasn’t trying to predict my future or anything whack like that. I was trying to understand the system, the logic behind it, how these four suits mapped out human experience. It was like a code to crack, a different kind of puzzle, and it gave my brain something to chew on when my body couldn’t do much.
I learned to associate Wands with that fiery drive I used to have for my work, and how I was missing it being stuck. Cups made me think about my relationships, how much my wife was doing for me. Swords, well, those were about the mental gymnastics I was doing, trying to stay sane and figure out my recovery. And Pentacles, that was all about the practical worries, the bills piling up, the uncertainty of when I’d get back to normal. It wasn’t just an abstract concept for a crossword anymore; it became a weirdly personal roadmap for what I was going through.
So yeah, that’s why when I see someone confused about “suits in a tarot deck,” especially when it pops up unexpectedly, I get it. It was my unexpected deep dive, a way to keep my mind active and maybe even find a little bit of sense in a confusing time. And it all started with a damn crossword puzzle and a bad back.
