One number, four suits
The Threes in tarot
The first result. Two things met and produced a third.
Threes are the first point in the sequence where something exists that did not before. Growth, output, and the involvement of other people.
Three of Cups is the celebration with friends. Three of Pentacles is skilled work done collaboratively and recognised. Three of Wands is standing on the headland watching the ships you sent out. Three of Swords is the exception that proves the rule: a heart pierced by three blades, which is still a first result, and the result is grief.
That last one is worth sitting with. The number does not promise the result is good. It promises there is one.
The four Threes
The same idea in four elements. Reading them side by side is the fastest way to see what the number is doing and what the suit is doing.
Three of WandsWands · Fire read the full meaningexpansion, foresight, progress
Three of CupsCups · Water read the full meaningfriendship, celebration, community
Three of SwordsSwords · Air read the full meaningheartbreak, painful truth, betrayal
Three of PentaclesPentacles · Earth read the full meaningcollaboration, craftsmanship, recognition
The rest of the sequence
Ace through Ten, then the four court ranks. Reading down this list is reading the minor arcana as one story.
Number crossed with element
This is the whole trick to the minor arcana. Forty numbered cards look like forty things to memorise and are really ten numbers crossed with four suits. Learn what a Five does and what Cups are, and the Five of Cups is constructible before you have ever read its page.
The lesson on the numbers, Ace through Ten teaches the sequence properly, and the one on the court cards covers the sixteen that need their own study.