The Lesser Arcana
The Lesser Arcana cards consist of 56 cards broken down into 4 different suits. The wands, the cups, the swords and the pentacles. Each of these suits consist of cards numbered from Ace (number 1) to 10, followed by four court cards. These cards hold lesser vibrations than those of the Major Arcana.
Each of the numbered suit cards follow vibrations similar to its number in relation to numerology. Understanding that these numbers convey the special meaning to these cards, so does the suit of the card portray different aspects of life. To understand the we have to look at the number 4. There are 4 suits to the cards and these represent the 4 esoteric formulas for manifestation on the material plane.
Below are each of the 4 suits - how they correspond to our ‘playing cards’ - their element - what they symbolize.
The Suit of Wands - Clubs - Fire – Creative
The realm of spirit - represents ideas, they are the primary seed or original idea and the primary element of growth. When we see wands in a reading, they point to ideas, ambition and growth. So when this is understood, we apply the number of the card to this understanding in a reading.
The Suit of Cups - Hearts - Water – Emotions
The realm of mental - this is the next step towards manifesting the idea. It is the link to the next step in the order of things. When we see the Cups in a reading, they point to desires and feelings, that inner experience that only we are aware of and may not show as outward manifestation.
The Suit of Swords - Spades - Air – Intellect
The realm of astral - represents the action. The focused intent to bring forth manifestation. Often times the swords indicate struggles as it is difficult to bring an idea into reality. When we see the suit of swords in a reading, they point to action and struggle before the final outcome.
The Suit of Pentacles - Diamonds – Earth
Realm of the physical or material, element of earth) represents the actual outcome of the matter. It is true manifestation into the material plane, the product of ones labors. When we see the suit of pentacles in a reading, they point to realization, and manifestation.

(a differnt explination)
The Minor Arcana
These, as with all Tarot decks, are partitioned into four suits - Wands, Swords, Cups and Disks. Each suit has ten numbered cards plus four court cards. The court cards are the Knight, the Prince, the Queen and the Princess. The first of the numbered cards is the Ace. The Ace of each suit is the isolated dynamism of it, the element (fire, air, water, earth) or facet (spiritual, mental, emotional, physical) in its purest form.

The suit of Wands is associated with the element of fire. Wands are beheld as the spiritual aspect of the person. The suit of Wands is about the natural force within.

The suit of Swords is associated with the element of air. It is judged to be the mental suit, the ‘invoked force’ as opposed to the natural. It is will, thought and intellect.

The suit of Cups is associated with the element of water. It is the suit of emotions. The suit of Disks is associated with the element of earth. It is deemed the suit of the physical, the material.

Each of the numbered cards (apart from the Ace) bears key words, designating the province of the card.

In the suit of Wands the concatenation is 2: ‘Dominion’, 3: ‘Virtue’, 4: ‘Completion’, 5: ‘Strife’, 6: ‘Victory’, 7: ‘Valour’, 8: ‘Swiftness’, 9: ‘Strength’ and 10: ‘Oppression’.

In the suit of Swords: 2: ‘Peace’, 3: ‘Sorrow’, 4: ‘Truce’, 5: ‘Defeat’, 6: ‘Science’, 7: ‘Futility’, 8: ‘Interference’, 9: ‘Cruelty’ and 10: ‘Ruin’.

In the suit of Cups: 2: ‘Love’, 3: ‘Abundance’, 4: ‘Luxury’, 5: ‘Disappointment’, 6: ‘Pleasure’, 7: ‘Debauch’, 8: ‘Indolence’, 9: ‘Happiness’ and 10: ‘Satiety’.

In the suit of Disks: 2: ‘Change’, 3: ‘Works’, 4: ‘Power’, 5: ‘Worry’, 6: ‘Success’, 7: ‘Failure’, 8: ‘Prudence’, 9: ‘Gain’ and 10: ‘Wealth’.

The relationship between each suit and its court cards relies on the elemental meanings. Where Wands, Swords, Cups and Disks mean fire, air, water and earth, so too do Knight, Prince, Queen and Princess respectively. Thus the Princess of Cups is the ‘earthy’ part of ‘water’, and so ice-cubes are in the drawing, and a tortoise, insinuating mud, both ice and mud being solid ‘forms’ of water. By extension, the Princess of Cups probably also means the physical side of emotions. Why Knight and Prince are spirit and mind and Queen and Princess are emotion and body, is down to orthodox traditional symbolism. For what it’s worth, the cards never meant male and female, but always ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’