What is the difference between the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana in Tarot?

You can think of it this way: the Major Arcana is like the main plot of a movie, while the Minor Arcana consists of the daily scenes and specific events that make up that main plot.

The Major Arcana, totaling 22 cards, are all "big players." They represent significant, far-reaching themes or turning points in our lives. For example, "The Fool" signifies new beginnings, "The Lovers" represents important choices, "The Tower" denotes sudden upheaval, and "The World" symbolizes the successful completion of a cycle. When you draw many Major Arcana cards in a spread, it usually means you are at a very crucial stage in your life, needing to focus on grander life lessons and spiritual growth. They are the "chapter titles" of the story.

The Minor Arcana, totaling 56 cards, are more like the "detailed supplements" of our daily lives. They deal with more specific, practical issues, telling us how the story unfolds bit by bit. These 56 cards are further divided into four "families" (suits), each governing an aspect of life:

Wands: Represent action, passion, creativity, and energy. This can be understood as matters concerning "what you want to do" and "what you are doing."
Cups: Represent emotions, relationships, intuition, and love. All joys and sorrows, loves and hates, are generally governed by this suit.
Swords: Represent thought, communication, challenges, and conflict. This is about your ideas, the difficulties you encounter, and how you communicate.
Pentacles/Coins: Represent the material world, such as work, money, health, and learning. All tangible, practical things are related to this suit.

So, simply put:

Drawing a Major Arcana card is like being told: "Hey, pay attention, an important chapter of your life is unfolding!"
And a nearby Minor Arcana card will elaborate: "Specifically, this matter is about your work (Pentacles), making you feel conflicted (Swords), but you approach it with passion (Wands)."

A complete interpretation combines the main plot (Major Arcana) and daily details (Minor Arcana) to piece together a full story.