Tarot & Astrology
Or, How to Transpose any Placement on an Astrological Chart to its Corresponding Tarot Card (and, thereby, gain further insight into your readings).
I basically don’t use random Tarot spreads anymore.
I mean, I can definitely appreciate the synchronistic value of drawing cards at random but, over the past several years, I’ve almost entirely selected cards for my personal and professional Tarot work based on the Golden Dawn-based correspondences. It just works so much better when used in conjunction with the astrology (pun intended).
Let me unpack what I mean by this…
A folio from the cipher manuscript that would form the theoretical curriculum of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1887.
In the latter part of the 19th century, a series of cipher manuscripts were discovered by William Wynn Westcott among the property of the recently deceased Kenneth Mackenzie. Both were Freemasons, occultists and members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Among this collection of 60 folios were various tables of correspondence, one of which included elemental, planetary and zodiacal attributions to the 22 cards of the Tarot’s Major Arcana. Later in the century, in a document called Book T, another Freemason/occultist/Rosicrucian, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, worked out a system of correspondences for the Minor Arcana, or numerical pip cards of the Tarot.
With these two bodies of correspondences in order, in addition to other Hermetic and Qabalistic frames of reference, we have in the Tarot a comprehensive body of occult symbolism – a sort of alphabet – which may be applied to everything from meditative pathworking exercises to astrological inquiry (as we shall see) to all manner of micro-ritualism.
Focusing primarily on the astrological application of the Tarot, we find that any day, sign, planet or decan may be transposed into the symbolic language of the Tarot. Through these bodies of correspondences, the weekday Wednesday becomes The Magician; the sign of Gemini becomes The Lovers; the planet Venus becomes The Empress; and the third decan of Aries becomes the 4 of Wands.
With this set of correspondences in mind, we can turn to some practical examples.
I call this process:
“ASTRO-TAROTIC TRANSPOSITION.”
Let’s take a look at the example chart below:
Chart erected on astro-seek.com
We could delineate this chart by using the standard astrological method of interpreting the “Big Three” – the Ascendant, Sun and Moon – in signs and houses and by aspect. Or, we could transpose these placements into their corresponding Tarot cards. For instance, the Ascendant is in Leo; the Sun is in Aries; and the Moon is in Libra. Using the cipher manuscript correspondences, we find that the Ascendant is tarotically represented by the Strength card; the Sun by The Emperor; and the Moon by Justice. From here, we could lay out the resultant Tarot spread and interpret it per our usually methodology.
Okay? Let’s look at another chart:
Chart erected on astro-seek.com
The Ascendant is in the second decan of Virgo; the Sun is in third decan of Capricorn; and the Moon is in the first decan of Capricorn, which is (according to traditional decan rulerships) ruled by Jupiter. Using the cipher manuscript correspondences, as well as those found in the aforementioned Book T (which we’re using for decan attributions), we find that the second decan of Virgo is represented by the 9 of coins; the third decan of Capricorn by the 3 of Coins; and the planet Jupiter (traditional ruler of the first decan of Capricorn) by The Wheel of Fortune card. After generating this Tarot spread, we may interpret per our usual methodology.
[Something I should mention here is that there is a certain logic behind the attribution of the numbered pip cards to the 36 decans. In astrological theory, we have what are known as triplicities (four groups of three signs, divided by element: earth, air, water and fire) and quadruplicities (three groups of four signs, divided by quality: cardinal, fixed and mutable). Hold that thought.
According to ancient Egyptian astrological doctrine, there are 36 decans, each being a 10° arc segment of the 360° ecliptic. If you take the pip cards, numbered from 2 to 10 (forget about the Aces for now), you have 36 cards, right?
Each Tarot suit has an elemental correspondence - viz., coins = earth; cups = water; swords = air; wands = fire.
Each of the qualities are assigned three numbers: cardinal (2, 3, 4); fixed (5, 6, 7); mutable (8, 9, 10).
So, let’s say you have a planet in the second decan of Sagittarius. You know Sagittarius is a mutable-fire sign, right? If not, take my word for it. So, if you want to represent the second decan of a mutable-fire sign in the Tarot pips, then you use the 9 of Wands. Simple as that.]
I really only wanted to address astro-tarotic transposition in the current piece – not chart delineation and Tarot interpretation themselves. But, I can assure you that the synergy is striking. I tend to think of the Tarot as a way to pictorially enhance the placement of planets, points, lots and angles in signs and houses when delineated by strictly astrological methods. I am often surprised by the amount of further elucidation that the cards provide to the delineation of a chart.