Astrological Correspondences
The correspondences between tarot and astrology are a system worked out in the Golden Dawn tradition: the major cards are linked to planets and signs, and the minor number cards to the finer divisions called decans. The system is not native to tarot; it is an interpretive framework layered on later
[uncertain: the Marseille tradition itself has no astrological correspondences].
Astrological attributions of the major cards
The full list is in the table on Correspondence Table. There are three kinds:
- The seven classical planets: the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn each correspond to one major card. Sun → The Sun, Moon → The High Priestess, Mercury → The Magician, Venus → The Empress, Mars → The Tower, Jupiter → Wheel of Fortune, Saturn → The World.
- The twelve signs: most of the remaining major cards correspond to one sign each, such as The Emperor → Aries and The Hierophant → Taurus, and so on through to The Devil → Capricorn.
- Three of the elements themselves (not the elements of the zodiac signs, but pure Air, Water and Fire): The Fool → Air, The Hanged Man → Water, Judgement → Fire. There is no card for pure Earth because the Golden Dawn system assigns the element of Earth to the material world, the Earth itself, as a whole, and does not give it a major card of its own uncertain.
Decan attributions of the minor number cards
Each sign is divided into three decans, each governing about 10 days. That makes 36 decans in a year, exactly matching the 36 minor number cards (2–10 in each of the four suits):
| Suit | Element | Signs covered (their three decans correspond to Two through Ten) |
|---|---|---|
| Wands | Fire | Aries, Leo, Sagittarius |
| Cups | Water | Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces |
| Swords | Air | Libra, Aquarius, Gemini |
| Pentacles | Earth | Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo |
Take a specific card such as the Five of Wands. It corresponds to the first decan of Leo, which the Golden Dawn assigns to Saturn. When reading the card, this can be understood as Fire (the element of the Wands suit) plus Leo (a fire sign, which strengthens the fire further) plus Saturn (the ruler of that decan, which presses down on the fire with restriction and friction). Strong fire held in check by Saturn is one way to explain why the Five of Wands is read as fierce competition and many parties pulling against one another inferred. The tables of decan rulers differ considerably from source to source, so this page gives only the widely cited framework. Details can be checked further when needed; this site does not go into the ruling planet of every card.
Aces and court cards are outside the decan scheme
An Ace stands for the suit itself, its undivided energy, and does not fall in the decan table. The court cards do not correspond to decans either, but the Golden Dawn system gives them a separate set of zodiac attributions: Queens to the cardinal signs, Kings to the fixed signs, Knights to the mutable signs. That is a different logic from the decan table here; see The Court Cards for details.
How to use it
Astrological correspondences are not essential for beginners. They are an interpretive framework for people who already know the card meanings and want to understand why a card means what it does. They are also the key that makes the whole system of The Kabbalah and the Tree of Life hang together: a major card's astrological attribution and its path on the Tree of Life are two expressions of the same logic.