The decan wheel is extremely helpful in visualizing the houses within the zodiac and the tarot cards that lie within them. It is a great go-to that will help you identify and memorize where the tarot cards live as well as what energies are likely to manifest within them. I printed the one below and taped it into my notebook for quick access when practicing tarot. Ten degrees of separation The zodiac houses span thirty degree sections of the wheel going counterclockwise. Aries is the first house and Pisces is the twelfth. Each of the house is further subdivided into ten degree segments called decans or decanates. The Minor Arcana tarot cards (two through ten) are assigned to each decan. The two, three and four of Wands span the entire house Aries for example. From there you can see the suits are not arranged in order. They are assigned to houses with the same element. For example all Wands correspond to fire signs. So the next order of wands can be found in Leo, then in Sagittarius. Decan Wheel Each card/decan has a co-ruling planet. Starting with the two card in Aries we have the rulerships of Mars, the Sun and then Mercury. These are considered co-rulers because Mars is the ruling planet of the entire Aries house. The wheel also indicates the elemental triangle of Fire (triplicity), and the Cardinal aspect (quadruplicity) of Aries. Court Cards The Aces and Court Cards live on the outside rim of the wheel. In the THOTH deck the Knights, Queens, and Princesses rule entire thirty degree segments. Notice they are not evenly placed over the houses. This is on purpose. It reflects the constant interaction and balance seeking between the elements. For example the Queen of Wands is the watery part of fire and she rules the last decan of Pisces and the first two decan of Aries. That is one third of a water sign and two thirds of a fire sign. One might think that the highest order of fire, the Knight of Wands, would rule the most pure fire sign of Aries. However such a configuration would be unbalanced, emphasizing too much fire in one place. Therefore the knight's rulership is assigned to Sagittarius-the least pure fire sign. I will do a segment soon on the breakdown of the card ranks and their element classifications. Decan Wheel with Court Cards How the Wheel relates to Tarot Decan wheels vary in design in terms of what data they contain. The more advanced wheel below adds some nice features. It includes all the previous information plus house planetary rulerships and exaltation. It is worthwhile considering these attributes when practicing tarot, they add rich detail that might not otherwise be so easily seen in a card. Similar to the planetary aspects in astrology, we can view the cards through the lens of the ruling planets, elements and images. Deluxe Decan Wheel
Astrology and Tarot Wheel, planetary rulers of the 12 zodiac signs, the seasons, aces, and pages.
Tarot and astrology are connected through elements and using their connection, you will become a better tarot reader.
Unlock the secrets of your soul with zodiac sign tarot cards. Discover the deep connection, enhance self-awareness, and chart your spiritual journey.
The decan wheel is extremely helpful in visualizing the houses within the zodiac and the tarot cards that lie within them. It is a great go-to that will help you identify and memorize where the tarot cards live as well as what energies are likely to manifest within them. I printed the one below and taped it into my notebook for quick access when practicing tarot. Ten degrees of separation The zodiac houses span thirty degree sections of the wheel going counterclockwise. Aries is the first house and Pisces is the twelfth. Each of the house is further subdivided into ten degree segments called decans or decanates. The Minor Arcana tarot cards (two through ten) are assigned to each decan. The two, three and four of Wands span the entire house Aries for example. From there you can see the suits are not arranged in order. They are assigned to houses with the same element. For example all Wands correspond to fire signs. So the next order of wands can be found in Leo, then in Sagittarius. Decan Wheel Each card/decan has a co-ruling planet. Starting with the two card in Aries we have the rulerships of Mars, the Sun and then Mercury. These are considered co-rulers because Mars is the ruling planet of the entire Aries house. The wheel also indicates the elemental triangle of Fire (triplicity), and the Cardinal aspect (quadruplicity) of Aries. Court Cards The Aces and Court Cards live on the outside rim of the wheel. In the THOTH deck the Knights, Queens, and Princesses rule entire thirty degree segments. Notice they are not evenly placed over the houses. This is on purpose. It reflects the constant interaction and balance seeking between the elements. For example the Queen of Wands is the watery part of fire and she rules the last decan of Pisces and the first two decan of Aries. That is one third of a water sign and two thirds of a fire sign. One might think that the highest order of fire, the Knight of Wands, would rule the most pure fire sign of Aries. However such a configuration would be unbalanced, emphasizing too much fire in one place. Therefore the knight's rulership is assigned to Sagittarius-the least pure fire sign. I will do a segment soon on the breakdown of the card ranks and their element classifications. Decan Wheel with Court Cards How the Wheel relates to Tarot Decan wheels vary in design in terms of what data they contain. The more advanced wheel below adds some nice features. It includes all the previous information plus house planetary rulerships and exaltation. It is worthwhile considering these attributes when practicing tarot, they add rich detail that might not otherwise be so easily seen in a card. Similar to the planetary aspects in astrology, we can view the cards through the lens of the ruling planets, elements and images. Deluxe Decan Wheel
In earlier articles, we provided correspondences between the Zodiac and some of the Major Arcana cards. But this isn’t the whole picture, it’s only a simplified version of a larger topic. If you’ve had experience working with the Golden Dawn, or have ever worked with a Thoth tradition deck, you’ll likely also be wondering about the astrological symbols that you see imprinted on the cards. If you take a closer examination of all this, you’ll see that the entire Minor Arcana of the tarot is arranged in a way so that they are connected beautifully with astrological concepts. This article is meant to briefly cover the connection between astrology and tarot in the Minor Arcana only. A fair word of warning, we’re trying very hard to cover this complex topic in a single article alongside diagrams. Much like our previous series on the Tree of Life and Tarot, there are just some depth that we won’t be able to do. We’re going to assume here that you have an intermediate understanding of both astrology and tarot. If you don’t, you can read a bit more about both astrology and tarot on our free resources section. That area will likely include key concepts that you may see mentioned here. Astrology and Tarot: The Qualities, Elements and Numbered Cards of the Minor Arcana We’ll start with looking at some concepts that are more likely to be familiar to those that have prior knowledge of astrology. One key concept used in determining correspondences between tarot and astrology is how each zodiac sign has their own quality (cardinal, fixed, mutable) and their own element. The quality of the zodiac sign determines the numbered cards, while the element, as you may already know, determines the tarot suit. Cards 2, 3, 4 - Correlated to cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn). Cardinal signs are considered the initiators or leaders of the zodiac; they represent the start of their respective seasons. Cards 5, 6, 7 - Correlated to fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). Fixed signs are reliable and stable; they are dedicated with strong follow through. They represent the middle of their respective seasons. Card 8, 9, 10 - Correlated to mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces). Mutable signs are adaptable and versatile. They represent the end of their respective seasons. By looking at these correlations, we can start getting a vague picture of which numbered cards are assigned to which zodiac signs. For example, we know that Aries is a cardinal, fire element sign. That means that the zodiac sign Aries corresponds to the 2, 3 and 4 of Wands. You may also notice that the aces are not present in this chart. That is because the aces are the source of power for each of the elements, meaning that aces instead represent the entire element itself, and therefore 3 entire zodiac signs. The Ace of Wands is thought to represent Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.We’ll summarize these correspondences in this following chart: Astrology and Tarot: Classical Astrology and the Chaldean Order So that should take care of the zodiac correspondences within the Minor Arcana. But if you examine a minor arcana pip card from a Thoth tradition tarot deck, you’ll see two astrological symbols each; a zodiac sign and a planet. Before we get into understanding the planet symbol on each of your cards, we’ll need to make a distinction about is the difference between Classical Astrology and Modern Astrology. Classical Astrology flourished during the Renaissance, before many of the concepts that we’re now so used to talking about in astrology were even discovered. One of the main differences was the number of planets used in astrological calculations; instead of our usual 10 familiar planetary bodies, there were only 7 back then. The outer planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) were not visible with the naked eye. A key concept when working with the tarot will be something called the Chaldean Order, where each of these 7 planetary bodies are arranged based on their relative geocentric orbital period, or in other words, their speed of movement based on our perspective from earth. Understanding the Chaldean Order will be the basis for how we begin to create correspondences between the Minor Arcana and astrology. Astrology and Tarot: Understanding the Decan Let’s start by looking at the Zodiac Wheel. You may recognize this wheel if you draw your own natal charts or your transits. You’re probably already used to seeing the zodiac signs along the circumference of the wheel, dividing this wheel into 12 sections. Each zodiac sign controls 30 degrees of the wheel. The 12 signs of the zodiac can be further divided into 3 decans each, for a total of 36 decans. Each decan takes up 10 degrees on the zodiac wheel, which is just about equivalent to 10 days. Now, remember the Chaldean Order? In Classical astrology, each of these decans are ruled by the 7 planets of the Chaldean Order. They go in sequence, starting from Aries (the first zodiac sign of the year, since in astrology, the year starts with the Spring Equinox) and ending in Pisces. The first decan of Aries is ruled by Mars, the second by the Sun, and the third by Venus. The order does from slower relative geocentric orbit, to faster. After Aries, we find Taurus, symbolizing the middle of spring. If we continue the Chaldean Order, that means that the next planet and the first decan of Taurus is Mercury. The second decan of Taurus is the Moon, and then we begin the Chaldean Order over, with the third decan of Taurus being ruled by Saturn.Finally, at the end of it all, the third decan of Pisces is ruled by Mars again. Now with all the planetary rulers of each decan in place, you can look at your tarot cards again. The planetary symbol corresponds to the decan on the zodiac wheel, giving you its exact location. Putting it all together, you’ll see a pattern emerge; weaving together elements, qualities and zodiac signs to form a picture of the whole year and the entire zodiac wheel. Aries Tarot Cards Taurus Tarot Cards Cardinal Fire2 of Wands - Mars in Aries3 of Wands - Sun in Aries4 of Wands - Venus in Aries Fixed Earth5 of Pentacles - Mercury in Taurus6 of Pentacles - Moon in Taurus7 of Pentacles - Saturn in Taurus Gemini Tarot Cards Cancer Tarot Cards Mutable Air8 of Swords - Jupiter in Gemini9 of Swords - Mars in Gemini10 of Swords - Sun in Gemini Cardinal Water2 of Cups - Venus in Cancer3 of Cups - Mercury in Cancer4 of Cups - Moon in Cancer Leo Tarot Cards Virgo Tarot Cards Fixed Fire5 of Wands - Saturn in Leo6 of Wands - Jupiter in Leo7 of Wands - Mars in Leo Mutable Earth8 of Pentacles - Sun in Virgo9 of Pentacles - Venus in Virgo10 of Pentacles - Mercury in Virgo Libra Tarot Cards Scorpio Tarot Cards Cardinal Air2 of Swords - Moon in Libra3 of Swords - Saturn in Libra4 of Swords - Jupiter in Libra Fixed Water5 of Cups - Mars in Scorpio6 of Cups - Sun in Scorpio7 of Cups - Venus in Scorpio Sagittarius Tarot Cards Capricorn Tarot Cards Mutable Fire8 of Wands - Mercury in Sagittarius9 of Wands - Moon in Sagittarius10 of Wands - Saturn in Sagittarius Cardinal Earth2 of Pentacles - Jupiter in Capricorn3 of Pentacles - Mars in Capricorn4 of Pentacles - Sun in Capricorn Aquarius Tarot Cards Pisces Tarot Cards Fixed Air5 of Swords - Venus in Aquarius6 of Swords - Mercury in Aquarius7 of Swords - Moon in Aquarius Mutable Water8 of Cups - Saturn in Pisces9 of Cups - Jupiter in Pisces10 of Cups - Mars in Pisces Astrology and Tarot Correspondences: The Minor Arcana Infographic
For as long as I remember, I’ve been interested in stars and space. When I was a teen I loved reading horoscopes in mom’s magazines....
Do you know which Major and Minor Arcana cards correspond to your sign?
The tarot, originally know as the trionfi, is a pack of playing cards used from the mid 15th century in various parts of Europe to play games such as Italian tarocchini, French tarot, and Austrian Konigrufen. In the late 18th century, some tarot decks began to be used for divination through tarot reading, which lead to
Hello, hello,How are you doing?Today, for you all tarot and astrology lovers, I'd like to give a short and sweet summary of the tarot correspondences in the Major Arcana.If you've never heard about it, the astrology correspondences is the idea of linking one card to one astrological thing, such as to a zodiac sign, a decan of the zodiac, a planet or one of the 4 elements.As far as we know, the tarot correspondences were developed and popularized by the secret magical society of the Golden Dawn,
Astrology and Tarot Wheel, the decans & planetary sub-rulers for 12 zodiac signs. In addition to tarot's 22 Major Arcana and Court Cards.
If you’re familiar with the Golden Dawn, you’ll know that the Tarot is part of a greater esoteric system; one that beautifully weaves together astrology, tarot, and Kabbalah into a greater whole. We first see these ideas being used together in the 1800’s when Eliphas Levi published a book describing the relationship of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana with the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, and the 4 suits of the tarot corresponding to the Tetragrammaton (the 4 lettered, Hebrew name of God). This article is going to be an attempt to briefly explain the connections between Kabbalah, and specifically the Tree of Life, with the Tarot. What is the Tree of Life? To put it in somewhat simple terms, the Tree of Life is a diagram that describes the universal laws of reality. Like a fractal, the Tree of Life is an eternal emanation of the divine principle: it is macrocosm and microcosm. It lives and breathes within each and every human being, and together, we all form the branches of its tree. Its echo exists both within us and without.The sinewy pathways woven by its branches and its roots is how spirit and energy travels in order to make itself manifest as matter. If you follow its path downwards, you find the body and our unconscious, and if you follow it upwards, you find the divine source of the soul and our higher selves. It is the blueprint for creation; and it is a metaphor for the richness of our inner lives. The entire diagram consists of 10 nodes and 22 paths that connect each of the nodes. There are many correspondences between each and every one of these nodes and paths, but we will keep our discussion of them limited to the tarot. We humbly admit that whatever attempt we make to explain and decipher the Tree of Life, a deeply complex occult subject, will always come short. In the following article, we're going to be using the Arcana Iris Sacra to illustrate the relationship between the tree of life and tarot. The Major Arcana: The 22 Paths of the Tree of Life and the Tarot The Tree of Life consists of 10 nodes and 22 pathways between the nodes. For the Major Arcana, we’ll focus on the 22 pathways. We’ll discuss the nodes in the next section of the article, when we talk about the Minor Arcana.The paths connecting one node to another are paths represent the lessons learned on one’s journey or the spiritual requirements needed to traverse to the next node. Collectively, these 22 paths are known as the Path of the Serpent, and represents the journey of the seeker that longs to return to the divine. As the serpent travels along this path, it also undergoes the healing of the spirit. One treads the Path through conscious self development of one’s internal world. If you’re already well versed in tarot, you may already know that the Major Arcana reflects something known as the Fool’s Journey. The 22 paths of the Tree of Life are just another lens through which to see the Fool’s Journey. These cards tell the story of humanity’s spiritual evolution into enlightenment and individuation, or in allegorical terms, they represent the return of the soul from matter to the divine through conscious cultivation of the self. If you're familiar with Labyrinthos' philosophy regarding tarot, this will all sound very familiar to you. The Tree of Life and Tarot: Major Arcana Diagram The Paths of the Tree of Life and Tarot Major Arcana The Major Arcana and the Path of the Serpent Correspondences is detailed in this table below. Tarot Card Letter Meaning Symbolic Meaning Fool Aleph Ox Primal Energy Magician Beth House Temple, Attention High Priestess Gimel Camel Lifting Up, Unconscious Empress Daleth Door Pathway, Nourishment Emperor He Window Vision, Reasoning Hierophant Vau Hook, Nail Connections, Secure Lovers Zayin Sword Discernment, Cut Off Chariot Chet Field, Fence Separate, Enclose Strength Tet Serpent, Twist Surround Hermit Yod Closed Hand Deed, Work Wheel of Fortune Kaph Open Hand Cover, Grasp Justice Lamed Goad, Staff Prod, Tongue Hanged Man Mem Water Overpower, Reversal Death Nun Fruit, Fish Sprouting, Activity, Life Temperance Samech Tent, Prop Support, Doctrine Devil Ayin Eyes Experience, Knowledge Tower Phe Throat, Mouth Speak, Word Star Tzaddi Hook Honesty, Harvest Moon Quoph Back of Head Hidden, Behind Sun Resh Face Redemption, Highest Judgement Shin Tooth Consume, Destroy World Tav Sign, Cross Covenant, Seal, Truth The Tree of Life and Tarot: The Major Arcana Correspondences Infographic The Minor Arcana: The Four Letters and Four Worlds In the Kabbalah, there are four worlds, each of which correspond with a letter in the name of god, as well as a suit in the minor arcana of the tarot. Each of the Worlds are connected with one another, so that the nodes of one world interlock with another in order to create a ladder structure that connects the material world and the world of the divine. This is called Jacob’s Ladder, a staircase from earth into heaven, which came to the biblical Jacob in a dream. Together, these four worlds are represented by the Minor Arcana. At the bottom of this ladder, is the element of earth as the pentacles, and at the top of the ladder is the element of fire and the wands. Letter World Suit Element Meaning Yod Atziluth Wands Fire Emanation He Beri’ah Cups Water Creation Vau Yetzirah Swords Air Formation He Assiah Pentacles Earth Manifest The 10 Nodes of the Tree of Life and Tarot The nodes of the Tree of Life represent different aspects of God, the self, or the psyche. They are known in the Kabbalah as the sephiroth, individually as the sephirah. The top of the Tree of Life is closest to God, and as one travels down the Tree of Life, we come closer and closer to manifestation. If it helps, we can imagine the sephiroth as a series of mirrors, reflecting light from the top to the bottom. The light itself is not changed, but it shines just a bit more dimly at the bottom than it does up top. You’ll see that the numbers on each world correspond with a card in the minor arcana. Starting with the world of emanation, we travel through the cards, and go from the aces to the tens. Then, we start all over again, but in the ace of the next world. So from the 10 of wands, we move to the ace of chalices. From the 10 of chalices, we move to the ace of swords. And from the 10 of swords, we move to the ace of disks. This ends at the 10 of disks, where matter has found its home. Simultaneously, the ace of wands is closest to the divine. The Nodes of Tree of Life and Tarot Minor Arcana Numbers The Sephiroth and their numerical correspondences are listed below. Sephirah Card Meaning Keywords Kether Ace Crown closest to god, unity, eternal source, pureness, potential Chokmah 2 Wisdom divine masculine, expression of full power of their suit, insight Binah 3 Understanding divine feminine, harmony, contemplation Chesed 4 Mercy stability, discipline, structure, form Geburah 5 Severity destruction, motion, change, upheaval, chaos Tiphareth 6 Beauty consciousness, balance, integration, connecting divine and physical Netzach 7 Victory strength, determination, concentration Hod 8 Splendor communication, expression of energy, reasoning, action, movement Yesod 9 Foundation refinement, reflection, imagination Malkuth 10 Kingdom the physical world, energies manifest, tangible form of all emanations The Tree of Life and Tarot: The Minor Arcana Infographic The Court Cards and the Tree of Life You may be wondering where the court cards are. In short, they are more connected with astrology, and we’ll cover them in another post. In fact, the entire tarot deck, and especially the Minor Arcana have deep astrological correspondences that we’d like to discuss. Stay tuned!
Here are 3 tarot spreads inspired by the fire signs Aries, Leo and Sagittarius! Enthusiastic, energetic and no surprise... fiery!
Discover the depths of the Moon Tarot Card meaning. Unearth your spiritual journey and personal growth with our comprehensive guide.
The last 3 signs for this series are the water signs Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Emotional, intuitive and imaginative!
The Ultimate Tarot Guide, get to know the Tarot Cards, their meaning and how they are used in Tarot readings and predicting the future.
300+ FREE Tarot spreads for personal and spiritual development, as well as working with lunar phases and other celestial influences.
