Astrology and the Tarot

Although the Tarot and astrology share many correspondences, these two-occult disciplined are independent fields of study. Many students come to the Tarot from astrology, and vice versa. It is important to remember that there is no exact one – to – one correlation between astrological and Tarot symbolism. In fact, astrological associations between the Tarot Trumps and astrological attributions differ from one author to another.

Bear in mind that the Tarot cards have meaning in their own right independent of astrology. Arthur Edward Waite could not have said it better when he wrote in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.

The true Tarot is symbolism; it speaks no other language and offers no other signs. Given the inward meaning of its emblems, they do become a kind of alphabet which is capable if indefinite combinations and makes true sense in all.

Waite also emphasized that the Tarot “is not, by attribution or otherwise, a derivative of any one school of literature of occultism, it is not of Alchemy or Cabalism or Astrology or Ceremonial Magic. “Rather, said Waite, the Tarot “Is a presentation of universal ideas by means of universal types.”

Psychoanalyst Cart Gustav Jung would later call these universal ideas. “Archetypes of the unconscious mind.” The power of the Tarot derives from its capacity to allow us to tap into the Tarot derives from its capacity to allow us to tap into the archetypal images, feelings, and human interactions symbolized by the cards. There is nothing magical or mystical about the Tarot. The cards are merely tools that allow us to experience facets of our human inheritance as sentiment, spiritual beings.

The reader should regard links between astrology and the Tarot as suggesting further nuances of Tarot symbolism. The Tarot cards speak for themselves independent of astrology. Each student of the Tarot must discover the meanings of the cards anew. It making astrological connections helps you to understand the cards.

There are various methods of attributing signs and planets to the pip cards. Most involve the succession of signs in an element (Fire, Earth, Air, and Water) according to their modality (Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable). Browsing the tables will allow you to see the patterns involved in making such assignments.