Tarot cards matched to zodiac signs
A complete correspondence table, built in late-Victorian London rather than inherited.
2 min read · Published 2 September 2026
Before the detail
Twelve Major Arcana cards correspond to the twelve zodiac signs, seven to the planets and three to elements. The Minor Arcana's 36 numbered cards from Two to Ten map onto the 36 decans. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn systematised these correspondences from 1888 onwards. They were not inherited from an older tradition, so they line up so neatly.
The zodiac correspondences
| Sign | Major Arcana card |
|---|---|
| Aries | The Emperor |
| Taurus | The Hierophant |
| Gemini | The Lovers |
| Cancer | The Chariot |
| Leo | Strength |
| Virgo | The Hermit |
| Libra | Justice |
| Scorpio | Death |
| Sagittarius | Temperance |
| Capricorn | The Devil |
| Aquarius | The Star |
| Pisces | The Moon |
Some fits are persuasive, Libra with Justice, Capricorn with The Devil's goat. Others take work: Scorpio with Death rests on the sign's older associations.
The planets and elements
Mercury is The Magician, the Moon The High Priestess, Venus The Empress, Jupiter the Wheel of Fortune, Mars The Tower, the Sun The Sun, Saturn The World; Air is The Fool, Water The Hanged Man, Fire Judgement. Twelve signs, seven planets and three elements make twenty-two, exactly the Major Arcana. That was constructed, not discovered.
The decan mapping is clever and Victorian, and I'd use it as a memory aid and nothing else.
The decan mapping
Two to Ten across four suits is 36 cards, the number of decans. The Golden Dawn mapped them in order with the Chaldean rulerships, so the Five of Cups is a specific decan with a specific planet. Aces sit outside as pure element; court cards are handled separately.
Using them
As a learning aid, fine: if you know one system, the tables give you a route into the other. As evidence of a deep connection, no. They were built by people who wanted the systems to align. AsterNym computes a tarot birth card by arithmetic and doesn't use the Golden Dawn tables.
Santiago Garcias