Tarot and Astrology: Where Some Correspondences Come From

A contemporary guide may associate a card with a planet, a sign, or an element. It is easy to believe that this table was printed in the earliest decks. Museum documentation tells another story: tarot emerged as a game in Renaissance Italy and received occult readings centuries later. Astrological correspondences are part of later traditions, with identifiable authors, works, and decks. Studying them requires always asking: which system proposes this relationship, on what date, and in what object does it appear? There is no single table that belongs by nature to all decks.

The Morgan Library & Museum exhibition expressly separates tarot’s game-related origins in the 15th century from its later esoteric reinterpretation. Its label about Antoine Court de Gébelin shows a moment in the late 18th century when authors began presenting the cards as a repository of ancient secrets. The museum does not validate those claims of Egyptian origin; it explains when and by whom they were formulated. That method works for astrology: the fact that an author associates a card with a celestial body proves the existence of their proposal, not that the painter of an earlier deck thought the same.

A Material Example: Xul Solar

The Morgan documents two decks by the Argentine artist Xul Solar: one from 1918 that follows the Marseille model and another from 1954 that combines astrology with the Neo-Criollo language he created. Here we can indeed speak of a relationship between tarot and astrology in a concrete, dated, and attributed object. The contrast between both decks by the same artist shows that correspondences and symbols change according to the project. It is not a universal law derived from the seventy-eight cards.

The museum also explains Solar’s interest in esoteric texts and organizations of his time. Some circumstances of his early contacts are presented as uncertain; that caution must be preserved. What we see with greater certainty is his own 1954 deck and the curatorial reading of his mixture of languages. We do not need to invent a secret chain from 15th-century Italy to explain a modern artistic decision.

Another Case: Authors of Esoteric Tarot

The Morgan shop describes Tarot of the Magicians by Oswald Wirth, originally published in Paris in 1927, and notes astrological associations within his system. The commercial description is a source for the edition it sells and points toward the work; to detail each correspondence one would need to read the original text and cite its page. The date is enough to situate a proposal: the early 20th century, not the era when the Visconti-Sforza cards were made.

Tables can differ between authors. Some work with zodiac signs, others with planets or celestial bodies, and not all distribute the cards in the same way. If you find two incompatible correspondences, you do not need to call one false for not matching your guide. Identify the school and its text. A personal reading may choose a system explicitly; a historical article must say who proposed it and when.

Astrology Is Not Astronomy, Nor Proof of Prediction

Celestial bodies exist and can be observed; correspondences between cards and signs are cultural assignments within interpretive systems. This article studies those assignments as the history of ideas and images. It does not present evidence that a card allows one to predict events through its associated planet. If someone uses the association as a trigger for reflection, they can say “in this method, I relate this card to…”. That sentence is more precise than “the card objectively is this planet.”

Nor does every ancient celestial motif prove an astrological correspondence. Sun, Moon, and stars are frequent images in art and religion. The Morgan explains that Renaissance triumphs took figures from the visual language of their time. To affirm that a specific card was designed according to a specific astrological table, one needs a workshop document or an argued comparison, not merely recognizing a drawn sun.

How to Check a Table Found Online

Write down the name of the author or school, title, and date of the source. Check whether the table is in the original book or in a later summary. Check the deck edition to which it applies. See whether it differentiates major arcana, minor arcana, and court cards. If a website says “traditional correspondence” without a source, treat it as an undated proposal. Do not repeat it as historical origin. The Triumph Cards Before They Were Called Arcana explains why even the vocabulary has changed.

The exercise can be done with one card: look for two dated authors who relate it to a sign or planet and compare their reasons. If they disagree, describe the discrepancy. If they agree, do not conclude that a universal ancient truth exists; there could be influence between authors. To demonstrate concrete transmission you would need textual references, edition, and context. The history of ideas works with citations, not isolated similarities.

Using a Correspondence in a Current Reading

If your practice includes astrology, decide which system you will use before interpreting. Explain to the querent that it is an optional layer and ask whether it is useful to them. A card can also be read through its image, position, and question without adding the zodiac. Do not turn someone’s natal sign into intimate data necessary for any reading. If you do not know their date or they do not wish to share it, the reading can continue without that layer.

In a fictitious case, a person asks about how to organize a project. You can use an astrological association to remind you of a theme of rhythm or initiative, but the final plan needs a calendar, resources, and real commitments. The table does not provide data about the market, health, or another person’s will. The value of the correspondence, if it has any for that reader, is symbolic and declared.

A Chronology Without an Invented Origin

We can point to the early Italian game, the documented occult reinterpretation in the late 18th century, and later works or decks that incorporate astral correspondences. There is no need to connect every stage with a demonstrated arrow of transmission if documents are missing. Xul Solar’s case has a date and object; Wirth’s has an identifiable work. That is enough to explain that the associations exist and are historical without saying they were the original purpose of the first makers.

The question that improves any reading and any article is “according to whom?”. A planet next to a card is not a property of the cardstock: it is a relationship proposed in a tradition. Naming that tradition allows one to study it, use it, or dispense with it knowingly.

Sources Consulted

• The Morgan Library & Museum, exhibition Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions. Distinction between game-related origin and later appropriations.
• The Morgan Library & Museum, “Occult Tarot”. 18th-century occult rereading contextualized by the museum.
• The Morgan Library & Museum, “Xul Solar and the Tarot”. Decks from 1918 and 1954; astrology in the later work.
• Morgan Shop, edition of Tarot of the Magicians. Publisher’s description of a work originally published in 1927; it does not replace reading the original for a card-by-card table.