The Astrology of the Tarot
How to Build a Personality Profile using the Tarot
What is the Tarot?
The Tarot is a deck of 78 cards upon which are printed symbolic pictures used in the practice of divination, however they have additional applications as well.
A standard deck consist of 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana typically relate to matters of a high significance or a deep purpose whereas the Minor Arcana concerns itself with matters of mundane, every-day living.
The Minor Arcana can be divided into four suits which correspond to the four elements. They are:
- Wands, which relate to fire.
- Cups, which relate to water.
- Swords, which relate to air.
- Pentacles, which relate to earth.
Similar to Playing Cards, each suit consists of ten cards numbered from Ace to 10 and then four court cards which are named as King, Queen, Knight, and Page of each suit.
To operate the cards, they are often laid out in a Tarot Spread. A Spread is a term used to describe the pattern in which Tarot-Cards are laid out after shuffling them and prior to reading them. Usually, but not always, each position in a spread signifies an area of life, a feeling, one's thoughts, or a specific time period such as the past, present, or future. The meaning of a tarot card is read according to its position in the spread.
A good reader is able to utilize the Tarot to analyze the past and present in order to determine the probability a future event. The more accurate readers are able to focus on the most probable alternate-futures. The accuracy of a reader’s ability to foresee a future event decreases in direct proportions to the distance those future events lie ahead in time. Tarot teaches that by active participation in the events occurring in the life of a person, he or she can shift the probabilities towards their desired ends.
Astrology & the Tarot
The Tarot and Astrology are similar in that they are both systems of divination. They both speak in the language of symbols and as such, they share some symbology (i.e. correspondences) with certain cards representing both planets and signs. Therefore, there are instances in which you can use the tarot to enhance your astrological readings and vice versa.
How to Build a Personality Profile with the Tarot
This is a technique that I learned in 1991. It was then that my Aunt Ernestine bought me my first Tarot Deck (the Rider-Waite Smith) from a Waldenbooks in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. The deck came with three books by Eden Gray. This is her technique but before I describe it, I think it is important to mention at the outset that in order to do this spread, you need to know Sun Sign of the person you are profiling.
First remove the following cards from your tarot deck. They are:
- The Sun
- The Hierophant
- The Lovers
- Temperance
- Strength
- The Hermit
- Justice
- Judgement
- The Chariot
- The Devil
- The Star
- The Moon
- The Sun Aries
- The Hierophant Taurus
- The Lovers Gemini
- Temperance Cancer
- Strength Leo
- The Hermit Virgo
- Justice Libra
- Judgement Scorpio
- The Chariot Sagittarius
- The Devil Capricorn
- The Star Aquarius
- The Moon Pisces
As you may or may not know, the signs also corresponds to the 12 houses of the zodiac. In the Natural Chart, Aries corresponds to the First House, Taurus to the Second, and Gemini to the Third and so forth and so on through to Pisces with the Twelfth House.
Arrange the twelve cards previously mentioned in the order they are listed above. Next, place the card which corresponds to the individual's Sun Sign in the position of the First house. For example if they are a Virgo, you would place The Hermit in position One, Justice in Position Two, Judgement in position Three, and so forth and so on all the way around to Strength in Position Twelve.
What the Houses Mean
- The self, ego, appearance, initiative, leadership, fresh starts and new beginnings.
- Money and material matters. Your physical environment, income, money, and your sense of self-esteem.
- Communication in all its forms (thinking, writing, speaking, etc... ) as well as siblings, local travel, teachers and community events.
- Home, privacy, your basic sense of security, your mother, children, and your own ability to nurture others.
- Creative expression, drama, attention, love, and romance.
- Health and service to others. Your routine, diet, exercise and helpfulness to others.
- Marriage, partnerships, and relationships of all kinds. Contracts, business deals, etc...
- Birth, death, sex, other people's money and property.
- Expansion, the higher mind, foreign matters (languages, cultures, travel) luck, adventure, risk, philosophy, ethics and morals.
- The public, fame, honors, reputation, awards, boundaries, rules, discipline, authority, the father.
- Groups of people such as friends and associations, networking, social justice. Originality, sudden unexpected events, invention, surprises, and all things futuristic.
- Endings. Completion, tying up loose ends, old age, karma, making amends, and the afterlife. Imagination, creativity, poetry, and the subconscious mind.
In astrological terms you are building a Solar Chart. That is, an astrologer can place your Sun Sign on the cusps of the first house - making your Sun Sign your Ascendant - and then places the planets in the signs they occupied at the moment of your birth. This is how astrologers cast and write monthly horoscopes.
Now by reading each card in relation to the house it falls in you will have a basic personality profile for everyone who was born under the Sign of Virgo. For example The Hermit in the first house might be interpreted as "someone who is shy and introverted who is interested in knowledge and using that knowledge to help others or improve the world at large." Again, in astrological terms this would be similar to how astrologers read signs in houses. With Virgo in the first house, you might say that "your approach to building up your self is to be of service to others."
To personalize your reading, you would then shuffle and cut the remaining cards in your deck and deal out 12 cards beginning with the first house and ending with the twelfth laying them next to the cards you have already arrange in your spread. You will then read the two cards in relation to both one another as well as the house they they occupy.
Again, if you were a Virgo, this would put The Moon (Pisces) in your 5th House of Love, Children and Creativity. Now let's say that the 6 of Cups came up in the 7th House in your spread. Let's break this down.
- The Moon (Pisces) in the 7th House - The Moon is a card of illusions and deception and Pisces represents the archetype of The Dreamer, so Virgos approach to relationships is to be romantic and dreamy. Pisces is literally the opposite of Virgo, so they may often attract someone is is very unlike themselves. Whereas Virgos are organized, methodical, and logical; Pisces are emotional, poetic, and free-spirited. Virgos need someone who understands them and is sympathetic to their feelings which can be easily hurt.
- Six of Cups in the 7th House - The Six of Cups in a card of nostalgia. It is about looking back on the past with fondness while enjoying something new in the presents such as a new relationship.
So when a person has The Moon + the Six of Cups in the 7th House you might say that they are a dreamer who is deceiving their self. They may be stuck in the past and constantly trying to recapture or recreate a past relationship, or they are always on the look out for something (or someone) new that will fill the void that their past relationship previously satisfied. This is a person who needs to confront and heal their past so that they can move forward in this area of their life.
As you can see, by the time you read each pair of cards for each of the twelve houses of the zodiac you will have a pretty detailed profile of a persons personality.
Carolina Dean
