Tarot and Astrology: The Complete Correspondence Chart

Tarot and astrology grew up together, and the two systems map onto each other more neatly than most beginners realize. This is a complete correspondence chart: suits to elements, every Major Arcana card to its sign or planet, and a reverse lookup so you can find the card for your own sign.

If you're new to the astrology side, start with what is a birth chart.

The four suits and the four elements

This is the foundation, and it's consistent across nearly every tradition:

The elements match their astrological counterparts exactly — Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) share the Wands temperament; Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) the Cups temperament, and so on.

This is why the suit balance in a spread reads much like element balance in a chart. Lots of Cups means the question is emotional; lots of Swords means it's living in the mind. (More: tarot suits meaning.)

Major Arcana correspondences

Twelve of the Majors take a zodiac sign; the rest take a planet.

The twelve signs:

• The Emperor — Aries
• The Hierophant — Taurus
• The Lovers — Gemini
• The Chariot — Cancer
• Strength — Leo
• The Hermit — Virgo
• Justice — Libra
• Death — Scorpio
• Temperance — Sagittarius
• The Devil — Capricorn
• The Star — Aquarius
• The Moon — Pisces

The planets:

• The Magician — Mercury
• The High Priestess — the Moon
• The Empress — Venus
• Wheel of Fortune — Jupiter
• The Tower — Mars
• The Sun — the Sun
• The World — Saturn
• The Fool — Uranus (older sources: Air)
• The Hanged Man — Neptune (older sources: Water)
• Judgement — Pluto (older sources: Fire)

Those last three were assigned after the outer planets were discovered, which is why you'll sometimes see them listed with elements instead.

Find your sign's card

Reverse lookup — the card that carries your sign's energy:

A few land better than expected once you sit with them. Capricorn/Devil looks harsh until you notice both are about structures you build and then get bound by — ambition and attachment are the same mechanism pointed different ways.

Court cards and the elements

Court card astrology varies a lot between traditions, so the safest and most useful approach is elemental: each court rank carries an element, layered onto its suit's element.

• Pages — Earth of their suit (grounded, learning, receptive)
• Knights — Fire of their suit (active, moving, driven)
• Queens — Water of their suit (inward mastery, feeling, holding)
• Kings — Air of their suit (outward mastery, direction, command)

So the Queen of Cups is Water of Water — the deepest emotional card in the deck. The Knight of Wands is Fire of Fire — the most volatile and driven. That combination alone explains a lot about how each court card behaves. (More: court cards in tarot.)

You'll also see the numbered cards mapped to decans (ten-degree slices of each sign) — an advanced layer worth knowing exists, but not necessary for good readings.

How to actually use this

Three practical applications:

1. Deepen a card. Pulling the Devil? Its Capricorn link adds ambition, career pressure, and self-built structures to the usual attachment reading.
2. Read element balance. Scan the suits before interpreting individual cards — an all-Swords spread is an Air problem: overthinking, not feeling.
3. Bridge to a chart. If you know your big three, notice when their cards show up. A Scorpio moon pulling Death repeatedly is worth sitting with.

The honest note

Correspondences are a layer of meaning, not a source of prediction. They enrich how you read a card — the way knowing a word's etymology enriches how you use it — but neither tarot nor astrology can forecast events or make decisions for you. Use them as reflective vocabulary, and skip the layer entirely if it isn't adding anything for you.

Where to go next

• What is a birth chart? → — the astrology foundation.
• Tarot cheat sheet → — all 78 meanings at a glance.
• Get a full birth chart reading → — your placements interpreted in depth.

Curious how your chart and the cards line up? Pull a free 3-card spread →, or explore your birth chart → — both as reflection, not prophecy.