Mystical Echoes: The Connection between the Decans and the Tarot
by Rebeka Kulcsar-Kurdi
Image of Three Cards of the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, Pierpont Morgan Bergamo deck.
The Origins of Astrology and Tarot
Astrology is generally understood as a form of divination that interprets the influence of stars and planets on earthly events with a history spanning through centuries. Emerging in Mesopotamia around the 3rd millennium BC, astrology was originally synonymous with astronomy but was closely tied to religious concepts. As it spread from Mesopotamia to India and other regions, astrology underwent significant transformations creating regional variations. The Greek tradition, which was later absorbed and transmitted by Islamic culture, introduced the division of the heavens according to the 12 zodiac constellations. Despite the challenges posed by the Copernican revolution, which dismantled the geocentric worldview that provided the framework for traditional astrology, interest in this ancient practice has persisted into modern times.
Tarot cards originated from card games and the invention of suits. A card from one suit couldn’t beat a card from another regardless of its rank, increasing the complexity of the game. The oldest known examples are Chinese money-suited cards: Coins, Strings of Coins, Myriads of Strings, and Tens of Myriads. The Latin suit systems seem to be based on a Muslim interpretation of the Chinese suits (including some misunderstanding due to mistaking Chinese calligraphy for pictograms).
Tarot decks originate from these suit cards and were invented in Italy in the 1430s by the addition of a fifth suit called trionfi (“triumphs”), and an odd card called il matto (“the fool”). The 21 trionfi illustrations probably represented characters in medieval reenactments of Roman triumphal parades. The modern tarot deck is based on the Venetian or the Piedmontese tarot and consists of 78 cards divided into two groups: the major arcana or “triumphs” of 22 cards, and the minor arcana or suits of 56 cards. The minor arcana consists of 4 groups of wands (also called batons, rods, or clubs), cups (also called hearts), swords (also spades), and coins (also called pentacles, disks, or diamonds). According to philosopher and tarot historian Michael Dummett,
“It was only in the 1780s when the practice of fortune-telling with regular playing cards had been well established for at least two decades, that anyone began to use the tarot pack for cartomancy.”
Tarot has evolved into a tool for divination, particularly following the interpretations by Eliphas Levi in the 1800s and the subsequent popularization of the Rider-Waite deck by A.E. Waite in 1896.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in the late 19th century, is an esoteric secret society that tried to synthesize qabalistic, elemental, astrological, alchemical, numerological, and chromatic correspondences. Samuel Liddell Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, and other figures of the order, developed a comprehensive system of esoteric knowledge, drawing upon the works of earlier occultists like Eliphas Levi and Jean-Baptiste Alliette, and other occult sources, like the Cipher Manuscripts.
The Golden Dawns introduced their esoteric system of tarot divination in Liber T papers. They assigned either a planet or a sign (or both) to the major arcana cards. They interpreted the minor arcana cards through astrological decans, the 10-degree division of the signs, but also considering the triumph card they were connected to by their sign or the planetary ruler of the decan. Upon astrological associations they also layered numerologic and qabalistic insights, reaching a high level of complexity in their interpretation.
Although Golden Dawn’s inner order decks weren’t made available to the public at the time, Dr. Robert Wang reconstructed them later based on the notebooks of MacGregor Mathers, and it was published under the name Golden Dawn Tarot Deck. With the help of painter Lady Frieda Harris, Crowley also designed his own Tarot deck in 1944 and named it The Thoth Tarot. He gave new names and re-arranged the numerical, astrological, and Hebrew alphabet correspondences to several triumphs.
Decan Rulership in Astrology
Decans consist of 36 segments, each spanning 10 degrees of the ecliptic, dividing the twelve zodiac signs into three parts. In traditional astrology, decans are also known as “face”, derived from the Greek word prosopon which describes an external presentation, or manifestation of an individual. The name decan originates from the Greek word cadekanoi or “tenths”.
The concept of decans preceded the lunar division of 27 or 28 lunar mansions (also known as manzil, lunar stations, or nakshatras), and arguably the zodiac of 12 signs was also developed upon this concept.
The concept of decans dates to ancient Egypt (c. 2100 BCE), where each decan contained a set of stars and corresponding divinities. They were also used as a sidereal star clock: the rising of each decan marked the beginning of a new decanal “hour” of the night. This system underwent a significant transformation around the 1st century BCE, as the Egyptian and Mesopotamian astrological traditions merged, integrating the decans with the twelve zodiac signs.
During the Hellenistic period, various decanoic systems emerged, attributing a symbolic significance to decans. Decans were connected, among other things, with the 4 seasons, the 4 elements and the 4 directions, the polarities of male and female and day and night, and they were used for timing the engraving of talismans, based on the principles of Hermeticism.
One of the earliest methods for assigning meaning to the faces has roots extending from the 1st to the 17th century CE and is based on the Chaldean order of the planets: a sequence from slowest- to fastest-moving planets from a geocentric viewpoint, that also corresponds to nearest to the farthest in the planetary spheres model. The Chaldean method allocates one of the seven traditional planets to each decan in a continuous sequence across the zodiac wheel. The placement of a planet within its decan in any sign grants it a special dignity, that was later classified as the last and least powerful of the essential dignities (after rulership, exaltation, triplicity, and term).
Emerging somewhat later, the Triplicity Method of Decans offered an alternative approach by dividing each zodiac sign into thirds based on elemental affinity. The first decan of a sign is governed by the sign itself, the second by the next sign of the same element in zodiacal order, and the third by the subsequent sign of that element. This method, long utilized in Indian astrology, gained prominence in Western practices during the 20th century. The Astrological correspondences to the Tarot cards as established by the Order of the Golden Dawn were based on the Chaldean assignment of decan rulership.
Triplicities and Seasonal Qualities
In astrology, each element is linked to three zodiac signs of different modalities across the zodiac wheel forming a triplicity. Their trine aspect reflects a harmonious energy flow enabled by the shared elemental nature.
Fire Signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius): are of Positive polarity (also called Yang or Masculine) and characterized by qualities of heat and dryness.
Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn): are of Negative polarity (also called Yin or Feminine) characterized by qualities of coldness and dryness.
Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius): are of Positive polarity characterized by qualities of heat, and moisture.
Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces): are of Negative polarity characterized by qualities of coldness and wetness.
Elements were also assigned to seasons, adding unique qualities to the zodiac signs connected by triplicity:
Spring (Air): brings the qualities of wet becoming hot.
Summer (Fire): transitions from hot to dry.
Autumn (Earth): shifts from dry to cold.
Winter (Water): moves from cold to wet.
For example, Aries, a Spring Fire sign, is hot and dry by polarity but also carries the seasonal movement from hot to wet. Each of the four elements manifests in three modalities (also called quadruplicities): cardinal, fixed, and mutable. Changing modalities signify each season’s beginning, middle, and end.
Cardinal signs are associated with initiation: Aries begins a new season with the March equinox, Cancer is associated June solstice, Libra with the September equinox, and December features the December solstice.
Fixed signs are associated with continuity and stability: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius occupy the middle of their season.
Mutable signs are associated with transition and transformation: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces are closing their season.
In the Golden Dawn system, each suit of the Minor Arcana is associated with one of the four classical elements, while the numbers within these suits are aligned with specific modalities: numbers 2,3 and 4 were assigned to cardinal signs; 5, 6 and 7 to the fixed signs, and the last numbers 8,9, and 10 to the mutable signs, resulting in a layout as follows:
"In the Golden Dawn system, each suit of the Minor Arcana is associated with one of the four classical elements, while the numbers within these suits are aligned with specific modalities"
Wands = Fire
The first three cards of Wands (2,3,4) were assigned to the cardinal fire sign of Aries. The zodiac sign of Aries is also represented by the major arcana’s The Emperor.
The next three cards of Wands (5,6,7) were assigned to the fixed fire sign of Leo, represented by Lust (also called Strength).
The last three cards of Wands (8,9,10) were assigned to the mutable fire sign of Sagittarius, represented by Art (also called Temperance).
Cups = Water
The first three cards of Cups (2,3,4) were assigned to the cardinal water sign of Cancer, represented by The Chariot.
The next three cards of Cups (5,6,7) were assigned to the fixed water sign of Scorpio, represented by Death.
The last three cards of Cups (8,9,10) were assigned to the mutable water sign of Pisces, represented by The Moon.
Swords = Air
The first three cards of Swords (2,3,4) were assigned to the cardinal air sign of Libra, represented by Adjustment (also called Justice).
The next three cards of Swords (5,6,7) were assigned to the fixed air sign of Aquarius, represented by The Star.
The last three cards of Swords (8,9,10) were assigned to the mutable air sign of Gemini, represented by The Lovers.
Disks = Earth
The first three cards of Disks (2,3,4) were assigned to the cardinal earth sign of Capricorn and represented by The Devil.
The next three cards of Disks (5,6,7) were assigned to the fixed air earth of Taurus, represented by The Hierophant.
The last three cards of Disks (8,9,10) were assigned to the mutable earth sign of Virgo, represented by The Hermit.
The Planet Jupiter Represented as a Bishop on Horseback in an Astronomical Miscellany, 1464, Germany (The J. Paul Getty Museum)
The Decan Lords
The decan lords also influenced the interpretation of each decan and were assigned their major arcana cards. Each planet rules over 5 decans, except for Mars which rules 6, resulting from the fact that 36 decans are divided between the 7 traditional planets. The nature of each lord’s decan rulership seems to depend on their affinity to the sign ruling planet: conflicting planet and sign lords often produce more negative significations, while beneficial pairings are delineated more positively. On the other hand, term rulership provides moderate support to the planets that would otherwise have an even harder time in their signs of exile or fall. Benefic-ruled decans are generally more beneficial, and if the decan lord is domicile or exalted in the sign, it elevates the positive significations further. In The Book of Thoth, Aleister Crowley often mentions these astrological correspondences as parts of his card interpretation. However, he seems to follow an approach where they don’t rule over the traditional meanings of the tarot cards, but either support it or add nuance to it.
Saturn: Death
Saturn rules over the 3rd decan of Taurus, the 1st of Leo, the 2nd of Libra, the 3rd of Sagittarius, and the 1st of Pisces. Saturn exalts in Libra and is exiled in Leo. Crowley writes about the 5 of Wands card, called Strife in The Book of Thoth:
“Leo shows the element of Fire at its strongest and most balanced. Saturn tends to weigh it down and to embitter it. There is no limit to the scope of this volcanic energy.(...)The Egyptians understood this doctrine perfectly. Their Lion goddess, Pasht, was hailed as “saeva” and “ferox”, was even called “red in tooth and claw” by those fanatical devotees(...). The idea of sexual cruelty is often in herent in the highest divine nature”.
The same card in the Rider–Waite deck is associated with conflict and competition.
Jupiter: Wheel of Fortune
Jupiter rules over the 1st decan of Gemini, the 2nd decan of Leo, the 3rd decan of Libra, the 1st decan of Capricorn, and the 2nd decan of Pisces.
Jupiter is in his fall in Capricorn and finds his home in Pisces. As Crowley writes about his 2 of Disks card, called Change:
“Its celestial rulers are Jupiter and Capricornus; and these symbols are most inharmonious, so that in practical matters the good fortune of Jupiter is very limited. Their influence on the card is not great. Yet, Jupiter being himself the Wheel (Atu X), he emphasizes that idea. (...) They thus represent the harmonious interplay of the Four Elements in constant movement.”
This echoes the astrological views that a poorly dignified benefic planet, like Jupiter, will still act benefic. Also, he seems to imply that the hardship of Jupiter in Capricorn (and the 2 of Disks) is not like a strike of misfortune but the inevitable struggle that comes with being alive.
Mars: The Tower
Mars rules over the 1st decan of Aries, the 2nd decan of Gemini, the 3rd decan of Leo, the 1st decan of Scor pio, the 2nd decan of Capricorn, and the last decan of Pisces.
Mars has his domicile in Aries and Scorpio and is exalted in Capricorn. According to Crowley the 3 of Disks shows “the material establishment of the idea of the Universe, the determination of its basic form. It is ruled by Mars in Capricornus; he is exalted in that Sign, and therefore at his best. His energy is constructive, like that of the builder or engineer.” The Rider–Waite card has similar meanings with keywords like mastery, achievement, perfection, and prominence.
Sun: The Sun
Sun rules over the 2nd decan of Aries, the 3rd decan of Gemini, the 1st decan of Virgo, the 2nd decan of Scorpio, and the 3rd decan of Capricorn.
The Sun is exalted in Aries: The 3 of Wands is called Virtue by Crowley, and it signifies an ideal state when individual will, and power are in harmony with the law of the universe. In the Rider–Waite tarot deck this card signifies a mission or the state of looking forward to something with optimism.
Venus: The Empress
Venus rules over the 3rd decan of Aries, the 1st decan of Cancer, the 2nd decan of Virgo, the 3rd decan of Scorpio, and the 1st decan of Aquarius.
Venus is exiled in Aries and Scorpio, is in fall in Virgo, but has an affinity to Cancer by Triplicity. In the Thoth deck, 2 of Cups is called Love and represents the unifying powers of love by and the end of dualities. In the Rider–Waite tarot deck this card can stand for the union of any two entities.
Mercury: The Magician
Mercury rules over the 1st decan of Taurus, the 2nd decan of Cancer, the 3rd decan of Virgo, the 1st decan of Sagittarius, and the 2nd decan of Aquarius.
Mercury has his domicile in Virgo and is in exile (and in fall) in Sagittarius. The 10 of Disks was called Wealth by Crowley, symbolizing both intellectual and material abundance. According to the Rider–Waite interpretations this card represents abundance reached as a result of cumulative efforts.
Moon: The Priestess
Moon rules over the 2nd decan of Taurus, the 3rd decan of Cancer, the 1st decan of Libra, the 2nd decan of Sagittarius, and the 3rd decan of Aquarius. The Moon exalts in Taurus and finds her home in Cancer. The 4 of Cups was called Luxury by Crowley and seems to have a somewhat more positive meaning than the same card of the Rider–Waite deck. It shows overflowing cups signifying a stationary period in happiness, that will inevitably come to an end. The Rider–Waite card is often associated with introspection, disappointment, and a surplus of choice.
Closing Words
The incorporation of astrological wisdom into Tarot card delineations certainly made them richer. At times, it also resulted in the revision and transformation of Tarot symbolism, with some decks developed partially with the interplay between the two divinatory techniques in mind. By establishing the connection between astrology decans and the minor arcana, Tarot also began to influence the astrologer’s understanding of these ten-fold divisions. In that way, astrology and Tarot have entered a relationship that is mutually beneficial for practitioners on both sides. The vivid imagery of astrological decans and Tarot cards provides us with the possibility to move beyond technical competence to the realm of divinatory intuition, resulting in poetic and nuanced interpretations.
About the Author
Rebeka Kulcsar-Kurdi (she/her) is a graphic designer and astrologer based in Kierling, Austria. As an astrologer, Rebeka’s focus centers on the complexities of relationship dynamics and how they are impacted by intergenerational influences.
Learn more about her work at Lux-Astralis.com.
Twitter: @ RebasAstro
References
Crowley, A., & Harris, F. (1972). The book of Thoth.
Eardley, D. M. A., & Mann, S. (1980b). The game of tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City. G. Duckworth.
Amazing 💫💫💫
Amazing article. I loved reading about the synthesis of the decans and tarot.