Tarot and astrology

In the 1880s and 1890s the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn tied every tarot card to the astrology, elements and Hebrew letters of the Western esoteric tradition. A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith were members, and their 1909 deck was drawn within this system, so it is the one most readers of that deck use.

Each of the 22 trumps carries a sign, a planet or an element, a Hebrew letter and one of the 22 paths of the Tree of Life. The Two to Ten of each suit share out the 36 decans, the ten-degree thirds of the zodiac, with a planet ruling each. Aces are the roots of their elements, and the court cards are commonly read as elements within elements. Other traditions, including Crowley’s Thoth deck, change a few of these.