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Scorpio tarot cards

23 Oct – 21 Nov (approximately) · Fixed water · ruled by Mars (modern: Pluto) · suit of Cups

depth · transformation · intimacy · loss · secrecy

Scorpio is fixed water in deep autumn, as leaves fall and things go underground. Death is its trump: an ending that clears the ground for what comes next. Its decans are the Five, Six and Seven of Cups: grief over what spilled, memory of a sweeter past, and a cloud of tempting visions. Mars rules it traditionally, and Pluto in modern astrology, so its feeling runs intense, private and transforming.

The cards of Scorpio

DeathMajor ArcanaDeathending, transformation, clearing awayFive of CupsDecan 1Five of CupsMars in Scorpio · 23 Oct – 1 Novgrief, regret, lossSix of CupsDecan 2Six of CupsSun in Scorpio · 2 Nov – 11 Novnostalgia, childhood, innocenceSeven of CupsDecan 3Seven of CupsVenus in Scorpio · 12 Nov – 21 Novoptions, fantasy, wishful thinkingKing of CupsCourt card (modern scheme)King of CupsFixed wateremotional mastery, calm authority, counsel

Scorpio cards in a reading

Scorpio cards go below the surface: what is ending, what is mourned and what is kept secret. Death in their company is rarely literal; it asks what must be let go. The Seven of Cups warns that not every vision on offer is real.

Reading for a Scorpio

Reading for a Scorpio, be honest; they sense evasion. Make space for what is not said. The Five of Cups often comes up for them about a loss still being grieved, with two full cups behind them they have not turned to see.

A Scorpio season spread

Scorpio season (about 23 October to 21 November) is for depth and letting go. Draw this to see what is ending and what is being reborn.

  1. 1. What is ending: What is ready to die back?
  2. 2. What I grieve: What loss am I still carrying?
  3. 3. What lies hidden: What am I not looking at?
  4. 4. What I must release: What do I need to let go of?
  5. 5. What is reborn: What grows from the cleared ground?
Draw the Scorpio season spread

Questions

What tarot card is Scorpio?
In the Golden Dawn system used by the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, Scorpio is Death. Its three decans are the Five of Cups (Mars in Scorpio, 23 Oct – 1 Nov), the Six of Cups (Sun in Scorpio, 2 Nov – 11 Nov), the Seven of Cups (Venus in Scorpio, 12 Nov – 21 Nov).
What court card is Scorpio?
In the modern scheme that gives cardinal signs to Queens, fixed signs to Kings and mutable signs to Knights, Scorpio (fixed water) is the King of Cups. Older Golden Dawn tables split each court card across two signs, so you will see other answers.
What planet rules Scorpio?
Mars rules Scorpio in classical astrology, whose tarot card is The Tower. Modern astrologers often add Pluto.
Can I use tarot without knowing astrology?
Yes. The astrology is one layer of meaning built into the cards; every card can be read from its picture and its written meaning alone. The correspondences help when you want another angle, or when several cards of one sign or planet turn up together.

Correspondences follow the Golden Dawn system the Rider–Waite–Smith deck was made within (tropical zodiac, dates approximate; they shift by a day in some years). Other traditions assign some cards differently. See the full table for all 78 cards.