Tarot and astrology have been connected for centuries. Understanding how they relate transforms readings in both systems.
Both tarot and astrology use a common symbolic vocabulary rooted in ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Kabbalistic traditions. The four tarot suits correspond to the four classical elements: wands to fire, cups to water, swords to air, pentacles to earth. These same four elements structure astrology — fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn).
The Major Arcana cards also have astrological correspondences. The Moon card corresponds to the Moon; the Sun to the Sun; the World to Saturn; the High Priestess to the Moon; the Empress to Venus; the Emperor to Aries; the Hierophant to Taurus. These are not superficial labels — they reflect genuine thematic overlaps between the two systems.
If you know your birth chart, you can bring it into tarot readings in several ways. The most direct is to consider which cards correspond to your significant placements. A person with Venus in Scorpio prominent in their chart may find the Death card, the Lovers, or the Eight of Cups appearing frequently in readings about their emotional life — all have Scorpionic or Venusian associations.
Your sun sign, moon sign, and rising sign each correspond to cards in the Major Arcana. Knowing these correspondences can help you understand which archetypes are most active in your nature and why certain cards show up repeatedly in your readings.
One area where astrology excels and tarot is more limited is timing. Astrology can point to specific windows when certain energies are active — a Saturn return, a Venus transit, an eclipse season. Tarot can confirm the quality of those energies and add nuance about how they might manifest personally.
Combining both: a tarot reading done during eclipse season, for example, can be framed specifically around what the eclipse is activating in your chart. This creates a reading that is both symbolically rich (the tarot cards) and temporally grounded (the astrological context).
While the two systems complement each other beautifully, you do not need to know astrology to read tarot effectively, and you do not need tarot to work with your birth chart. Each system stands alone. The cross-referencing is for those who want to deepen further — a second language that illuminates the first without being required for fluency.
If you are new to both, start with whichever feels more naturally interesting. The connections will become apparent over time.
Ready to experience a reading for yourself?
Explore your birth chart →