Andor's Tome of Stuff : )

Astrology & Qabbalah in the Major Arcana

The Major Arcana are 22 cards. These cards are all numbered and start with "0-The Fool", ending with "XXI-The World"; this goes into something called "The Fool's Journey". "The Fool" starts off and makes a journey through each card in the Major Arcana, ending with "The World". This "journey" becomes apparent when you study the symbolism of Qabbalah and astrology, which makes up the whole system of Tarot. Keep in mind that Hermetic Qabbalah this system uses is not the same as Jewish Kabbalah.

Each of these cards corresponds to a letter in the Hebrew alphabet; which in turn has their own meaning within Qabbalah and therefore give each Major Arcana card part of its divinatory meaning. This goes further into astrology and the elements. Each Major Arcana either corresponds to one of the traditonal planets(read into traditional astrology for this!), an element or a zodiac. Note that only three of the four elements are attributed to the Major Arcana. This means: 12 cards for each zodiac + 3 cards for an element + 7 cards for each planet = 22 cards each with their own divinatory meaning.

So this means the Hebrew letters, the astrology and elements make up the meaning of each Major Arcana card.

Astrological & Qabbalistic Correspondences (Golden Dawn)

0 - The Fool: Air - א

I - The Magician: Mercury - ב

II - The High Priestess: Moon - ג

III -  The Empress: Venus - ד

IV - The Emperor: Aries - ה *

V - The Hierophant: Taurus - Earth (Optional) - ו

VI - The Lovers: Gemini - ז

VII - The Chariot: Cancer - ח

VIII - Fortitude / Strength: Leo - ט

IX - The Hermit: Virgo - י

X - The Wheel of Fortune: Jupiter - כ

XI - Justice: Libra - ל

XII - The Hanged Man: Water - מ

XIII - Death: Scorpio - נ

XIV - Temperance: Sagittarius - ס

XV - The Devil: Capricorn - ע

XVI - The Tower: Mars - פ

XVII - The Star: Aquarius - צ *

XVIII - The Moon: Pisces - ק

XIX - The Sun: Sun - ר

XX - Judgement: Fire - ש

XXI - Universe / The World: Saturn - ת

*Note that Crowley swapped the Hebrew letters of The Emperor and The Star.