Tarot Correspondences: Complete Guide to Elements, Astrology & Kabbalah

What Are Tarot Correspondences?

A correspondence is a symbolic equivalency — the idea that different systems of knowledge are mapping the same underlying cosmic principles in different symbolic languages. Fire in alchemy, Wands in tarot, Aries/Leo/Sagittarius in astrology, and the letter Shin in Hebrew all correspond to the same archetypal energy of will, passion, and meaningful action.

The correspondence system in tarot was largely codified by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late 19th century, drawing on Western esotericism's synthesis of Kabbalah, Hermeticism, astrology, and numerology. Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith's Rider-Waite deck (1909) and Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris's Thoth deck (1943) both embed these correspondences into their visual symbolism.

When you understand correspondences, you're not memorizing meanings — you're reading the symbolic grammar that makes tarot a coherent metaphysical system.

Elemental Correspondences

The four suits of the Minor Arcana map onto the four classical elements. This is the foundational layer of tarot's correspondence system:

Suit	Element	Domain	Keywords
Wands	Fire	Will, passion, career, action	Drive, inspiration, ambition, conflict
Cups	Water	Emotions, relationships, intuition	Feeling, love, dreams, the unconscious
Swords	Air	Mind, communication, conflict	Thought, decision, truth, challenge
Pentacles	Earth	Material world, body, resources	Money, health, work, stability

The Court Cards also carry elemental double-correspondences. Each court card is a combination of its suit's element and a secondary elemental modifier by rank:

• Pages (Princesses in Thoth): Earth of their element
• Knights (Princes in Thoth): Air of their element
• Queens: Water of their element
• Kings (Knights in Thoth): Fire of their element

So the King of Cups is Fire of Water — a person of powerful emotional authority who channels feeling through decisive, sometimes dramatic action.

Astrological Correspondences: Major Arcana

The 22 Major Arcana cards correspond to the 12 zodiac signs, 7 classical planets, and 3 elements (fire, water, air — earth is embedded in the Minor Arcana structure). Here is the complete Major Arcana astrological correspondence table from the Golden Dawn/Rider-Waite tradition:

Card	Number	Correspondence
The Fool	0	Air (Uranus in modern systems)
The Magician	I	Mercury
The High Priestess	II	Moon
The Empress	III	Venus
The Emperor	IV	Aries
The Hierophant	V	Taurus
The Lovers	VI	Gemini
The Chariot	VII	Cancer
Strength	VIII	Leo
The Hermit	IX	Virgo
Wheel of Fortune	X	Jupiter
Justice	XI	Libra
The Hanged Man	XII	Neptune (Water element / Pisces)
Death	XIII	Scorpio
Temperance	XIV	Sagittarius
The Devil	XV	Capricorn
The Tower	XVI	Mars
The Star	XVII	Aquarius
The Moon	XVIII	Pisces
The Sun	XIX	Sun
Judgement	XX	Fire (Pluto in modern systems)
The World	XXI	Saturn (Earth element)

Minor Arcana Astrological Correspondences

The numbered pip cards of the Minor Arcana (Ace through 10) each correspond to a specific astrological decan — a 10-degree segment of the zodiac. There are 36 decans in total (12 signs × 3 decans), which maps exactly onto the 36 numbered cards (excluding Aces).

Kabbalistic Correspondences & the Tree of Life

The Kabbalistic system is perhaps the deepest layer of tarot correspondence. The Tree of Life consists of 10 sephiroth (emanations of divine energy) and 22 paths connecting them. The 22 paths correspond exactly to the 22 Major Arcana cards, and the 10 sephiroth correspond to the numerical structure of the Minor Arcana.

Sephira	Number	Minor Arcana Rank	Principle
Kether (Crown)	1	Aces	Pure potential, the divine seed
Chokmah (Wisdom)	2	Twos	Duality, polarity, initial division
Binah (Understanding)	3	Threes	Form, structure, fertile limitation
Chesed (Mercy)	4	Fours	Stability, consolidation, divine order
Geburah (Strength)	5	Fives	Challenge, strife, necessary disruption
Tiphareth (Beauty)	6	Sixes	Harmony, balance, the solar center
Netzach (Victory)	7	Sevens	Desire, impulse, Venus-nature
Hod (Splendor)	8	Eights	Mercury-mind, refinement, articulation
Yesod (Foundation)	9	Nines	The Moon, reflection, completion approach
Malkuth (Kingdom)	10	Tens	Earth, manifestation, the material world

This explains why Fives are consistently challenging across all suits (Geburah is the sephira of severity), why Sixes carry harmony and recovery (Tiphareth is beauty and equilibrium), and why Tens signal both completion and excess (Malkuth is earth, the endpoint of descending energy — it can feel burdensome when overloaded).

The Major Arcana correspond to the 22 Hebrew letters and the 22 paths on the Tree of Life. Each path connects two sephiroth, and the corresponding trump card describes the quality of that energy transition. The Fool (Aleph, the Air path from Kether to Chokmah) represents the leap of pure potential into the first movement of cosmic creation.

Numerological Correspondences

Each number carries a universal meaning that runs across both the Major and Minor Arcana:

Number	Principle	Major Arcana
0/22	Pure potential, the void, beginnings	The Fool
1	Initiation, will, unity	The Magician
2	Duality, reflection, choice	The High Priestess
3	Creation, synthesis, growth	The Empress
4	Structure, stability, foundation	The Emperor
5	Change, challenge, disruption	The Hierophant
6	Harmony, love, responsibility	The Lovers
7	Mastery, inner work, mystery	The Chariot
8	Power, integration, cycles	Strength
9	Completion, wisdom, endings	The Hermit
10/1	Renewal, the wheel, new cycle	Wheel of Fortune

Rider-Waite vs. Thoth: Why Correspondences Differ

The two most influential modern decks differ in one famous correspondence assignment: the placement of Strength and Justice.

• Rider-Waite tradition: Strength = VIII (Leo), Justice = XI (Libra)
• Thoth/older tradition: Justice = VIII (Libra), Strength = XI (Leo)

Waite swapped these deliberately, for reasons he never fully explained, possibly to alter the Kabbalistic path assignments. Most modern readers use the Rider-Waite numbering, but if you're working with older decks or the Thoth system, be aware of this discrepancy.

The Thoth deck also uses different court card names (Princess, Prince, Queen, Knight) and places greater emphasis on astrological decan attributions visible within the card imagery itself. Crowley's deck explicitly names each Minor Arcana card with a title derived from its correspondence: the 2 of Wands is titled "Dominion" (Mars in Aries), the 8 of Cups is "Indolence" (Saturn in Pisces), and the 6 of Swords is "Science" (Mercury in Aquarius). These titles make the decan correspondences immediately accessible without reference tables.

Another important difference concerns the element assigned to the Court Cards. In the Thoth system, the Knight (equivalent to the RWS King) is Fire, the Queen is Water, the Prince (equivalent to the RWS Knight) is Air, and the Princess (equivalent to the RWS Page) is Earth. This creates an orderly elemental hierarchy that maps directly onto the four Kabbalistic worlds: Atziluth (Fire/Knights), Briah (Water/Queens), Yetzirah (Air/Princes), and Assiah (Earth/Princesses). The Rider-Waite system assigns Kings to Fire, Queens to Water, Knights to Air, and Pages to Earth, achieving the same elemental logic through different card names.

Neither system is "correct" in an absolute sense. Both derive from the same Golden Dawn framework. The important thing is consistency: choose one system and work with it thoroughly before studying the other.

Colour Correspondences

Colour is another layer of symbolic correspondence that operates throughout the tarot, reinforcing and deepening the meaning of each card. The Rider-Waite-Smith deck was painted with careful attention to colour symbolism, and understanding these associations adds visual fluency to your readings:

• Red: Passion, will, Mars energy, anger, desire, vitality. Dominant in Wands cards and in cards like The Emperor and The Tower.
• Blue: Intuition, water, the unconscious, spiritual depth, truth. Dominant in the High Priestess, the Cups suit, and the backdrop of many Major Arcana cards.
• Yellow/Gold: Solar consciousness, intellect, joy, divine light, the conscious mind. Dominant in The Sun, The Star's starlight, and the background of many positive cards.
• Green: Growth, fertility, nature, Venus, healing, the heart. Present in The Empress, many Pentacles cards, and cards associated with natural abundance.
• White: Purity, spirit, the unmanifest, lunar light, innocence. The Fool's white rose, The High Priestess's robe, and the white horse of Death all carry this symbolism.
• Black: The void, the unconscious, death, the unknown, mystery, potential. Not necessarily negative. Black is the colour of the night sky from which the stars emerge.
• Purple/Violet: Spiritual authority, the crown chakra, Jupiter, royalty, transformation. Present in The High Priestess's veil, Justice's backdrop, and several Major Arcana cards.
• Grey: Neutrality, wisdom, the bridge between opposites, fog, ambiguity. Prominent in The Hermit and the misty backgrounds of several swords cards.

When reading a spread, notice the dominant colours across the cards. A reading dominated by blues and purples points to emotional and spiritual themes. A reading full of reds and yellows suggests active, outward-directed energy. Colour patterns across a spread can reveal the emotional tone of the situation before you read a single card meaning.

Hebrew Letter Correspondences

The 22 Major Arcana correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, a connection first proposed by Eliphas Levi in the mid-19th century and systematized by the Golden Dawn. Each Hebrew letter carries its own symbolism, gematric value, and esoteric significance:

• Aleph (The Fool): The ox, primal breath, the element of Air. The letter of the unmanifest spirit before it enters form. Gematric value: 1.
• Beth (The Magician): The house, the container for spirit. Mercury's capacity to channel divine energy into form. Gematric value: 2.
• Gimel (The High Priestess): The camel, the carrier across the desert between oases of knowledge. The Moon's role as bridge between conscious and unconscious. Gematric value: 3.
• Daleth (The Empress): The door, the threshold of creation. Venus as the gateway through which spirit enters the material world through love and beauty. Gematric value: 4.
• Heh (The Emperor): The window, the vision, the sight from above. Aries as the initiating force that structures reality through will. Gematric value: 5.

The complete system assigns each Major Arcana card to a Hebrew letter and therefore to a specific path on the Tree of Life. The path connects two Sephiroth, and the Major Arcana card describes the quality of consciousness required to traverse that path. Learning even a few of these Hebrew letter correspondences transforms your understanding of why the Major Arcana cards are ordered as they are and why they carry the meanings they do.

The three "mother letters" (Aleph, Mem, Shin) correspond to the three elements assigned to Major Arcana cards: Air (The Fool), Water (The Hanged Man), and Fire (Judgement). The seven "double letters" correspond to the seven planetary cards. The twelve "simple letters" correspond to the twelve zodiacal cards. This mathematical structure (3 + 7 + 12 = 22) is one of the most elegant features of the entire correspondence system.

The Decan System in Detail

The decan system is one of the most precise and useful correspondence layers for practical tarot reading. Each zodiac sign is divided into three 10-degree segments called decans, each ruled by a planet. The 36 Minor Arcana pip cards (2 through 10 of each suit, excluding Aces) correspond to these 36 decans:

Wands (Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius):

• 2 of Wands: Mars in Aries (dominion, personal power, bold initiative)
• 3 of Wands: Sun in Aries (established strength, the vantage point of achievement, awaiting results)
• 4 of Wands: Venus in Aries (completion, celebration, harmony after effort)
• 5 of Wands: Saturn in Leo (strife, competition, creative tension, ego conflicts)
• 6 of Wands: Jupiter in Leo (victory, recognition, triumph, public success)
• 7 of Wands: Mars in Leo (valour, standing your ground, defensive strength)
• 8 of Wands: Mercury in Sagittarius (swiftness, rapid movement, messages in flight)
• 9 of Wands: Moon in Sagittarius (great strength, resilience, wounded but standing)
• 10 of Wands: Saturn in Sagittarius (oppression, burden, carrying too much)

The beauty of the decan system is that it makes card meanings derivable rather than arbitrary. Once you know that the 5 of Wands is Saturn (restriction, discipline, frustration) in Leo (ego, creativity, self-expression), the meaning "strife and competition" becomes self-evident. Saturn in Leo restricts creative self-expression, forcing egos to clash and compete for limited recognition. The decan correspondence explains why the card means what it means.

This system applies equally across all four suits. The Cups correspond to Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), the Swords to Air signs (Libra, Aquarius, Gemini), and the Pentacles to Earth signs (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo). Each numbered card from 2 to 10 maps onto a specific decan with its planetary ruler, creating a precise astrological fingerprint for every pip card.

Practical Exercises for Learning Correspondences

How to Use Correspondences in Readings

How to Use Correspondences in Readings

Correspondences also help when a card appears that initially seems to contradict the reading's overall message. If a reading about career decisions includes the Two of Cups (emotional connection, partnership), the correspondence layer reveals why: the Two of Cups corresponds to Venus in Cancer, and Venus rules both love and money. The card may be indicating that career success will come through partnership or through work that involves emotional connection and care.