Ron Decker's History of the Occult Tarot is another good one, and Robert Place has a book out on Tarot, mostly concentrating on the RWS and making a strong argument for neo-Platonism.

Thanks Olivia,

I also fancy getting Nigel Jackson's deck referred to above along with his accompanying book which is almost 150 pages long. I am sure Nigel's views are worth reading. Unfortunately, the deck/book are already out of print and quite expensive in the second hand market. I certainly plan to get some tradtitional pre-GD decks.

I used to have a repro of the Visconti, which I adored, but that got lost. It's still available and worth your while if you're into historical tarot.

Yes the Restored Visconti-Sforza deck which is now available is definitely on my list.

I don't believe there was any original astrological assignment to tarot - it was a Christian card game, also used to create poetry.

That sounds plausible although I think the Tarot has had multiple uses for a long time. I suppose we can all see it through our own chosen philosphical prism whether its astrology, numerology, or Qaballah. The Tarot seems almost inexhaustable on that account.

I'm pretty sure that Eteilla was the first to come up with astrological assignments for tarot cards

Yes it seems so.

My persoal interest is that I am trying to develop a system of astrological dignities. There is no denying that the the GD system is ingenious. However, it just feels too rigid to me and doesn't allow enough space for intuition to flow. Assigning the decans to the 'pip' card was inventive but is feels far too prescriptive and over rational to me. I am happy enough to work with the basic suits and the numerology of the pips. When it comes to the Major Arcana I find the GD associations quite forced and artificial at times. I prefer to link these cards to the 7 traditional planets.

Do you use dignities much yourself in readings?

+Possibly the first book (since Etteilla's 1785 "Maniere..") to elaborate correspondences between Tarot and astrology was A.E. Thierens "General Book of the Tarot", first published in the second decade of the 20th Century (originally in Dutch), the card-symbolism used based upon the Waite deck. This book is still available (Amazon, etc) although it is rarely mentioned (or referenced) in modern Tarot literature. (Note: Thierens also wrote a number of highly interesting-though primarily esoterically oriented-astrology books as well-some of these, in English, are still available on Amazon and AbeBooks; Thierens was the head of a Dutch astrological society for several decades prior to his death in-I believe-the 1940's)

+Etteilla was the first authority to proclaim "The Book of Thoth" as the real title of the Tarot cards (predating Crowley in this terminology by over 110 years)

+Relative to astrological connections with non-Tarot cartomancy, two of our "own" wrote books on the subject in the early 20th Century:
-E.H. (Pre-Natal Epoch) Bailey, "Astrology and the Cards"
-Sepharial (!!), "Fortune Telling by Cards"
(Both of these books are available on Amazon and AbeBooks)

Kabbalistic ("Tree of Life") correspondences of signs and planets (to "sephiroth", "paths" and "worlds") date from the "Sepher Yetzirah" (Book of Formation), circa 1st-3rd Century C.E. (the original kabbalistic works-"The Bahir" and the "Sepher Yetzirah"-flow from the same Alexandrian gnosis as {Western} alchemy and astrology) Somewhat altered astrological correspondences are to be found in a later (6th-9th Century) kabbalistic work entitled "Aesch Mezeraph" (Purifying Fire)
Eliphas Levi, the Golden Dawn, and other Hermetic Kabbalists have made certain alterations to several of the original "Sepher Yetzirah" astrological correspondences, in accordance with their own spiritual (and experiential) insights. (Note: another spelling is "Sefer Yetzirah", and an alternative translation of the title is "Book of Creation")

I have a collection of tarot decks, but I mostly have for collection, generally I don't use for divination.

My favourite are the Renaissance Visconti-Sforza, and among the modern Aleister Crowley deck.

I like a modern version with Medieval iconography, which is called Scapini deck,

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/medieval-scapini/

margherita

Vivian Robson, in his "Fixed Stars & Constellations in Astrology" (1923) reports Major Arcana correspondences "...according to the Kabbalists..." not to signs or planets, but rather to the starry constellations! From the card titles he gives it is clear that he was referencing the Rider-Waite Tarot (in 1923 the only generally available Tarot deck-in the English speaking world-was Rider-Waite)

Constellation/Major Arcana Affinities ..."according to the Kabbalists..."

Andromeda: The Star
Antinous: The Lovers
Aquarius (constellation): Temperance
Aquila: The Lovers
Aries (constellation): The Hierophant
Auriga: The Devil

Bootes: The Hermit

Cancer (constellation): The Moon
Canis Major: The Moon
Canis Minor: The Moon
Capricorn (constellation): The Wheel of Fortune
Cassiopeia: The High Priestess
Cepheus: The Fool
Corona Borealis: The Emperor
Cygnus: The Last Judgement

Draco: Death

Gemini (constellation): The Sun

Hercules: The Emperor

Leo (constellation): Strength
Libra (constellation): Justice
Lyra: The Emperor

Ophiulcus (Serpentarius): Lightning-struck Tower
Orion: The Magician

Perseus: The Hanged Man
Pisces (constellation): The Star

Sagittarius (constellation): The Lovers
Scorpio (constellation): Lightning-struck Tower

Taurus (constellation): The Magician

Ursa Major: The Chariot
Ursa Minor: The World

Virgo (constellation): The Empress

+

Possibly the first book (since Etteilla's 1785 "Maniere..") to elaborate correspondences between Tarot and astrology was A.E. Thierens "General Book of the Tarot", first published in the second decade of the 20th Century (originally in Dutch), the card-symbolism used based upon the Waite deck. This book is still available (Amazon, etc) although it is rarely mentioned (or referenced) in modern Tarot literature.

Thanks Dr.farr

Thats a useful lead. However, this certainly wasn't the next book to pick up astrological associations after Eteilla's. Elivas Levi, Papus and Samuel Macgregor Mathers all wrote on the topic long before this. As I mentioned earlier Eliphas Levi (1810-75) suggested links with the Tarot much earlier than this.

Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant) created a method of incorporating both the Qabalah and astrology into the symbolism of the Tarot Major Arcana. Levi's system was as follows:

1 The Magician: Air
2 The Priestess: Moon
3 The Empress: Mars
4 The Emperor: Sun
5 The Hierophant: Aries
6 The Lovers: Taurus
7 The Chariot: Gemini
8 Justice: Cancer
9 The Hermit: Leo
10 The Wheel of Fortune: Virgo
11 Strength: Venus
12 The Hanged Man: Libra
13 Death: Water
14 Temperance: Scorpio
15 The Devil: Sagittarius
16 The Tower: Capricorn
17 The Star: Mercury
18 The Moon: Aquarius
19 The Sun: Pisces
20 Judgement: Saturn
21 The Fool: Fire
22 The World: Jupiter

Clearly for Levi the Qabalah came first and the astrology came a very distant second ( or maybe third!)

These associations really dont work from an astrological perspective when you consider he has the gentle Empress equated to aggresive Mars, the meek Hermit with exhibitionist Leo and the intuitive Moon card equated with airy Aquarius!

Other occultists also took issue issue with the this system of astrological associations in writings as early as the late 19th century.

Most famously Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers (1854-1918) of the Golden Dawn. While working closely with the Qabalah he also believed the astrological associations had to be valid in their own right too.

Macgregor Mathers system for the Major Arcana was as follows:

0 The Fool: Air
1 The Magician: Mercury
2 The Priestess: The Moon
3 The Empress: Venus
4 The Emperor: Aries
5 The Hierophant: Taurus
6 The Lovers: Gemini
7 The Chariot: Cancer
8 Justice: Libra
9 The Hermit: Virgo
10 The Wheel of Fortune: Jupiter
11 Strength: Leo
12 The Hanged Man: Water
13 Death: Scorpio
14 Temperance: Sagittarius
15 The Devil: Capricorn
16 The Tower: Mars
17 The Star: Aquarius
18 The Moon: Pisces
19 The Sun: The Sun
20 Judgement: Fire
21 The World: Saturn

This was the system of astrological associations that was used by Arthur Edward Waite ( 1857-1942) and Pamela Coleman Smith (d.1951)
in their Tarot deck which was first produced in 1909. Aleister Crowley also worked with these astrological associations for the Major Arcana in his famous Thoth deck.

This is essentially the system of associations that predominates in the English speaking world today. The main exception being that in the last few decades the three outer planets has been incoporated into the GD system of astrological associations for the Major Arcana. A common sequence is The Fool (Uranus), The Hanged Man (Neptune), and Judgement (Pluto).

Probably a major reason for the continued popularity of this system is that Macgregor Mathers and Waite incorporated a system of detailed astrological associations into the Minor Arcana too. I will not get into that here as there are a lot of good of material explaining the GD system of Astrological and elemental Dignities.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/tarot-decoded/

It seems that the 'Tarot of the Bohemians' (published in 1889) by the French Tarotist Papus (G?rard-Anaclet-Vincent Encausse) (1865-1916) was a strong influence on Mathers ,Waite and Crowley.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/tob/index.htm

Here is the system of astrological associations for the Major Arcana given by Papus:

Major Arcana Attributions
1 The Juggler -
2 The Priestess: Moon
3 The Empress: Venus
4 The Emperor: Jupiter
5 The Pope: Aries
6 The Lovers: Taurus
7 The Chariot: Gemini
8 Justice: Cancer
9 The Hermit: Leo
10 The Wheel of Fortune: Virgo
11 Strength: Mars
12 The Hanged Man: Libra
13 Death: Water
14 Temperance: Scorpio
15 The Devil: Sagittarius
16 Lightning Struck Tower: Capricorn
17 The Star: Mercury
18 The Moon: Aquarius
19 The Sun: Gemini
20 Judgment: Saturn
0 The Fool: Fire
21 Th The World: 4 elements

Clearly Papus owed a lot to both Eteilla and Levi.

Of the systems presented Macgregor Mathers does seem the most successful. Still many modern Tarotists have set out alternative associations. For example Joseph Maxwell, Brian Innes and Joanna Watters. Personally, the approach I resonate with most for the Major Arcana are associations listed by Joanna Watters in her excellent introduction to the Tarot entitled:
'Tarot For Today.
http://store.higherheart.com/product.php/742/0

Although the book is only an introduction to Tarot it is one of the clearest books I have read. I admire the way Watters goes back to basics with astrological associations for the Major Arcana that seem both more common sense and historically valid. For example she refers to the planetary association between the Hermit and Saturn and the Chariot and Mars. This seems much more compatible to the Visconti-Sforza origins of the cards than the Golden Dawn system. Watters also considers multiple associations in terms of planet and sign. A very refreshing and insightful approach IMHO.

Mark

Vivian Robson, in his "Fixed Stars & Constellations in Astrology" (1923) reports Major Arcana correspondences "...according to the Kabbalists..." not to signs or planets, but rather to the starry constellations! From the card titles he gives it is clear that he was referencing the Rider-Waite Tarot (in 1923 the only generally available Tarot deck-in the English speaking world-was Rider-Waite)

Thanks Dr Farr,

As a student of fixed stars I am a bit embarrssed I missed this link myself. . Thanks though. I had been thinking more of linking specific stars to cards ie The Devil=Algol, The Star=Spica , The Chariot: Antares etc. However, these associations are very interesting too. I wonder if Robson got these from members of the Golden Dawn? Sadly Robson never gives his sources.

Incidentally, I seem to recall seeing a modern Tarot deck based on constellations. Can anyone recall what it is?

Levi, Mathers and Papus assigned the Major Arcana symbols first to (what each of these men considered to be) the appropriate Kabbalistic Tree of Life path or sephira, then each made the card connection with the element, sign or planet associated with that path or sephira. This is the way in which each authority determined the astrological affinity of the card symbolisms. Thus we may correctly say that-relative to the above authors-the (varying) astrological affinities ascribed to the Tarot by them are made directly from each adept's interpretations of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life (note that both Waite and Crowley are in the Mathers/Golden Dawn/Hermetic Kabbalah "stream")

I do not know if the same is the case relative to Etteilla's astro/Tarot correspondences. Relative to Theirens this is not the case (Note: I should have clarified my earlier statement about Thieren's book: his was the first Tarot book devoted EXCLUSIVELY to Tarot/astrological affinities)

The 36 card Lenormand deck (eg, the "French Cartomancy" mini-deck) is a lovely little cartomantic device. There are, however, definite astrological connections to be found: traditionally each of the 36 cards has been allocated an approximately 10 day period of time stretching throughout the year, and these time periods fairly closely correspond to our zodiacal decanates. Thus an additional astrological interpretation may be made for each card. These decan-affinities, together with the (Chaldean) planetary Lord of each, are as follows (Note: cards are listed in deck order beginning with card #1 and ending with card #36):

+A Horseman: 2nd Capricorn Mars
+Clover: 3rd Capricorn Sun
+Boat: 1st Aquarius Venus
+House: 2nd Aquarius Mercury
+Tree: 3rd Aquarius Moon
+Clouds: 1st Pisces Saturn
+Snake: 2nd Pisces Jupiter
+Coffin: 3rd Pisces Mars
+Bouquet: 1st Aries Mars
+Sickle: 2nd Aries Sun
+Broom & Whip: 3rd Aries Venus
+Birds: 1st Taurus Mercury
+A Little Girl: 2nd Taurus Moon
+Fox: 3rd Taurus Saturn
+Bear: 1st Gemini Jupiter
+Stars: 2nd Gemini Mars
+Stork: 3rd Gemini Sun
+Dog: 1st Cancer Venus
+Tower: 2nd Cancer Mercury
+Garden: 3rd Cancer Moon
+Mountain: 1st Leo Saturn
+Path: 2nd Leo Jupiter
+Mice: 3rd Leo Mars
+Hearts: 1st Virgo Sun
+Ring: 2nd Virgo Venus
+A Diary: 3rd Virgo Mercury
+A Letter: 1st Libra Moon
+A Gentleman: 2nd Libra Saturn
+A Lady: 3rd Libra Jupiter
+Lily: 1st Scorpio Mars
+The Sun: 2nd Scorpio Sun
+The Moon: 3rd Scorpio Venus
+A Key: 1st Sagittarius Mercury
+Fish: 2nd Sagittarius Moon
+Anchor: 3rd Sagittarius Saturn
+A Cross: 1st Capricorn Jupiter

Sadly, Dr Farr, if you read 20 authors on Lenormand, you'll end up with 20 different astrological assignments. Were I going to use astrology with them, I'd go with the face/decan assignments, too, but these weren't even the cards la Lenormande used. As far as I can tell, the original Petit Jeu was actually a German invention.

I dislike the Belline with a fiery passion, but I love Medlindaf's reinterpretation of it - he studied Edmond's original drawings, and every other bit of his and Mlle Lenormande's stuff he could get his hands on because Belline made such a dog's breakfast out of the deck. The Belline (or better, the Eltynne) does have valid astrological assignments. And may be from Mlle Lenormand herself. Find it here.

Grandville named his Parlour Sibyl after Mlle Lenormand (they were friends), and it soon came to be known as 'the Parisian tarot' (not to be confused with the Tarots de Paris). I suspect she used Etteilla's deck, as well as playing cards, and possibly - Grandville's. But I don't know if we'll ever know for certain, and she tended to write books about sex scandals, how stunning her prophecies were, and the 'idiot police' who kept giving her a hard time and throwing her in gaol. If she wrote about her actual fortune telling methods, I'm not aware of it. All we have to go on is Edmond's work, and a few testimonials and letters from people who saw her for readings.

Well, now its "21 authors", because I made the allocations listed above, albeit based upon the dates of the year ascribed to the "time indication" of each card. Certainly there is nothing authoritative here, however I was struck by the apparent "similarity" of a number of the card symbols with either the meaningfulness of the zodiacal sign or of the planetary ruler of the associated decanate. Perhaps this is how divinatory devices are created!

Lenormand is a passion of mine - I've got a blog with about 150 entries on how to read it, since there was so little information in English. Thought about a book, but there really isn't demand, and I'd hate to see Lenormand go the way tarot has gone.

Not much danger, I grant. I didn't go into a lot of the history, though I've got some of the stories and legends up - my friend Fennario has a blog on the same site chronicling the Grand Jeu, and it was yours truly who at least attempted to sort out the fixed stars and constellations on that one (and all the flowers were taken from Grandville's drawings, too). Wow. Lenormand - Grandville. It just doesn't stop. They use his work on the Flower Lenormand, too.

But it's remarkable how well Lenormand works. That I can't get over, even knowing it was created more as a way to cash in on her name than on anything she did.

Which does indeed raise some interesting questions about divination.

Check Medlindaf's site, though - he does have all the cards from the Eltynne up there under their proper planet series, and for those of us who understand classical astrology, the planet-card assignments make wonderful sense. And it's a really neat deck. Dirt cheap for a handmade, as well.

The Lenormand, Eltynne, and anything created by or based on JJ Grandville's work seem to be the cards I reach for if I'm reading cards.

And can I repost your list to the blog - with attribution, of course?

As I said, it's the one that makes most sense to me, as well, but I usually advise people to leave astrology out of it, as that way lies madness. I'd thought of writing something about the decans, though, and if one was going to attempt an astrological reading that'd pretty much be the way to go with it.