nisaba
Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!I love Nisaba
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Who does NOT combine astrology and tarot?
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tarotbear
Way too much information!!!!!
Years ago when I was teaching beginner Tarot classes, someone online contacted me and was picking my brain since they thought they might be interested in teaching Tarot, too. They were shocked at what I 'wasn't' telling my students!
In their opinion there needed to be at least two pages of written info for every card! They also wanted to include the astrological connections, elemental connections, where occult stuff overlapped each other, what all the symbols mean, what hand did the artist hold their brush with, etc., etc., etc. I let them discuss on & on for a while.
I said "It's obvious that you have never tried to be a teacher. I have two hours once a week for 8 weeks to discuss 78 cards. You have to talk about something, then your students have to process it in their mind. Then they have to write it down. Then they have to ask you questions about it. If you think all you do is stand up and talk and talk and talk and everyone writes and writes and writes down every word you say and that is all - you have another think coming. You would be talking for hours and hours and BORE your students to death."
Obviously, I don't think you need to know astrology, Quaballah, Feng Shui, or Brigitte Bardot to read tarot cards!
Years ago when I was teaching beginner Tarot classes, someone online contacted me and was picking my brain since they thought they might be interested in teaching Tarot, too. They were shocked at what I 'wasn't' telling my students!
In their opinion there needed to be at least two pages of written info for every card! They also wanted to include the astrological connections, elemental connections, where occult stuff overlapped each other, what all the symbols mean, what hand did the artist hold their brush with, etc., etc., etc. I let them discuss on & on for a while.
I said "It's obvious that you have never tried to be a teacher. I have two hours once a week for 8 weeks to discuss 78 cards. You have to talk about something, then your students have to process it in their mind. Then they have to write it down. Then they have to ask you questions about it. If you think all you do is stand up and talk and talk and talk and everyone writes and writes and writes down every word you say and that is all - you have another think coming. You would be talking for hours and hours and BORE your students to death."
Obviously, I don't think you need to know astrology, Quaballah, Feng Shui, or Brigitte Bardot to read tarot cards!
Requiella
I'm not into astrology at all, simply because I don't believe in its validity. Then again, I don't believe in the ability of Tarot to divine. The system of Tarot appeals to me, as does its use as a tool for self-analysis and exploration (not necessarily MYself, but also helping people do this if they want).
Stark Raven
I have an interest in astrology but do not apply it to tarot. I chose to see no necessary correlation. Besides, there are so many ways to apply astrology to so many different decks - why complicate things!
Metafizzypop
Like a lot of others here, I don't use astrology with tarot. But it's not because I'm not familiar with it. I actually had a pretty good background in astrology long before I ever picked up a tarot deck. As I learned about tarot, I eventually learned about the astrological associations with it and, to me anyway, it never rang true. I agree with Paul Huson (and Carla) that astrology was tacked on after the fact, and that it is not intrinsic to tarot. (I'd say the same about Kaballah.)
It seems to me that some people love to associate various systems of esoteric thought with tarot. I see cards with astrological symbols on them, and I've also seen cards with symbols for the Runes and the I Ching. I think people do this because it makes them feel that their deck is more "serious" than the next guy's. I don't think this is done out of snobbery by the way; I think they honestly feel that these associations give their cards a more spiritual and metaphysical connection to the forces of the universe. But I don't think they do. I think that those connections can only come from the reader.
The question I'm compelled to ask is: Weren't people doing tarot card readings long before the Golden Dawn crew were around? They used the Marseille deck, and other ancient card systems. Did those cards have astrological associations? Betcha they didn't. And the RWS meanings do seem to me like they could have evolved over time from the Marseille -- without help from planets and constellations.
I remember that, several months ago, there were a few threads here about the Meyers Briggs personality tests. A couple of threads were about assigning each personality type to a court card, like making the King of Swords an INTJ, or the Queen of Cups an INFP, etc. It seemed like a kind of mental exercise in understanding the court cards. But I am sure that if the Meyers Briggs test had been around in the Golden Day of the Golden Dawn, that the GD'ers would have found it irresistible to incorporate these personality types onto the cards.
To me, tarot is a system complete onto itself. And its meanings came, I would bet, from the people, from the peasants, from the gypsies, and the fortune tellers among them. That's my theory. Astrology wasn't involved. Tarot is its own esoteric system, just like any other.
My three cents.
It seems to me that some people love to associate various systems of esoteric thought with tarot. I see cards with astrological symbols on them, and I've also seen cards with symbols for the Runes and the I Ching. I think people do this because it makes them feel that their deck is more "serious" than the next guy's. I don't think this is done out of snobbery by the way; I think they honestly feel that these associations give their cards a more spiritual and metaphysical connection to the forces of the universe. But I don't think they do. I think that those connections can only come from the reader.
The question I'm compelled to ask is: Weren't people doing tarot card readings long before the Golden Dawn crew were around? They used the Marseille deck, and other ancient card systems. Did those cards have astrological associations? Betcha they didn't. And the RWS meanings do seem to me like they could have evolved over time from the Marseille -- without help from planets and constellations.
I remember that, several months ago, there were a few threads here about the Meyers Briggs personality tests. A couple of threads were about assigning each personality type to a court card, like making the King of Swords an INTJ, or the Queen of Cups an INFP, etc. It seemed like a kind of mental exercise in understanding the court cards. But I am sure that if the Meyers Briggs test had been around in the Golden Day of the Golden Dawn, that the GD'ers would have found it irresistible to incorporate these personality types onto the cards.
To me, tarot is a system complete onto itself. And its meanings came, I would bet, from the people, from the peasants, from the gypsies, and the fortune tellers among them. That's my theory. Astrology wasn't involved. Tarot is its own esoteric system, just like any other.
My three cents.
coeur
I tend not to use that much astrology with tarot, but I do use it to pick out significators in both major and minor arcana. For example, as an Aries woman, my significator is the Queen of Wands, and things always look up when the Emperor pops up. My ex-boyfriend is a Capricorn, so he is always either the Prince/Knight of Disks or The Devil. I find it very useful in 'keeping track' of the reading. Oftentimes, the reading becomes a long story with both past and future involved. Sometimes it's tough to figure out where you are in the story at all--particularly if you don't have any positions in the reading. Having a certain card be the querent or a certain person in your life can really help in figuring out where you are in the timeline. For example, I use my significator to represent 'the present.' So everything before my significator is in the past and everything after it is in the future. If my ex-boyfriend's card comes up in the future, then I know that there's going to be a run-in or an unresolved issue that pops up between us.
Argenta
My husband has been a professional astrologer for over ten years, and knowing the length and depth of his studies, I wouldn't dare use my superficial knowledge of that discipline to mix it up with tarot. I am not against that, to be quite clear, but I think it is best left to people who are knowledgeable in both areas to combine them. Repeating somebody else's ideas about correspondences between astrology and tarot is not for me. I'd feel like a phoney.
And, also, I don't find astrology as appealing as tarot. I prefer the pictures, stories and history behind tarot -- astrology is too mathematical for me. Although, it is interesting that my husband has been trying to convince me I could be a very good intuitive reader for ages (apparently it shows somewhere in my natal chart), but I didn't believe him. I guess I had to find it out for myself.
And, also, I don't find astrology as appealing as tarot. I prefer the pictures, stories and history behind tarot -- astrology is too mathematical for me. Although, it is interesting that my husband has been trying to convince me I could be a very good intuitive reader for ages (apparently it shows somewhere in my natal chart
), but I didn't believe him. I guess I had to find it out for myself.