Tarot and Astrology

Tarot and Astrology –
Enhance Your Readings With the
Wisdom of the Zodiac

Author: Corrine Kenner
Llewellyn Publications
2011
ISBN #978-0-7387-2964-0

Tarot has many layers of associations – numerology, Qabalah, and astrology heading the list. In “Tarot and Astrology” Kenner guides the reader through the associations between the Tarot (Major and Minor Arcana), and the signs and planets that make up astrology.

This book works in three ways – it introduces those interested in the Tarot to astrology, it introduces those interested in astrology to the Tarot, and it takes those who work with both tools to a deeper level of understanding. In working with this book, the student will be able to:

1. Read Tarot cards and interpret an astrological chart.
2. Recognize the ruling signs and planets associated with the twelve houses.
3. Pair the planets, signs, and houses with their corresponding Tarot cards.
4. Understand the astrological associations for the Minor Arcana.
5. Make connections amongst the Court Cards, Tarot suits, and the four elements.
6. Identify each card’s Qabalistic associations.
7. Give insightful readings for yourself and others.

It is important to note before working with this material that the source for the astrological associations is the Golden Dawn material. If the student/reader uses another astrological association for their work, they would have to interpret the material in this book in that light. The deck used to show examples is the “Wizards Tarot”, by Corrine Kenner and John Blumen.
Kenner begins by going through each of the Major Arcana cards and their astrological association. For example for the Fool: “The Fool, who doesn’t care what society thinks, is assigned to Uranus, the planet of rebellion and revolution.” It is clear that the quality connected with the archetype is easily associated with the quality connected with the planet associated with it.
In Part One – Tarot Planets and Signs, Kenner addresses the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana, and their associations with the planets and astrological signs. She also presents a rudimentary background on what constitutes the Major and Minor Arcana, the “spheres of influence” for the four suits, and the four Royal Families (Court Cards in the four suits).
The planets are introduced, and then the Major Arcana associations are presented, in order of the associated planets, not in the order that the Tarot cards appear. We have Sun/Sun, Moon/High Priestess, Venus/Empress and so on. Each planet/card combination is presented with a short discussion of the planet and card, the sign that the planet rules, and physical and elemental associations for the planet. Interspersed in this section are snippets such as a discussion entitled Dark Shadows: Solar and Lunar Eclipses, the Eclipse Spread, a discussion on the Void-of-Course Moon, the Trickster Planet: Mercury Retrograde, the Part of Fortune, the Saturn Return, karmic Lessons and the Point of Node Return.
There is a short introduction to the signs and their glyphs, triplicities and the four elements. Included in this section are discussions on Chiron, the Wounded Healer, Saturn’s Cloak, the Phases of the Moon Spread, and a chart summarizing the planets or sign, significance, and associated Tarot card.
Part Two addresses the Minor Arcana, focusing on how the Aces correspond to the four elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth), how the numbered cards (2-10) correspond to the decans (ten degree subdivisions) within each sign, and how the Court Cards spin the Wheel of the Year.
There is a short introduction to Elemental Dignities, along with an Elemental Dignities Spread. This is followed by the Aces, and their associations. There is a short discussion of the four Qabalistic worlds, followed by a chart associating the spheres (Sephiroth) on the Tree of Life with a card from the Tarot, the astrological association, and a description of the Sephiroth. There is a schematic of the Tree of Life, and a listing of the twenty-two paths. With their associated Major Arcana card.
The section on the Pips begins with a chart listing the decans, approximate calendar dates, the associated card from the Minor Arcana, and the planetary sub-rulers, followed by a short discussion of the Guardians of Heaven. The cards are presented by astrological sign, and the decans within each sign, broken down into Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable. At the end of this section is a Past, Present, Future Decan Spread.
In presenting the Court Cards Kenner notes that while they are placed around the Wheel of the Year, the dates don’t strictly adhere to the signs. For instance, the Queen of Wands rules over the first twenty degrees of Aries and the last ten degrees of Pisces. In general, Knights rule the Mutable signs, Queens rule the Cardinal signs, and Kings rule the Fixed signs. Pages embody the elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth), serving as the seat of power for the four Aces. Charts in this section include the association between the Court Cards and the elements, the Court Cards and the seasons, and the Court Cards and the Wheel of the Year.
There is a nice introductory section on the twelve houses of the Zodiac, including a Houses of the Horoscope Spread, the Planet, Sign and House Spread, a presentation on Polar Opposites, and a short discussion of Types of Horoscope Charts.
In her section on simplified chart interpretation, Kenner discusses looking at the Sun, Moon, and Rising Sign (Ascendant), including a Sun, Moon, and Ascendant Spread, The Angles of the Chart Spread, Solar System Spread, and Natal Chart Spread. Of interest is a sample reading given for Marilyn Monroe. At the end of the book is a glossary of astrological terms.
This is a very rudimentary introduction to both astrology and the Tarot. Having said that, I feel that there is enough depth here to allow the student/reader to work with the material in a very real manner. The “short-shorts” of information interspersed throughout the book are very interesting, and the spreads allow the student/reader to put the information they are learning to work in a real way. Beginning students/readers will be able to use this material as a “stepping off” place for further study, while more advanced students/readers will gain from the examples given and the spreads.

© September 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

Tarot of the Holy Light

The Tarot of the Holy Light

Author: Christine Payne-Towler

Edited by: Michael Dowers

Artist: Michael Dowers

Noreah/Brownfield Press

2011

“The Tarot of the Holy Light” is an independently produced deck from Christine Payne-Towler and her partner, Michael Dowers. It is an absolutely incredible project, with an in-depth companion book ready to go to print. Where to start … this is a traditional deck. A traditional Continental-style deck, I hasten to add. Christine might smack me if I didn’t make that evident! It is, after all, the foundation for this project! The astro-alpha-numeric associations for this deck are not those of the Golden Dawn (which is the basis for most modern decks). It is also the first Continental-style deck of the 21^st century.

The associations for the trumps from this deck are keyed to the astral values taught in the Masonic lodges of Europe, and brought into the public light by Ettteilla in a veiled manner, as Christine writes, that was consistent with his times. The full system was brought out in the book “Divinatory Tarot”, by Papus. Christine also notes that the Pips (numbered cards) and Court Cards are distributed in a classic astrological pattern. (Note: For ease of use, the signs, planets, and elements that rule them are marked on each card.)

The traditional names have been used for the Major Arcana, with the following exceptions: Magus (Magician), Priestess (High Priestess), High Priest (Hierophant), and Tower of Destruction (Tower). Justice is VIII, with Strength at XI. The suits are Wands, Cups, Swords, and Disks. The Court Cards are Queen, King, Knight, and Page.

The deck comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a lift-off top. The imagery on the box (by artist Patrick Dowers) shows a female figure standing in a window, framed by green curtains. She is wearing a long sleeved, high-necked white blouse, and a brown pinafore, with a cross at her neck. She is holding a red heart in front of her, in both hands, with beams of light emanating from it. Birds and flowers adorn the sides of the image. One gets a literal feeling of Holiness when looking at the box.

The deck is a traditional 78 card deck, with two extra cards: one with the details of the companion book, as well as Christine’s first book, “The Underground Stream”. The second extra card gives the details for the deck, and has a lovely flowered vine running up the left hand side, ala the Marseilles tradition.

The deck is accompanied by a twenty-four page LWB (Little White Book), entitled “Tarot of the Holy Light User’s Manual”. Do not ask me why I heard the Star War’s theme when I read the title, but I did! The LWB comes separate from the deck, but fits nicely in the box once it is opened. (The deck and LWB were printed separately.) The background for the deck is touched upon, and Christine has shared some suggestions, such as noting where the Tarot cards fall in the reader’s personal astrological chart.

She also recommends shuffling in a manner that guarantees reversed cards. I do not read with reversals, so I will set that suggestion aside. She also gives the position meanings for a twelve-card reading, but does not offer a reading template, leaving it up to the reader to create their own. She also makes another interesting suggestion – to take the cards from one reading and place them (in the same order) in several different spreads.

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The cards are presented text only, no scans. Upright and reversed meanings are given. In-depth information can be found in the companion book, which will be coming out in both soft cover and hard back copies.

The cards themselves are 3” by 5”, with what is termed a linen texture. I noticed this immediately, and had to ask Christine what that was. I described it to her as “looking like linen”, and was very surprised to hear that that was the term used to describe it! Held up to the light, fine linen-like lines can be seen. The texture itself makes the cards less slippery, and easier to handle. Kudos for making this choice!

Michael did just an astounding job with the artwork, which is collage art in very intense colors, referencing the art of the 1600’s. The card backs are done in black and white, with a little Sun glyph (with a smiling face) in each corner.  There is a white border, with the image itself showing what appears to be a quarter moon with a face at either end, with a sun in the middle, light radiating from it. At first glance the backs are reversible, but if you pay close attention, a good reader could tell if they were upright or reversed. The theme for the backs is that of a doorway into the cosmos, with the Sun representing the material world, and the Moon representing the celestial world.

The card faces show a white border, with the card information at the bottom of the card. For the Major Arcana, we see the card number, title, and astrological glyph. For the Court Cards we see the card title, suite, astrological sign and glyph. For the Pips we see the card number, suit, degree and sign, and the glyph for the astrological ruler.

One thing that Christine pointed out to me was that Michael placed her initials at the top of the card that represents her – the Queen of Swords! I had to get my magnifying glass out, but they are there! What a nice thought! Other cards of interest to me (well, they were all of interest to me, but these stand out) include the Hierophant, which shows a male figure, arms outstretched, sun touching one hand, moon touching the other, and the Hanged Man, who is hanging from an ouroboros, with a triangle of seven golden circles behind him, with an eye in the middle of each one.

The Ten of Disks is an incredibly active and colorful card, with a Tree of Life focus. Strength has to be my very favorite card – the female figure carries her own power, especially the power of voice, but the small lion in front of her is wearing a very ticked off look – probably due to the green leaf he is wearing on his head!

The Ten of Cups shows beautiful green leaves, a golden sun in the middle of the card (with an eye in the middle of the sun), with a beautifully colored esoteric above it. The Two of Swords shows two swords – upright on the left hand side of the card, reversed on the right hand side of the card. There is a sun at the hilt, and a moon at the point of each sword. There is a reversible esoteric graphic positioned betweent he swords.

The Two of Disks shows a circle of moons, with a red and a green whorl in the center of the card. The World shows a female figure, in a red gown, standing on a graphic of the earth. The Sun is in the upper left hand corner, with the moon in the lower right hand corner, and glyphs for the seven planets to the lower left of the earth.

The Fool shows the sun, moon, and a standing figure with what appears to be a mythical figure at his feet. The Wheel on the Wheel of Fortune is a beautiful red ouroboros, with the traditional glyphs in the four corners of the card.

I love this deck! It offers esoteric symbology in a systematic manner that is interesting, but not overbearing. It will open up thinking on astrological attributions, A good choice for esotericists, those interested in art, and those who work with the astro-alph-numero associations.

Deck can be purchased here: http://www.tarotuniversity.com/2011/09/tarot-of-the-holy-light-deck.html.

© September 2011 Bonnie Cehovet