Major Arcana Correspondences

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Learning to read tarot usually begins with the major arcana. Listed in this post are two major arcana correspondence charts, colour coded to help you see at-a-glance major arcana elements, astrology, timing, numerology, counting values + yes no tarot.

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Major Arcana Correspondences

Most people learn tarot beginning with the major arcana. An effective aid in learning these major arcana meanings are major arcana correspondences. Once you have learnt a few tarot keywords for each card, you can begin to dig into deeper levels of meaning associated with each card. These can include major arcana elements, major arcana astrology, numerology and other correspondences depending upon the tarot techniques you are using or plan on using as you learn to read tarot for yourself.

The colour coding of the tables is particularly helpful when you are learning the major arcana elements, either to understand the connection between the four elements and the tarot, or if you plan on learning how to use elemental dignities in your tarot readings.

The major arcana correspondencs below are taken from the tarot card meanings section and give you an at-a-glance tool to help you see the major arcana correspondences in one place. This helps you see patterns, anomalies and groupings you wouldn’t otherwise see on the individual cards. Looking at the major arcana correspondences also helps refresh your memory as you work through the whole tarot deck.

Correspondence charts help you see patterns, anomalies & groupings you wouldn't otherwise see on the individual cards. #tarot #learntarot Share on X

It’s not necessary to learn every correspondence associated with every card, and in all honesty, this post would be super long if I were to include wider systems such as qabbalah and tarot magic. For the purposes of learning to read tarot for yourself, as a beginner, or as a tarot reader who is adding to their tarot toolkit, the following major arcana correspondencs will be more than sufficient.

These major arcana correspondences can also work as a handy reference guide when you are doing a reading, over the internet, on the phone, or via email. Sometimes your mind goes blank when you are doing a live tarot reading and having the core information at hand helps you overcome minor stumbling blocks while you are reading tarot for others.

Partner with the Minor Arcana Correspondences and Timing Events Using Tarot and Astrology to really boost your tarot learning.

Timing Events Using Tarot also shows you how to obtain a time frame from the planetary trumps.

Rider Waite-Smith Major Arcana Sequence

Major Arcana Correspondences Using Different Tarot Decks

It is likely you will be aware of the three major types of tarot deck: the Rider Waite-Smith, Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot (or a Golden Dawn based deck) and the Tarot de Marseille. They have between them many similarities, but also many differences. Aside from their often differing tarot card meanings, the order of the major arcana, or tarot trumps, changed when Arthur Edward Waite created his deck with Pamela Coleman Smith. My understanding is that he never really explained why, but it is not difficult to see his logic when you look at the cards in a correspondence chart.

Arthur Waite switched the position of the Strength and Justice cards. Justice was traditionally numbered 8, with Strength numbered 11. This ordering has been maintained in the Thoth Tarot, Golden Dawn based decks and the Tarot de Marseille. But as you can see with the first major arcana correspondence chart, Strength is numbered 8, with Justice numbered 11. This makes sense when you follow the astrological correspondences through the chart – Strength, and Leo flow perfectly with Justice and Libra, sequentially. I created separate charts to reflect this and to assist you if and when you learn tarot from either of the named decks above.

Golden Dawn, Thoth Tarot and Tarot de Marseille Major Arcana Sequence

Tarot Card Meanings Supporting Posts

Header image from the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by Chic Cicero and Sandra-Tabatha Cicero, published by Llewellyn 2008