Marion Hansen had a great question on the Tarot Guild Facebook Group this morning! She writes:
Hello everyone, I am curious to know at what point astrological Correspondence and tarot became intertwined and if there is any history about it? Or is it something someone added to tarot and it got adopted as the norm?
Here's my Response:
Hi Marion! 💜😎 ...Great question! ....Numerology is inherent to Tarot. It is built right into the structure. I had studied Numerology and Sacred Geometry before coming to Tarot, so I saw the structure right away...
This is why I my course is called Tarot by The Numbers™, and why I have taught Tarot this way for 20 years...
Of course, there's no way to prove anything, as there's no documentation, or other knowledge, as to exactly when The Tarot was created, why, and by whom....
So I will carefully say that my personal "opinion" and what I have "surmised", from studying this since my twenties, is that the make up and structure of Tarot is based on Numerology and the Elements (the five platonic solids, from Metatron's Cube and Sacred Geometry).....
Astrology, on the other hand (as well as Kabbalah and other associations), is not inherently part of the Tarot. They are, as you put it, "two distinct" systems, that just happen to have similarities.
All these systems deal with universal concepts and life situations, so there are going to be "overlaps". This doesn't mean they were created with each other in mind or have any direct connections...
Basically, as you surmised, someone at some point saw the similarities and started using the two systems together. Others caught on, and it became a "norm"....
To my knowledge, there is no written documentation on this, so there is no way of knowing exactly when people started making these associations, but it was definitely more recent.
Evidence of the Tarot being used for divination dates to the late 1700's. Eliphas Levi made connections in the 1800's.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (late 1800's - early 1900's) certainly played a big part in popularizing the associations, however there's no way to know for sure that these associations weren't, or were, used prior to this.
It makes sense that anyone drawn to any one of these esoteric systems would also be drawn to, or at least be familiar with, others.
It's human nature to see patterns and make connections between things, even if there is no "real" connection there.
Many Tarot Teachers include all of these associations in their teachings, while a LOT of Tarot-purists do not....
Personally, I do not, and I feel that it over-complicates it. Tarot itself has everything you need!
The only time I mention anything Astrological is occasionally bringing up some Sun Signs, when discussing people coming up in a Reading, in relation to the Elements............
It's up to the individual Reader as to whether or not they want to use these associations in some way....
Mostly I think some Readers feel that it "adds" to their Readings... Still, having worked with thousands of Tarot Readers, it's not the majority...
Bright Blessings,
~ Dax
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