Nov 6, 2026

Tarot and Astrology: Which Major Arcana Card Belongs to Your Zodiac Sign?

Every Major Arcana card is linked to a zodiac sign, a planet or an element. Here is the full table, and what your sign's card says about you.

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Pick a Card

In the most widely used system, from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (late 19th century), each of the 22 Major Arcana cards is linked to one of the 12 zodiac signs, the 7 classical planets, or one of 3 elements (air, water, fire). Aries is The Emperor, Taurus is The Hierophant, Gemini is The Lovers, Cancer is The Chariot, Leo is Strength, Virgo is The Hermit, Libra is Justice, Scorpio is Death, Sagittarius is Temperance, Capricorn is The Devil, Aquarius is The Star and Pisces is The Moon. Modern astrologers often link the three "elemental" cards to the outer planets: The Fool to Uranus, The Hanged Man to Neptune and Judgement to Pluto.

The AstrologyBird Oracle is built on exactly these pairings.

The 12 zodiac signs and their tarot cards

Sign	Dates (approx.)	Major Arcana card	Shared theme
Aries	21 Mar – 19 Apr	IV The Emperor	Will, leadership, beginning
Taurus	20 Apr – 20 May	V The Hierophant	Values, tradition, what endures
Gemini	21 May – 20 Jun	VI The Lovers	Choice, duality, connection
Cancer	21 Jun – 22 Jul	VII The Chariot	Protection, moving forward with feeling
Leo	23 Jul – 22 Aug	VIII Strength	Courage of the heart
Virgo	23 Aug – 22 Sep	IX The Hermit	Inner wisdom, refinement
Libra	23 Sep – 22 Oct	XI Justice	Balance, truth, fairness
Scorpio	23 Oct – 21 Nov	XIII Death	Endings, transformation
Sagittarius	22 Nov – 21 Dec	XIV Temperance	Synthesis, the quest for meaning
Capricorn	22 Dec – 19 Jan	XV The Devil	Structure, ambition, attachment
Aquarius	20 Jan – 18 Feb	XVII The Star	Hope, vision, the future
Pisces	19 Feb – 20 Mar	XVIII The Moon	Dreams, intuition, the unseen

Exact dates shift by a day in some years; your birth chart shows your true Sun sign.

The planets and their tarot cards

Planet	Major Arcana card	Shared theme
Mercury	I The Magician	Words, skill, manifesting
Moon	II The High Priestess	Intuition, the hidden, inner knowing
Venus	III The Empress	Love, abundance, receiving
Jupiter	X Wheel of Fortune	Luck, cycles, growth
Mars	XVI The Tower	Sudden change, breakthrough
Sun	XIX The Sun	Joy, vitality, clarity
Saturn	XXI The World	Completion, mastery, the closed circle
Uranus (air)	0 The Fool	Freedom, the leap into the unknown
Neptune (water)	XII The Hanged Man	Surrender, a new perspective
Pluto (fire)	XX Judgement	Rebirth, the call to rise

What your sign's card says about you

Aries – The Emperor: you are here to build your own life with your own will. Shadow: control and impatience.
Taurus – The Hierophant: you carry deep values and know what lasts. Shadow: rigidity.
Gemini – The Lovers: you live with two truths and learn to choose from the heart. Shadow: indecision.
Cancer – The Chariot: you move forward while carrying your home within you. Shadow: armour that keeps everyone out.
Leo – Strength: your strength is a soft heart that stays open. Shadow: pride that hides vulnerability.
Virgo – The Hermit: in quiet, your small light becomes enough. Shadow: perfectionism and isolation.
Libra – Justice: you seek honest balance, not mere peace. Shadow: pleasing others at your own cost.
Scorpio – Death: you know that endings make true beginnings. Shadow: holding on out of fear of loss.
Sagittarius – Temperance: you aim high and blend opposites into meaning. Shadow: excess and restlessness.
Capricorn – The Devil: you understand the chains of the material world, and that they can come off. Shadow: being ruled by duty or status.
Aquarius – The Star: after the storm, you remember who you are and give others hope. Shadow: detachment.
Pisces – The Moon: you know that not everything real can be seen. Shadow: confusion and escapism.

Why combine tarot and astrology?

Astrology describes the timing and structure of your life: the sky you were born under. Tarot and oracle cards are a mirror for the present moment. Combining them gives you both a map (your chart) and a question to sit with (your card). If your Sun is in Scorpio and you draw Death, the message lands differently than for someone with no Scorpio in their chart.

What about the Minor Arcana?

In the Golden Dawn system the 36 numbered Minor Arcana cards (2–10 of each suit) are linked to the 36 decans, ten-degree slices of the zodiac. The court cards and Aces are linked to the elements. That is a deeper study; the Major Arcana are the place to start.

How the AstrologyBird Oracle uses these pairings

The AstrologyBird Oracle has 26 cards: the 12 signs, 10 planets and 4 soul points (Chiron, Black Moon Lilith, the North Node and the South Node). Each sign and planet card carries its Major Arcana pairing. The soul points have no classic tarot card, so each resonates with two: Chiron with The Hermit and Temperance, Lilith with The High Priestess and The Devil, the North Node with The Star and Wheel of Fortune, and the South Node with Judgement and The Moon.

Every card has a message, a soul layer and a Black Light layer: the gift hidden inside its shadow side.

Frequently asked questions

Which tarot card represents my zodiac sign? Use the table above. Aries is The Emperor, Taurus The Hierophant, Gemini The Lovers, Cancer The Chariot, Leo Strength, Virgo The Hermit, Libra Justice, Scorpio Death, Sagittarius Temperance, Capricorn The Devil, Aquarius The Star and Pisces The Moon.

Why are Strength and Justice numbered differently in some decks? The Golden Dawn swapped them so that Strength (Leo) and Justice (Libra) follow the zodiac order. The Rider-Waite-Smith deck uses Strength as VIII and Justice as XI; the older Marseille tradition does the reverse.

Are these correspondences the only system? No. The Golden Dawn system is the most common in English-language tarot, but other traditions use different pairings.