AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here is the next installment in my series of follow-up essays examining the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn‘s astrological notation for the Major Arcana of the tarot.

The planet Saturn has traditionally shared equal billing with the element of Earth as the corresponding symbol for the World (Thoth Universe) card, which has always struck me as purely a matter of convenience since it had to go somewhere. Similarly, the connection of Capricorn, Saturn’s sign of rulership, to the Devil seems to blunt the immediacy of Saturn’s theological correlation to Satan, which really should be central to its definition. Shifting earthy Virgo to the World leaves the Hermit open to zodiacal reassignment, and Capricorn slides right in. While I have no serious problems with the Order’s established assumptions for these cards, in my earlier post on “rethinking” the zodiacal and planetary correspondences (linked below) I made the following adjustments to the original model as offering a better fit for my astrological worldview.

The Devil = Saturn (the etymology and religious mythology combine to support this one)

The World = Virgo (the idea of “harvest” is emphatically at home in this card of completion and success)

The Hermit = Capricorn (Crowley’s goat leaping upon high places, suggesting the applied wisdom of Saturn; the Hermit is also withdrawn and ascetic, befitting the reserved Capricorn)

The symbolism in these realignments seems to hang together well. I particularly like the alliance of Virgo with the World because of its connection to the seasonal “harvest” period, which denotes the “wrapping-up” usually ascribed to this card. Moving Saturn from the World to the Devil also makes perfect sense in philosophical terms, while Crowley’s notion of “high places” for Capricorn describes the remote pinnacle upon which the Hermit conducts his deliberations. Once again, I’m setting aside any consideration of Qabalistic Tree of Life placement on the connecting paths and just going with astrological principles.

I’ve been an astrologer for a bit longer than I’ve been a student of the esoteric tarot (1970 vs. 1972), and I’ve never been convinced of the legitimacy of many of the Golden Dawn’s metaphysical premises, which seem to indicate an uncertain grasp of astrological fundamentals. I realize that I’m not the only occultist to attempt this reorganization, but as a long-time practitioner of both disciplines I may be uniquely qualified to undertake it.

I believe it was Eliphas Levi who characterized astrology as the rational “gold key” to unlocking the Mysteries, while tarot is the mystical “silver key,” making the former the true “Master Key” to a wide range of subsidiary techniques, tarot divination included. Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette) in the 18^th Century was the first to draw parallels between the signs and planets and the Major Arcana, but his system never caught on outside of the European Continent, so the Golden Dawn’s version became the de facto standard. While I typically avoid such syncretic convergence when working with the Tarot de Marseille, there may well be a sound historical reason to at least give it a nod along with suit and number theory.

Astrologically Rethinking the Major Arcana