Tarot and astrology work together and have done so for hundreds of years. I’ve written about this several terms, most recently in WellBeing Astrology 2024 I sometimes think of astrology as the tarot’s big brother. It’s been around longer. It commands more attention. It’s much more popular. But I tend to like an underdog. So, I like little sister a little more. I like her whimsy. I like her randomness. I like her desire to play from time to time. Big brother can be so serious most of the time!
So let’s play with big brother’s stuff, shall we? I’m sure he won’t mind?
In the tarot, Scorpio’s correspondence is the Death card. That shouldn’t come as a shock or a surprise. (If you’re interested, I’ve actually written about the Death card before – a long long time ago – and that post can be revisited here).
The Death card in the tarot is about endings. That’s appropriate for this time of year since here, in the north, cold envelops us, the leaves fall and the landscape becomes barren. Many things end. And death and Scorpio are longtime buddies, so the correspondence makes sense.
Big brother assigns traditional rulership of Scorpio to Mars. The card of the major arcana that is linked to Mars is The Tower. The Tower is a card of destruction. It tears things down. Mars is the God of war so the Tower carries that element too. It is a card of resistance and revolution.
And, at times, these things must happen. To paraphrase The Byrds who borrowed their lyrics from Ecclesiastes, there is a season for everything, including a season to break down and one to die.
I like to use the astrological correspondences as reminder of the energy of the season. I’ll use the cards to ask questions at this time of year. Questions like:
- What foundations in my life are currently at risk of crumbling? Or are in the process of falling down?
- What needs to end?
- What can I abandon?
- What do I need to tear down?
- These often lead to question like:
- How can I fix what falling down around me?
- Where should I start again?
- What do I need to rebuild?
But Death and The Tower allow us to start with the ending. I would argue that neither Death nor the Tower are about re-building or new beginnings, although they may lead there. We have other cards: aces, pages, The Fool, The Magician – to name but a few – that focus on the act of starting anew and making something out of nothing.
Scorpio season is a time to sit with the Death card, sit with The Tower and ask ourselves those deep, challenging and occasionally life-changing questions.
Try this… Sit with your favourite deck. Or use an online image of the Death and The Tower cards. Which I’ve included here.
Then ask yourself questions like the ones mentioned above and see where it leads you.
If Scorpio season feels like the right time to work with the tarot, why not take advantage of my Scorpio season special. Just clink on this link and book a 60-minute consultation for $66.
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