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Tarot and Playing Card Correspondences
The following is a dialogue I had about Tarot 
and playing card correspondences with
someone who sent me a question about it. I
hope M’s question and my response is as
Creating a Space to
helpful to you as it was to M. Thanks for
Read Tarot
reading!
February 9, 2022
“Hello, I have a question about tarot and
playing card correspondences.
 Differences
In the book Geddes and Grosset Guide to the Between Tarot and
Privacy & Cookies
OraclePolicy
Cards
Occult and Mysticism and The Pictorial Key
 Whats-Your- to the Tarot by A.E. Waite which came along January
Sign.com with my tarot cards, the playing cards are 22, 2022
associated to the Minor Arcana as such:

Wands – Diamonds
Get Social! Cups – Hearts

Swords – Clubs
   Spades – Pentacles

   These correspondences conflict with

Developing a Spiritual
your Tarot Suit Chart (illustrating Tarot and
Growth Plan
playing card correspondences). Which one
January 9, 2022
is the correct one? Thank you for your time,
and for this site, I have found it quite
informative in many respects.” M. in Cyprus

Hi M., Outstanding question on playing card

meanings, and thank you for asking. Search This
Site
If we quantify Waite as the traditional
standard (and by all means, his tireless
Search … Search
devotion to Tarot decryption would classify
him as such), then I’ve broken with
tradition in the Tarot and playing card
correspondences. About Avia
In his book, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot,
Waite prefaces his Tarot and playing card
correspondences by saying (in Latin) “ex
hypothesi per archeology of thema .”
Translated, the classifications are given in
accordance “with the hypothesis of the
archeology of the subject.”
About Avia Tarot
The concept of playing cards has changed Teachings
many cultural hands since the 13th century.
Starting in China, India, Egypt, and eventually
Europe – each culture wove their own brand
of imagery and design into the tapestry of
Keep Tarot
game cards. Lots of room for hypothesis
and impression.
Teachings
Alive!
Current standardized playing cards
originated in Europe, specifically when the
French began producing cards for gaming
purposes. Originally, the productions of deck
and suit imagery was inconsistent, but in the
15th century, the French standardized the 52 Thank you for your
card deck, which in turn was mass-produced support!
in Europe due to its popularity.

As the French and other European settlers Privacy & Cookies Policy
entered the New World, they brought this
standardized deck version with them, and
this is the version seen today at orthodox
poker tables worldwide.

Just as Waite intuited his associations with

Tarot and playing cards, so too are mine “ex
hypothesi,” according to intuition,
preference and inference from personal
interpretation of the historical antecedents
of the suits.

Here are my Tarot and playing card

correspondences and an explanation for
each…

Tarot and Playing Card Correspondences

Tarot and Playing Card

Correspondences
Pentacles = Diamonds

I borrowed from the archetypal “four-

sided” concept in numerological
philosophy (Pythagoras). Assigning
diamonds to earth-based pentacles
satisfied such concepts as: Four
foundational aspects of direction,
elements, seasons – it just made intuitive
sense to me.
Wands = Clubs

The club began its life as a symbolic

acorn seen in early German decks. I
embraced this origin in assigning the
clubs to the suit of rods. Further, the
visual triad of the clubs symbol appealed
to me, it represents the archetypal
“creative spark” inherent in the fire
element.
Cups = Hearts

There is no separation of Waite’s opinion

and my associations with Tarot and Privacy & Cookies Policy
 playing cards here. But to make a note, I
love how the look of the chalice dovetails
with the traditional heart symbol. The
inverted triangle represents a vessel,
worthy of holding those emotional waters
stirred by the tides of the human saga.
Swords = Spades

Borrowing again from a bogglingly

diverse lineage, I sought meaning from
the Italians where the term “spade”
meaning “sword” or also the Greek word
“spathe” meaning “broad blade.”
Furthermore, the visual symbol of a spade
looks like a sword. It is the pommel as the
squatty base moving to a visual grip, up
to the pointiest tip.

In conclusion, I suppose the $30,000

question is: “Which suit correspondence is
correct?”

History will not agree because the shuffling

of the cards over time and culture leaves
meanings virtually indeterminate. Not having
historical text on which to fall, the correct
answer will have to be the one that most
satisfactorily resonates with your own
opinion and perspective.

Again, thank you for this fabulous question,

and allowing my lengthy explanation.

To view the complete page on Tarot suits

along with a chart showing Tarot and
playing card correspondences click here.
Click here for quick how-to tips on how to
use playing cards in place of Tarot cards
for a reading.

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