Timing Events in Tarot Readings
Tarot and Astrology enables the Reader to pinpoint any day of the year to make a prediction. The twelve zodiac cards in the Major Arcana are associated with thirty days, while the Minor Cards 2-10 represent ten days each. The Knight, Queen and Prince of each element also represent 30 days, but, there is a 10 day overlap between them and the zodiac signs.
| Tarot and Astrology | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | Court Cards | Minor | Decanates | Dates | ||||
| (Moon ctd) | Queen of Wands | 10 | 20-30 Pisces | Mar 11- Mar 20 | ||||
| Emperor | 2 | 0-10 Aries | Mar 21- Mar 30 | |||||
| 3 | 10-20 Aries | Mar 31- Apr 10 | ||||||
| King of Pentacles | 4 | 20-30 Aries | Apr 11- Apr 20 | |||||
| Hierophant | 5 | 0-10 Taurus | Apr 21- Apr 30 | |||||
| 6 | 10-20 Taurus | May 1 - May 10 | ||||||
| Knight of Swords | 7 | 20-30 Taurus | May 11 - May 20 | |||||
| Lovers | 8 | 0-10 Gemini | May 21 - May 31 | |||||
| 9 | 10-20 Gemini | Jun 1 - Jun 10 | ||||||
| Queen of Cups | 10 | 20-30 Gemini | Jun 11 - Jun 20 | |||||
| Chariot | 2 | 0-10 Cancer | Jun 21 - Jul 1 | |||||
| 3 | 10-20 Cancer | Jul 2 - Jul 11 | ||||||
| King of Wands | 4 | 20-30 Cancer | Jul 12 - Jul 21 | |||||
| Strength | 5 | 0-10 Leo | Jul 22 - Aug 1 | |||||
| 6 | 10-20 Leo | Aug 2 - Aug 11 | ||||||
| Knight of Pentacles | 7 | 20-30 Leo | Aug 12 - Aug 22 | |||||
| Hermit | 8 | 0-10 Virgo | Aug 23 - Sep 1 | |||||
| 9 | 10-20 Virgo | Sep 2 - Sep 11 | ||||||
| Queen of Swords | 10 | 20-30 Virgo | Sep 12 - Sep 22 | |||||
| Justice | 2 | 0-10 Libra | Sep 23 - Oct 2 | |||||
| 3 | 10-20 Libra | Oct 3 - Oct 12 | ||||||
| King of Cups | 4 | 20-30 Libra | Oct 13 - Oct 22 | |||||
| Death | 5 | 0-10 Scorpio | Oct 23 - Nov 2 | |||||
| 6 | 10-20 Scorpio | Nov 3 - Nov 12 | ||||||
| Knight of Wands | 7 | 20-30 Scorpio | Nov 13 - Nov 22 | |||||
| Temperance | 8 | 0-10 Sagittarius | Nov 23 - Dec 2 | |||||
| 9 | 10-20 Sagittarius | Dec 3 - Dec 12 | ||||||
| Queen of Pentacles | 10 | 20-30 Sagittarius | Dec 13 - Dec 21 | |||||
| Devil | 2 | 0-10 Capricorn | Dec 22 - Dec 30 | |||||
| 3 | 10-20 Capricorn | Dec 31 - Jan 9 | ||||||
| King of Swords | 4 | 20-30 Capricorn | Jan 10 -Jan 19 | |||||
| Star | 5 | 0-10 Aquarius | Jan 20 - Jan 29 | |||||
| 6 | 10-20 Aquarius | Jan 30 - Feb 8 | ||||||
| Knight of Cups | 7 | 20-30 Aquarius | Feb 9 - Feb 18 | |||||
| Moon | 8 | 0-10 Pisces | Feb 19 - Feb 28 | |||||
| 9 | 10-20 Pisces | Mar 1 - Mar 10 | ||||||
| Queen of Wands | 10 | 20-30 Pisces | Mar 11 - Mar 20 | |||||
Note the orderly structure to the attributions, which should help memorisation. Good Tarot decks will have most of this information on each card. The information above can also be used to assign a Significator according to birthdate.
As long as the spread you use has a final or determinative position you can utilize the method if you remember to ignore the divinatory meaning, otherwise nothing but discord can happen in the first twenty days of June!
Events in the Past
Time-travel is possible too. If the astrological aspect of a card points to the recent past - say a few months ago - you may find that events at that time are pertinent to the current situation facing the querent.
Fine-Tuning your Predictions
If the reading points to an event happening in the next month, it is possible to narrow down the period to approximately seven days. For this, we use the Aces. Knowledge of the Moon Phases is a useful skill:
- Ace of Pentacles
- First Quarter
- Ace of Cups
- 2nd Quarter
- Ace of Swords
- 3rd Quarter
- Ace of Wands
- 4th Quarter
To determine the day, simply look to see if one of the planetary cards is significant:
- Sunday
- Sun, Sun
- Monday
- Moon, High Priestess
- Tuesday
- Mars, The Tower
- Wednesday
- Mercury, Magician
- Thursday
- Jupiter, Fortune
- Friday
- Venus, Empress
- Saturday
- Saturn, World
The divinatory meanings of the cards are ignored, otherwise Tuesdays will always be disastrous... Conversely, if the reading suggests events are not particularly predictable, we might see either the Fool, the Hanged Man or Judgement cards in the “Outcome” position of a Spread.
Determining the Hour
Need more precision than a day? The traditional system of planetary hours comes to the rescue.
| Planetary Hours | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | * | ** |
| Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mar | 8 | 1 |
| Mon | Mar | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | 9 | 2 |
| Sat | Sun | Mon | Mar | Mer | Jup | Ven | 10 | 3 |
| Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mar | Mer | 11 | 4 |
| Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | 12 | 5 |
| Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | 1 | 6 |
| Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | 2 | 7 |
| Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | 3 | 8 |
| Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | 4 | 9 |
| Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | 5 | 10 |
| Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | 6 | 11 |
| Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | 7 | 12 |
| Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | 8 | 1 |
| Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | 9 | 2 |
| Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | 10 | 3 |
| Mon | Mar | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | 11 | 4 |
| Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | 12 | 5 |
| Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | 1 | 6 |
| Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | 2 | 7 |
| Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | 3 | 8 |
| Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | Mer | Jup | 4 | 9 |
| Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | Mon | Mars | 5 | 10 |
| Mon | Mar | Mer | Jup | Ven | Sat | Sun | 6 | 11 |
| Sat | Sun | Mon | Mar | Mer | Jup | Ven | 7 | 12 |
*Hours from sunset to sunset
**Hours from midnight to midnight
The Four Seasons
There are times when a vague prediction date is required. The Pages do not have an astrological attribution, but they do represent the four seasons.
- Spring
- Page of Wands
- Summer
- Page of Cups
- Autumn
- Page of Swords
- Winter
- Page of Pentacles
Armed with this information, you have the ability to make predictions as accurately or vaguely as required, and depending on the situation. No other system of divination has such a range of timings.
