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Astrolith

Zodiac × tarot · All twelve signs

Zodiac signs and their tarot cards: which card is your sign?

Astrolith ·

Twelve of the tarot’s 22 major cards belong to the twelve zodiac signs. 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.

Which tarot card is my zodiac sign?

Find your Sun sign by your birthday, then read across. Numbers follow the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith deck, the one most readers use today.

SignDatesCardWhy this card
AriesMar 21 – Apr 19IV · The EmperorThe Emperor’s throne is carved with rams’ heads. Aries, the ram, opens the zodiac the way a ruler takes charge: first, and with conviction.
TaurusApr 20 – May 20V · The HierophantThe keeper of tradition, teaching what lasts. Taurus is the sign of steady values and things built slowly.
GeminiMay 21 – Jun 20VI · The LoversTwo figures and a choice between them. Gemini, the twins, is the sign of pairs, conversation and choosing.
CancerJun 21 – Jul 22VII · The ChariotThe charioteer wears crescent moons on his shoulders, for Cancer’s ruler, the Moon, and rides inside his armour the way the crab carries its shell.
LeoJul 23 – Aug 22VIII · StrengthA woman gently closes a lion’s jaws. Leo’s strength is courage and a warm heart, not force.
VirgoAug 23 – Sep 22IX · The HermitA lone figure lifts a lantern to see clearly. Virgo, the harvest sign, sorts what matters with care.
LibraSep 23 – Oct 22XI · JusticeJustice holds Libra’s scales: balance, fairness and weighing both sides.
ScorpioOct 23 – Nov 21XIII · DeathChange rather than dying: one thing ends so something new can begin. That is why Scorpio is the sign of death and rebirth.
SagittariusNov 22 – Dec 21XIV · TemperanceAn angel pours water from cup to cup, not a drop spilled. The goal can be far away, but every step stays steady.
CapricornDec 22 – Jan 19XV · The DevilA horned goat-like figure over two chained people, the chains loose enough to lift off. Capricorn, the sea-goat, knows the ties of ambition and duty.
AquariusJan 20 – Feb 18XVII · The StarA woman pours water onto land and into a pool under the stars. Aquarius is the water-bearer, and the Star is hope after the storm.
PiscesFeb 19 – Mar 20XVIII · The MoonA path runs between two towers under the Moon, out of the water. Pisces is the sign of dreams, intuition and what isn’t yet clear.

Why do zodiac signs have tarot cards?

Tarot began as a card game in fifteenth-century Italy, with no link to the stars. The pairings most people use today come from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a magical society founded in London in 1888. It matched the 22 major cards to the twelve signs, the seven classical planets and three of the elements.

Two of its members, the writer A. E. Waite and the artist Pamela Colman Smith, made the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, published in London in 1909. Smith drew the cards to Waite’s instructions, and the zodiac pairings went into the pictures: the rams on the Emperor’s throne, the moons on the charioteer, the scales in Justice’s hand.

Why are Strength and Justice numbered VIII and XI?

In older decks Justice is VIII and Strength is XI. Waite swapped them so the cards run in zodiac order: Strength, Leo’s card, comes before Justice, Libra’s card, just as Leo comes before Libra in the year. Most English-language decks follow his numbering, so if your deck says otherwise, it isn’t a misprint.

What about the other ten major cards?

The ten major cards without a sign belong to the planets and the elements:

  • The Magician: Mercury
  • The High Priestess: the Moon
  • The Empress: Venus
  • Wheel of Fortune: Jupiter
  • The Tower: Mars
  • The Sun: the Sun
  • The World: Saturn
  • The Fool: air
  • The Hanged Man: water
  • Judgement: fire

Should I read only my Sun sign’s card?

Your Sun sign is the usual place to start, and it’s the card most people mean when they ask which tarot card is theirs. But your Moon and Rising signs have cards too. Reading all three gives a fuller picture: the Sun for who you are, the Moon for what you feel, and Rising for how you meet the world. It’s the same idea behind Astrolith readings, which choose three stones for those three signs.

Where can I read more about each sign?

Each sign has its own article in our Journal as its episode of the video series comes out: the planet, the season, the myth and the card in more detail. Signs that already have one are linked in the table above.

Curious which three stones your own chart points to? Start with your birth date on the Astrolith sky page.

Sources

Last updated 29 October 2026. Crystal meanings and astrology are traditions and interpretation; they are not medical or financial advice.