Tarot and Transits: Energizing the Chaldean Decans

“These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made”
from Manic Monday by The Bangles

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Sounds like The Bangles needed a tarot-reader or an astrologer, not a housekeeper and a day-planner. Or maybe both. I’m here to help.

In the past I spent a good deal of time correlating all of the major astrological factors in my natal horoscope to the decans of the Chaldean zodiac and their associated tarot cards as assigned by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. I placed each factor within the ten-degree “window” encompassing its zodiacal location at birth and took a photo of the resulting card display. But this turned out to be a philosophical exercise that didn’t lend itself to active exploration over time. Here I’ve taken the ten planets according to their decanic placement and arranged them in a way that can be used as a reading template to capture evolving tarot and planetary influences. (Because only the planets regularly change position “by transit” from month-to-month, I didn’t include advancement of the other important factors by secondary progression or other type of direction since they are mathematical “points in space” and not physical bodies.)

Personal Dynamics (Egoistic and Emotional Emphasis): Sun and Moon
Intellectual Bias: Mercury
Desire Nature: Venus and Mars
Social Orientation: Jupiter and Saturn
Universal/Spiritual Dimensions: Uranus, Neptune and Pluto

Below are the decan cards that form the template for my own birth chart. It’s notable that all of the “personal-planet” decans are in passive and negative signs, and all of the “social-and-spiritual-planet” decans are in active and positive signs. Someone once asked me if I’m an extrovert because I get energized rather than exhausted by reading the tarot in public. I’m a Meyers-Briggs “introvert” as suggested by my personal planets, but when I get into public-reading situations it “charges my batteries” and I become a social chameleon, morphing from a contemplative “Dr. Jekyll” into a more gregarious”Mr. Hyde!”

I intend to use this template for divination by first selecting a time-frame to represent the effective duration of the reading. Either the solar month or the lunar month would work well, but I don’t think I would attempt this level of effort any more frequently. (However, if a comprehensive life-reading isn’t being sought, it would be perfectly reasonable in the short term to explore a limited number of functional areas instead of all five.)

Then I will lay out the ten decan cards left-to-right in a row, Sun to Pluto, as the static “blueprint” or baseline for my general orientation toward the world. (This lineup is immutable and will not change from reading-to-reading; it shows “what I have to work with” in this life and it is operative at all times.)

Next, using an astrological ephemeris, I will determine the transiting zodiacal position of each planet on the first day of the chosen “temporal range” and translate that notation into a new set of decan cards to describe developmental factors energizing the “baseline” constants. I will place these cards below the “baseline” series as a “transitional” snapshot of upcoming circumstances that will remain in effect throughout the period. Since this is a symbolic scenario I won’t pay attention to any transiting changes in sign during that time; they will kick in for the next interval. (On the other hand, “going too long” with the forecast – say a year in advance – will most likely miss some opportunities for astrological mid-course correction.)

Finally, I will shuffle another tarot deck and deal ten more cards below the “transitional” array to reflect the random or “wild-card” energies that may be at work in my future dealings.

Here is an example layout for the solar month of April, 2023. Although I have three “mini-Thoth” decks, I ran out of the 2 of Cups cards and had to use my standard-size Thoth to fill in since planets that are conjunct or near-conjunct in the horoscope are often straddled by the same decan. Also, lacking enough small Thoth decks to populate the entire tableau, I resorted to the Fournier Tarot de Marseille for the “wild-card” section since its design is largely mirrored in the Thoth “glorified pip” (Minor Arcana) cards. I did, however, retain the Thoth titles for these cards. (As an aside, the Devil card here is not really that pale; it got “washed out” by light from the window.)

Briefly, it looks like the “powers of personality and prurience” will be admirably served by transiting planetary influences, with four of the five “personal” planets – Sun, Moon, Venus and Mars – all well-favored by decan during the month. Furthermore, the “wild-card” projection shows the Sun encountering a highly creative and energetic “Cardinal moment” (the Devil as Capricorn, sign of Mars’ exaltation, joining the 3 of Wands, Sun in Aries); the Moon experiencing “high hopes” (Star riding high on the shoulders of the 6 of Wands, “Victory”); Venus rising to the occasion bestowed by a measure of achievement, as the 6 of Disks (“Success”) segues into the 9 of Wands (“Strength”); and Mars receiving moderate stimulus (2 of Wands, Mars in Aries as “Dominion,” emerging from the 2 of Cups, Venus in Cancer as “Love”). We might call this Mars-Venus progression “bringing together the hard-and-soft” of the matter. It could be a fun time!

Intellectual pursuits under Mercury may receive a new “call to action” (Judgement) that springs from a state of decelerating “Completion” (4 of Wands). Maybe I will be looking for my next major mental inspiration (as if I don’t already have enough draft essays in the queue and half-baked ideas clamoring for expression).

Social affairs are a mixed bag, with expansive Jupiter enlivened by the 3 of Wands (“Virtue”) and the 2 of Cups (“Love”) – sounds cloyingly “noble” to me – while restrictive Saturn bogs down in the 8 of Cups (“Indolence”) and settles for a gradual slowdown in the action with the 2 of Disks (Jupiter in Capricorn, “Change”).

In more transcendent matters, Uranus and Neptune are in reasonably good shape that seems to demonstrate momentary relief from a rather dour “baseline” demeanor (10 of Swords and 3 of Swords respectively). Uranus enjoys “Success” (6 of Disks) bolstered by “Victory” (6 of Wands) while Neptune slides comfortably (10 of Cups, “Satiety”) into benign indifference (2 of Swords, “Peace”). Maybe I will take a vacation from being an esoteric curmudgeon. (Ya think?) Pluto, on the other hand, looks to be intent on turning success into failure (5 of Swords, “Defeat,” confronting the “baseline” 6 of Wands) with the upshot being a somewhat fallow state of restraint (8 of Disks, “Prudence”). It could mean that my more profound ambitions will get “cancelled” in some way or at least side-tracked. It doesn’t look like a productive time for Plutonian “visceral agitation” (aka “shit-stirring”), so I guess I should put away my Machiavellian “poison pen” and take a break. To be honest, over the last couple of years I’ve been edging that way anyway; my online interaction has mellowed me.

All tarot card images are copyright of U.S. Games Systems Inc, Stamford, CT and Naipes Heraclio Fournier, Vitoria, Spain