Correspondence + Tarot: Hermetic Card Meanings
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BY NICOLE LAU
The Tarot is a complete system of correspondences encoded in 78 cards. Each card maps onto the Tree of Life, planets, zodiac signs, elements, and Hebrew letters—creating a unified framework for understanding reality's patterns. Mastering these correspondences transforms Tarot from fortune-telling into a profound tool for self-knowledge and spiritual development.
This article reveals the Hermetic structure of Tarot and how to read cards through the lens of Correspondence.
Tarot as Correspondence System
The Complete Structure
78 Cards = Complete Map of Reality:
- 22 Major Arcana: The spiritual journey, archetypal forces, paths on Tree of Life
- 56 Minor Arcana: Daily life, four elements, practical manifestation
- 16 Court Cards: Personality types, elemental combinations
- 40 Pip Cards: Numbered cards showing elemental progression
Why Tarot Works
Tarot operates through Correspondence:
- Above: Universal archetypes, cosmic patterns
- Below: Personal situations, daily events
- The Cards: Bridge between above and below, revealing correspondences
When you shuffle and draw cards, you're not creating randomness—you're allowing synchronicity to reveal the pattern already present.
The Four Suits as Elemental Correspondences
Wands (Fire) ☉
Element: Fire
Principle: Active, masculine, creative, initiating
Corresponds to:
- Emerald Tablet: "Its father is the Sun"
- Alchemy: Sulfur (active principle)
- Kabbalah: Atziluth (World of Emanation)
- Life Area: Career, passion, purpose, creativity
- Chakra: Solar Plexus
- Season: Spring
Meaning in Readings: Action, inspiration, enterprise, growth, ambition
Cups (Water) ☽
Element: Water
Principle: Receptive, feminine, emotional, flowing
Corresponds to:
- Emerald Tablet: "Its mother is the Moon"
- Alchemy: Mercury (receptive principle)
- Kabbalah: Briah (World of Creation)
- Life Area: Relationships, emotions, intuition, love
- Chakra: Sacral, Heart
- Season: Summer
Meaning in Readings: Emotions, relationships, intuition, creativity, dreams
Swords (Air) ☿
Element: Air
Principle: Mental, communicative, analytical, cutting
Corresponds to:
- Emerald Tablet: "The Wind carries it in its belly"
- Alchemy: The transformative medium
- Kabbalah: Yetzirah (World of Formation)
- Life Area: Thoughts, communication, conflict, truth
- Chakra: Throat, Third Eye
- Season: Autumn
Meaning in Readings: Thoughts, decisions, conflict, clarity, truth
Pentacles (Earth) ♁
Element: Earth
Principle: Material, grounding, manifesting, stable
Corresponds to:
- Emerald Tablet: "The Earth is its nurse" / "Converted into earth"
- Alchemy: Salt (body, manifestation)
- Kabbalah: Assiah (World of Action)
- Life Area: Money, health, work, physical reality
- Chakra: Root
- Season: Winter
Meaning in Readings: Money, work, health, material concerns, manifestation
Major Arcana: The Hermetic Journey
Key Correspondences
0 - The Fool:
- Emerald Tablet: "All things arose from this One Thing" (pure potential)
- Planet: Uranus (awakening)
- Element: Air
- Meaning: New beginnings, innocence, leap of faith, the journey begins
1 - The Magician:
- Emerald Tablet: "As above, so below" (THE card of Correspondence!)
- Planet: Mercury
- Symbolism: One hand up (above), one hand down (below), four elemental tools on table
- Meaning: Manifestation, skill, conscious creation, bridging heaven and earth
2 - The High Priestess:
- Emerald Tablet: "Its mother is the Moon" (lunar mysteries)
- Planet: Moon
- Meaning: Intuition, mystery, the unconscious, hidden knowledge
3 - The Empress:
- Emerald Tablet: "The Earth is its nurse" (nurturing, fertility)
- Planet: Venus
- Meaning: Abundance, nature, motherhood, creation
4 - The Emperor:
- Emerald Tablet: "Its father is the Sun" (solar authority)
- Planet: Aries/Mars
- Meaning: Structure, authority, fatherhood, order
6 - The Lovers:
- Emerald Tablet: Sacred marriage of sun and moon
- Zodiac: Gemini
- Meaning: Choice, union, integration of opposites
7 - The Chariot:
- Emerald Tablet: "Separate the earth from the fire"
- Zodiac: Cancer
- Meaning: Willpower, control, mastering opposites
8 - Strength:
- Emerald Tablet: "Gently and with great ingenuity"
- Zodiac: Leo
- Meaning: Inner strength, gentle mastery, courage
9 - The Hermit:
- Emerald Tablet: "All obscurity will flee from you"
- Zodiac: Virgo
- Meaning: Inner light, wisdom, solitude, seeking truth
10 - Wheel of Fortune:
- Emerald Tablet: "It rises from earth to heaven and descends again to earth"
- Planet: Jupiter
- Meaning: Cycles, fate, the turning wheel, rhythm
14 - Temperance:
- Emerald Tablet: "Receives the power of the higher and the lower"
- Zodiac: Sagittarius
- Meaning: Alchemy, balance, integration, mixing above and below
19 - The Sun:
- Emerald Tablet: "The operation of the Sun"
- Planet: Sun
- Meaning: Enlightenment, joy, success, clarity
21 - The World:
- Emerald Tablet: "Thus you will obtain the glory of the whole world"
- Planet: Saturn
- Meaning: Completion, integration, cosmic consciousness, the Great Work achieved
Reading Tarot Through Correspondence
The Hermetic Reading Method
Step 1: Identify the Level
Which plane is the card addressing?
- Major Arcana: Spiritual level, archetypal forces, soul lessons
- Court Cards: Mental level, personality aspects, people
- Pip Cards: Physical/emotional level, daily events, practical matters
Step 2: Find the Correspondence
What does this card correspond to in your life?
- Element: What elemental energy is present?
- Planet/Zodiac: What cosmic pattern is active?
- Number: What stage of the cycle?
- Symbol: What archetypal pattern?
Step 3: Apply As Above, So Below
- Above: What is the spiritual/archetypal meaning?
- Below: How does this manifest in daily life?
- Integration: How can you align the two?
Example Reading
Question: "What do I need to know about my career situation?"
Card Drawn: The Magician
Hermetic Interpretation:
- Level: Spiritual (Major Arcana)—this is about your soul's work, not just a job
- Correspondence: Mercury (communication, skill), "As above, so below"
- Above (Spiritual): You have all the tools you need; you're meant to be a bridge between vision and manifestation
- Below (Practical): Use your skills consciously; you can create what you envision
- Integration: Align your work with your higher purpose; manifest through conscious will
- Action: Take initiative, use all your resources (four elements on table), bridge the gap between idea and reality
Advanced Correspondences
Tarot + Tree of Life
The 22 Major Arcana correspond to the 22 paths on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life:
- Each card is a journey between sephiroth
- Reading cards reveals which path you're on
- The spread shows your position on the Tree
Tarot + Astrology
Combining Tarot with your birth chart:
- Your Sun sign's card = your core archetype
- Your Moon sign's card = your emotional nature
- Your Rising sign's card = your approach to life
- Current transits activate corresponding cards
Example: Saturn return? Work with The World (Saturn's card) and The Devil (Capricorn's card)
Tarot + Alchemy
Each suit represents an alchemical stage:
- Pentacles: Nigredo (blackening)—working with matter
- Swords: Albedo (whitening)—purification through air/mind
- Cups: Citrinitas (yellowing)—emotional integration
- Wands: Rubedo (reddening)—spiritual fire, completion
Practical Applications
Application 1: Daily Card as Correspondence Practice
Morning Practice:
- Draw one card
- Identify its correspondences (element, planet, Tree of Life path)
- Ask: "How does this pattern show up in my life today?"
- Look for the correspondence throughout the day
- Evening: Journal what you noticed
Application 2: Problem-Solving Spread
The Hermetic Cross (5 cards):
- Center: The issue (present situation)
- Above: Spiritual perspective (higher truth)
- Below: Practical reality (material facts)
- Left: What to release (past, obstacles)
- Right: What to embrace (future, opportunities)
This spread literally maps "as above, so below."
Application 3: Elemental Balance Check
Draw 4 cards, one for each element:
- Fire (Wands): How is my will/action?
- Water (Cups): How are my emotions/relationships?
- Air (Swords): How is my mind/communication?
- Earth (Pentacles): How is my physical/material life?
This reveals which elements need attention.
The Constant Unification Perspective
Tarot validates Correspondence through symbolic language:
- Hermetic Principle: "As above, so below"
- Tarot System: 78 cards mapping all correspondences
- Kabbalah: Tree of Life structure
- Astrology: Planetary and zodiacal attributions
- Alchemy: Elemental and transformational stages
These are not separate systems but different calculation methods revealing the same patterns. Tarot is the visual language that unifies them all.
Conclusion: The Book of Correspondences
The Tarot is a complete encyclopedia of correspondences—78 cards encoding the entire Hermetic system. Each card is a key that unlocks understanding across multiple domains.
When you read Tarot through the lens of Correspondence, you're not fortune-telling—you're pattern recognition. You're seeing how archetypal forces (above) manifest in daily life (below). You're using the cards as a mirror to reveal what's already present.
The Magician stands at the beginning, one hand pointing up, one pointing down, declaring: "As above, so below." The World dances at the end, all elements integrated, the work complete. Between them, the entire journey unfolds—the same journey described in the Emerald Tablet, the same journey you are living.
Master the correspondences, and the cards become a living oracle—not predicting the future, but revealing the eternal patterns that shape all futures.
This completes the Correspondence series. The next series explores the Third Hermetic Principle: Vibration—"Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates." We'll discover how reality is fundamentally vibrational and how to work with frequency for transformation and manifestation.
As you explore the Hermetic correspondences woven into each card, consider deepening your practice with the 52 week tarot journey a year of weekly spreads daily pulls deep reflection to trace the threads of meaning over time, or illuminate your personal connections with the tarot journaling prompts 100 questions for self discovery. For those drawn to the symbolic language of the Major Arcana, the jung and the archetype tarot astrology and the bridge of the unconscious offers a rich guide to the soul's journey, blending astrology and depth psychology with the eternal wisdom of the cards.
