By Lalia Wilson
Star in Science Tarot created by Logan Austeja Daniel, Martin Azevedo, and Raven Hanna, Ph.D. Artists include Janelle Schneider, Kristy Whitehouse, Shari Aral DeBoer, Tammy Steilanova, and Kristian Johnson Michiels. Graphics are by John Daniel.
Some see tarot and astrology as similar, some as different. Having studied and practiced astrology for over 50 years, I have evolved in how I see both techniques.
Tarot is predominately right-brained. For the most part, tarot readers work with their intuitive interpretations of the cards and apply them to the client’s questions. This is a developed skill, as on their face many cards may not seem to relate to a given question. For example, if the question is about money, finances, or income, any Pentacle card falls right into that realm of life. But how do you answer the question if you get a non-Pentacle card, say The Lovers? Here is where the tarot reader’s knowledge of the tarot and its symbolisms and correspondences will yield an answer. The more experienced the tarot reader, the more likely that the answer will be on target. As with other endeavors, the 10,000 hours of experience for mastery is correct. The longer you work with and study the tarot, and life, the better a tarot reader you will be.
With astrology, you have a combination of left- and right-brain function. You need to know how to use the math and science integral to casting a chart, even if you use a computer to do the work. You need to know that if the client was born at 11 PM and his Sun is not in the fourth house, then you likely made a mistake. You need to know a lot about how time is measured and when time changes are made, so that you can see how accurate the computed chart is. All these things are left-brain functions. But the usefulness of astrology comes from the interpretation, and there your methodology is similar to that used in tarot. Again, your client is asking about money, after you clarify whether she means her income, her spouse’s income, her job, or her career, you than are left with what might be a completely unrelated answer. Here let’s assume she wants to know her best sources of income and you look and see that Venus in Aquarius is the answer. Just like in tarot you need to figure out how Venus, the planet of love (and money!), in the scientific sign of Aquarius can mean money coming in.
Occasionally you will meet an astrologer who is dismissive of tarot, but that is uninformed opinion. Both disciplines draw heavily on the interpretation and application of archetypes to any given situation. The better the tarot reader, or the astrologer, is at interpretations, the better she can assist the client to discover how to successfully deal with her question. The background, whether in astrology or tarot, is just that, background. The client wants the answer and that requires the reader to interpret the cards or chart!