Animals associations?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

JC	14 Nov 2002
I'm wondering about animals associated with different cards; for instance, would you group wolves with the Moon, the HP or one of the cups?

Thirteen	14 Nov 2002
The Moon, as that card usually pictures wolves or dogs. The High Priestess because of her connection to the Moon. But not any of the cups. The minor cards really don't get to associate with potent symbols like animals in most decks. Of the majors.... --Magician, being Mercury, could be associated with serpents --Empress is usually connected with doves (Venus)/the bee (Demeter) --Emperor with the ram (Aries) --Hierophant with the bull (Taurus) --Chariot...sometimes connected to the crab (Cancer) --Strength, Lion (duh, right?) --Wheel of Fortune--Sphinx --Death--scorpion (scorpio) --Devil--goat (Capricorn) --Tower--serpent (lightening bolt) --Moon--wolves, crab, bats --Sun--Horse --The Universe--eagle, lion, bull

Keslynn	14 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Thirteen Of the majors.... --Magician, being Mercury, could be associated with serpents --Empress is usually connected with doves (Venus)/the bee (Demeter) --Emperor with the ram (Aries) --Hierophant with the bull (Taurus) --Chariot...sometimes connected to the crab (Cancer) --Strength, Lion (duh, right?) --Wheel of Fortune--Sphinx --Death--scorpion (scorpio) --Devil--goat (Capricorn) --Tower--serpent (lightening bolt) --Moon--wolves, crab, bats --Sun--Horse --The Universe--eagle, lion, bull I just wanted to add a few to some of these. Great associations, Thirteen! I never would have thought of it that way. As for the Magician being Mercury, well, Mercury is also associated oddly enough with cattle. *lol* I think most people would prefer the serpent. Death could also be associated with the eagle or the pheonix, which are both more evolved symbols of Scorpio. Going by astrological signs, isn't Temperence Sagittarius? Then that would be a centaur, which isn't really an animal. So maybe you could substitute the horse. Hmmm. This is a really interesting thread. I'll have to think about these things more. :) Kes

dangerdork	14 Nov 2002
The Empress - I've seen her associated with rabbits (fertility) - and HMMMM, Venus and Demeter? I thought she was "Juno" (or Hera) on the Swiss deck? and thus, she would be associated with the peacock as well... This could be a really interesting thread, maybe we could compile everyones contributions to this one

Keslynn	14 Nov 2002
I thought that Juno was usually associated with the High Priestess/Papess? Or is this something that changes with decks? :) Kes

Thirteen	14 Nov 2002
Some decks have Juno (instead of Papess/High Priestess) and Jupiter (instead of High Priest) as well as Emperor and Empress. Empress is connected to the planet Venus, even though her depiction is very Demeter (grain, sometimes with child, etc.). Sometimes she, also, is connected to the bull in relation to Venus, which is the planet for Taurus. And just to add to the confusion, Scorpio has three symbols, the scorpion, of course, the eagle, which was mentioned, and the serpent. And the Sun, being the "planet" of Leo should also have the lion. I mentioned the Horse because the image on that card is often a naked child on a horse. Also horses of the sun chariot, that sort of thing. The Sacred Circle deck has some really interesting animal associatings, by the way. Like the badger and stag for the Emperor (Lord), the Swan for the High Priestess and the wolf for the Hermit (shaman).

Kyrielle	14 Nov 2002
Isn't there a cat in the Queen of Wands, and a rabbit in the Queen of Pentacles? Lions and salamanders in the Wands court cards. The fish, dolphins, or sea creatures in the Cups courts, the big lion in the 2 of Cups, etc... Those animals could be associated with minor cards. At least they could be listed among the symbols for the suits in general. -- Kyrielle

SlyR	14 Nov 2002
For a Kabbalistic table of correspondences, I consider the ultimate authority to be Crowley's Liber 777. Therein you'll notice that not every trump has an animal correspondence. There are, however, correspondences with the following "Legendary Orders of Being:" 1. sylphs 2. Witches and Wizards 3. Lemures, Ghosts 4. Succubi 5. Mania, Erinyes 6. Gorgons, Minotaurs 7. Ominous Appearances, Banshees 8. Vampires 9. Horror, Dragons 10. Mermaids 11. Incubi, Nightmares 12. Fairies, Harpies 13. Nymphs and Undines 14. Lamiae, Styrges, Witches 15. Centaurs 16. Satyrs and Fauns, Panic-Demons 17. Furies, Chimeras, Boars, etc. 18. Water Nymphs, Sirens, Lorelei, Mermaids 19. Phantoms, Were-wolves 20. Will 'o the Wisp 21. Salamanders 22. Ghuls, Larvae, Corpse Candles Furthermore, the "ox" that Keslynn associates with the mercurial magician might be more correctly associated with the Fool, because the Fool's hebrew letter is Aleph, the Ox. I've said it before and I'll say it again a million times: If you want a great book on Tarot correspondences, check out "Archetypes on the Tree of Life" by Madonna Compton. Here are her correspondences: 0. Fool: Eagle 1. Magician: Sparrow, Ape 2. High Priestess: Dog, Camel 3. Empress: Sparrow, Dove 4. Emperor: Ram, Hawk 5. Teacher: Bull 6. Lovers: Snake 7. Chariot: Crab, Turtle, Beetle 8. Strength: Serpent, Lion 9. Hermit: Lamb 10. Wheel of Fortune: Eagle, Ox, Lion, Jackal 11. Justice: Elephant 12. Hanged Man: Eagle, Scorpion 13. Transition: Scorpion, Fish, Sun-Beetle 14. Temperance: Lion 15. Adversary: Goat, Ass 16. Tower: Bear, Wolf, Horse 17. Star: Peacock, Eagle, Ibis 18. Moon: Dog, Fish, Amphibians, Bull 19. Sun: Sparrowhawk, Lion, Beetle, Peacock 20. Judgement: Lion 21. Universe: Crocodile

Keslynn	15 Nov 2002
Quote: Originally posted by SlyR Furthermore, the "ox" that Keslynn associates with the mercurial magician might be more correctly associated with the Fool, because the Fool's hebrew letter is Aleph, the Ox. I've heard of the ox being Qabalistically connected with the fool and the first letter. I was actually associating cattle with Hermes/Mercury and therefore the Magician because of one of his myths. When only one day old, Hermes stole part of Apollo's herd of sacred cattle. To assuage Apollo's anger when he finally discovered the theft, Hermes gave him the gift of the lyre (which he had also invented when only a day old). Hermes then become the patron of herdsmen. Of course, it's sort of a random association, but it popped into my head when I was thinking about the issue. The Fool might also be associated with a dog since there's one on the car. :) Kes

The Animals associations? thread was originally posted on 14 Nov 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.