Lunarcana

· ZODIAC CORRESPONDENCES ·

The Twelve Signs

Four elements, three modes, thirty-six decans.

Twelve signs, four elements, three modes, thirty-six decans. The zodiac is the slow architecture behind the deck — the framework against which the Golden Dawn pinned every minor pip from the Two through the Ten, plus the twelve signs of the major arcana, plus the cusp-spans of the courts. To read tarot zodiacally is not to do astrology by other means; it is to hear which register the card belongs in, the way a musician hears whether a phrase belongs in a major or a minor key.

This page walks the signs in order from Aries through Pisces. For each: a paragraph of context, the major arcanum the Golden Dawn assigns to it, the three decan pip cards (rank 1 / 2 / 3), and a note on its element / mode / ruling planet. After the twelve signs, a short table for the courts — King / Queen / Knight, the cards whose Golden-Dawn cusp-span overlaps each sign.

Element × Mode

Every sign is the unique intersection of one of the four elements and one of the three modes. Twelve = four × three: each cell of the matrix is filled by exactly one sign, and the cell tells you the sign's grammar before its mythology does. Aries is cardinal fire (a beginning that ignites); Taurus is fixed earth (a middle that stays); Sagittarius is mutable fire (a fire on the way to becoming something else).

Reading a spread, the element + mode pair is often more useful than the planet. A cluster of cardinal cards is a present that wants to begin something; a cluster of fixed cards is a present that wants to stay; a cluster of mutable is a present in transition. Pair that with the elemental tempo (Fire-fast through Earth-slow) and you have most of what "timing" actually means in tarot.

· By element ·

· Fire ·

Aries / Leo / Sagittarius — outgoing, fast-igniting, willed. The signs that arrive before the question has finished being asked.

· Earth ·

Taurus / Virgo / Capricorn — embodied, slow-accreting, real. The signs that change at the speed of bodies and seasons.

· Air ·

Gemini / Libra / Aquarius — articulating, relating, abstracting. The signs that work in sentences and at slight distance.

· Water ·

Cancer / Scorpio / Pisces — tidal, undertow-aware, dissolving. The signs that meet you below the level at which language helps.

· By mode ·

· Cardinal ·

Aries / Cancer / Libra / Capricorn — they begin a season. Initiation is their grammar; their cards have the energy of a first move.

· Fixed ·

Taurus / Leo / Scorpio / Aquarius — they hold the middle of a season. Persistence is their grammar; their cards have the weight of what stays.

· Mutable ·

Gemini / Virgo / Sagittarius / Pisces — they hand a season over to the next. Transition is their grammar; their cards have the texture of what is becoming something else.

The Twelve Signs, Card by Card

Aries through Pisces. For each: the major arcanum on its path, the three decan pips that walk through it (each pip is a ten-degree window), and the court card whose cusp-span overlaps the sign's mid-range.

Aries

· Dates ·
March 21 – April 20
· Element ·
Fire
· Mode ·
Cardinal
· Ruler ·
Mars

The first sign. Aries is the moment a thing decides to exist before it has decided what it will become — a cardinal fire whose grammar is ignition. The Emperor (IV) is its major: not domination but the willingness to take a position. The three decan pips track Aries's arc from raw force (Two of Wands) through Sun-warmed vision (Three of Wands) to Venus's first welcome (Four of Wands).

· Major arcanum ·

The Emperor — Aries's structured will; the willingness to take a position.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Mars— force at the start of its own arc.
  2. Sun— vision carried beyond the first horizon.
  3. Venus— the doorway crowned in ivy.

Taurus

· Dates ·
April 21 – May 20
· Element ·
Earth
· Mode ·
Fixed
· Ruler ·
Venus

Fixed earth, ruled by Venus — the body that stays, that settles into pleasure rather than chasing it. The Hierophant (V) is its major in the Golden Dawn scheme: tradition as form-given-by-time. Taurus's three decan pips move from Mercury's stalled message through the Moon's quiet flow to Saturn's patience that lets the season finish.

· Major arcanum ·

The Hierophant — Taurus through Venus; tradition as form-given-by-time.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Mercury— the message that does not get through in time.
  2. Moon— generosity tuned to a quiet ebb and flow.
  3. Saturn— patience that lets the season finish.

Gemini

· Dates ·
May 21 – June 20
· Element ·
Air
· Mode ·
Mutable
· Ruler ·
Mercury

Mutable air, ruled by Mercury — the messenger sign, the sign of doubled motion. The Lovers (VI) is its major: choice by discrimination, the moment a sentence decides a life. Its decans walk from Jupiter's wide cage of thought through Mars's mind-cutting in the dark to the Sun's daylight after the long mental night.

· Major arcanum ·

The Lovers — Gemini through Mercury; choice by discrimination, the sentence that decides a life.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Jupiter— the cage thought builds when the picture has gotten too wide.
  2. Mars— the mind cutting itself in the dark.
  3. Sun— daylight after a long mental night.

Cancer

· Dates ·
June 21 – July 22
· Element ·
Water
· Mode ·
Cardinal
· Ruler ·
Moon

Cardinal water, ruled by the Moon — the sign of the held interior, of feeling as the ground rather than the symptom. The Chariot (VII) is its major: motion carried across emotional water, the will that holds shape inside its tide. The decan pips track Cancer from Venus's first meeting through Mercury's warming language to the Moon's withdrawal into one's own tide.

· Major arcanum ·

The Chariot — Cancer through the Moon; will held inside the tide.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Venus— the meeting that is not yet a promise but already a binding.
  2. Mercury— language warming a circle of friends.
  3. Moon— the cup withdrawn into one's own tide.

Leo

· Dates ·
July 23 – August 22
· Element ·
Fire
· Mode ·
Fixed
· Ruler ·
Sun

Fixed fire, ruled by the Sun — the heart-sign, the sign of full daylight. Strength (VIII, in the Rider-Waite-Golden-Dawn order) is its major: solar courage, the hand on the lion's jaw without violence. The decan pips walk from the Sun's own heart through Jupiter's returning victor to Mars's defended hilltop.

· Major arcanum ·

Strength — Leo through the Sun; solar courage, the hand on the lion without violence.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Saturn— the conflict that is the season's interior heat.
  2. Jupiter— the return that the city comes out to meet.
  3. Mars— the hill defended with what is left.

Virgo

· Dates ·
August 23 – September 22
· Element ·
Earth
· Mode ·
Mutable
· Ruler ·
Mercury

Mutable earth, ruled by Mercury (and exalted by it) — the sign of disciplined attention, of fact arranged into pattern. The Hermit (IX) is its major: Mercury via Virgo, the lamp that picks out the next step. Its decan pips track Virgo from the Sun's apprenticed light through Venus's tended garden to Mercury's finally-told legacy.

· Major arcanum ·

The Hermit — Virgo through Mercury; the lamp that picks out the next step.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Sun— the apprentice catching her own light.
  2. Venus— the garden tended for its own pleasure.
  3. Mercury— the legacy as a story finally told.

Libra

· Dates ·
September 23 – October 22
· Element ·
Air
· Mode ·
Cardinal
· Ruler ·
Venus

Cardinal air, ruled by Venus — the sign of equilibrium, of the relationship as the unit of measure. Justice (XI in the Rider-Waite-Golden-Dawn order) is its major: balance read as relationship rather than as judgement. The decan pips walk Libra from the Moon's blindfolded weighing through Saturn's slow sorrow to Jupiter's rest that is large enough to hold a whole campaign.

· Major arcanum ·

Justice — Libra through Venus; equilibrium read as relationship.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Moon— blindfolded equilibrium under a lunar weighing.
  2. Saturn— sorrow as a structure that takes its own time.
  3. Jupiter— rest large enough to hold a whole campaign.

Scorpio

· Dates ·
October 23 – November 21
· Element ·
Water
· Mode ·
Fixed
· Ruler ·
Mars · Pluto (modern)

Fixed water, classically ruled by Mars and given Pluto co-rulership in modern astrology — the sign of held depth, of what does not surface easily and cannot be hurried. Death (XIII) is its major: not death-as-decoration but the threshold beyond which the previous self is no longer recoverable (Greer's distinction). The decan pips walk Scorpio from Mars's wounding loss through the Sun's warmth-after-fire to Venus's seven-shaped attraction.

· Major arcanum ·

Death — Scorpio through Mars / Pluto; the threshold beyond which the prior self does not return.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Mars— the loss that arrives as a wound rather than a sigh.
  2. Sun— the warmth memory keeps after the season turns.
  3. Venus— attraction pulled into seven shapes at once.

Sagittarius

· Dates ·
November 22 – December 21
· Element ·
Fire
· Mode ·
Mutable
· Ruler ·
Jupiter

Mutable fire, ruled by Jupiter — the archer-sign, the long arc, the question that aims past the horizon. Temperance (XIV) is its major: Jupiter through Sagittarius, the angel mixing what could not before. The decan pips walk Sagittarius from Mercury's swift wits through the Moon's night-watch to Saturn's burden-to-the-end.

· Major arcanum ·

Temperance — Sagittarius through Jupiter; mixing what could not before.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Mercury— speed at thought-pace.
  2. Moon— the night-watch that has learned to read shadows.
  3. Saturn— the burden that follows the long arc to its end.

Capricorn

· Dates ·
December 22 – January 19
· Element ·
Earth
· Mode ·
Cardinal
· Ruler ·
Saturn

Cardinal earth, ruled by Saturn — the sign of structure as a labour, of the slow climb that does not skip steps. The Devil (XV) is its major in the Golden Dawn attribution: Saturn-in-Capricorn read not as bondage-as-decoration but as the irreducible material constraint that lets a body stand at all. The decan pips walk Capricorn from Jupiter's wider juggle through Mars's craft-aligned force to the Sun's gold-that-will-not-move.

· Major arcanum ·

The Devil — Capricorn through Saturn; the structure that lets a body stand.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Jupiter— the juggle that a wider horizon makes possible.
  2. Mars— force aligned to craft.
  3. Sun— the gold one will not let move.

Aquarius

· Dates ·
January 20 – February 18
· Element ·
Air
· Mode ·
Fixed
· Ruler ·
Saturn · Uranus (modern)

Fixed air, classically ruled by Saturn and given Uranus co-rulership in modern astrology — the sign of long-form thought, of the pattern that a community can stand inside. The Star (XVII) is its major: a figure pouring water under a stranger sky. The decan pips walk Aquarius from Venus's broken harmony through Mercury's right word to the Moon's night-thought that takes back what does not belong.

· Major arcanum ·

The Star — Aquarius through Saturn / Uranus; the unannounced clarity after a Tower.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Venus— harmony broken because the air went thin.
  2. Mercury— the journey that needs only the right word.
  3. Moon— the night-thought that takes back what does not belong.

Pisces

· Dates ·
February 19 – March 20
· Element ·
Water
· Mode ·
Mutable
· Ruler ·
Jupiter · Neptune (modern)

Mutable water, classically ruled by Jupiter and given Neptune co-rulership in modern astrology — the sign of dissolution, of the boundary that softens until two waters become one. The Moon (XVIII) is its major in the Golden Dawn scheme: dream-territory, what surfaces only at dusk. The decan pips walk Pisces from Saturn's daylit leaving through Jupiter's nine-cup wish to Mars's joy-that-has-weathered-fire.

· Major arcanum ·

The Moon — Pisces through Jupiter / Neptune; dream-territory at the soft edge.

· Decan pips (1° / 2° / 3°) ·

  1. Saturn— leaving by daylight what one will not hurry to name.
  2. Jupiter— the wish honoured by all nine.
  3. Mars— joy that holds because it has weathered fire.

The Courts × Zodiac

The twelve courts (King / Queen / Knight × four suits) overlap the zodiac wheel as four sets of three cusp-spans of 30° each — each court reigns from the last decan of one sign through the first two decans of the next. The pages, by Golden-Dawn convention, do not carry a zodiac span; they belong to elemental quadrants of the year rather than to specific signs. The table below lists the cusp-span of every King / Queen / Knight in the Golden-Dawn / Thoth tradition.

A court card landing in your spread is therefore a season as much as a person. The King of Wands' span sits across the Cancer-Leo cusp; the Queen of Cups across Gemini-Cancer; the Knight of Swords across Taurus-Gemini. These cusp-windows are the same windows the AI prompt uses to colour court readings — see /guide/court for the full court treatment.

Court
Cusp-span
Signature
Knight of Wands
Scorpio 21° → Sagittarius 20°
The rider ahead — fire carried into the field.
Queen of Wands
Pisces 21° → Aries 20°
The present hostess — fire that knows its own temperature.
King of Wands
Cancer 21° → Leo 20°
The elder who lights — naming the movement.
Knight of Cups
Aquarius 21° → Pisces 20°
The romantic envoy — water carried as message.
Queen of Cups
Gemini 21° → Cancer 20°
The held mirror — feeling that does not need to be named to be known.
King of Cups
Libra 21° → Scorpio 20°
The patient diplomat — water given a steady banks.
Knight of Swords
Taurus 21° → Gemini 20°
The unsleeping mind — air at full charge.
Queen of Swords
Virgo 21° → Libra 20°
The clear-seeing widow — air that has been through grief and come out lucid.
King of Swords
Capricorn 21° → Aquarius 20°
The judge — air given the weight of office.
Knight of Pentacles
Leo 21° → Virgo 20°
The plodding worker — earth at the speed of habit.
Queen of Pentacles
Sagittarius 21° → Capricorn 20°
The provident mother — earth tuned to the long horizon.
King of Pentacles
Aries 21° → Taurus 20°
The merchant prince — earth that turns force into capital.