Tarot - Major Arcana Body Mapping

Tarot - Major Arcana Body Mapping is a Hermetic / Occult Tarot - Golden Dawn attributions on the melothesic body body system as transmitted through the lineage The esoteric tarot's trump-to-cosmos attributions (Golden Dawn cipher MSS and Book T, 1888-1890s) joined to the classical body-rulership chain of Ptolemaic melothesia. Each trump sits at the body locus ruled by its planet or sign; the two luminaries take the eyes, the elemental trumps take breath, water, and fire seats. The deck images are Pamela Colman Smith's 1909 illustrations for Waite, public domain worldwide.. This page lists every point in the system with sourced placements and links to cross-tradition correspondences curated for The Body Spiritual.

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Primary sources

Golden Dawn - Liber LXXVIII / Book T tarot attributions (S. L. MacGregor Mathers et al.) (cipher MSS and Order documents, c. 1888-1895) — Source of the trump-to-planet/sign/element attribution chain.
Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot - Major Arcana (Pamela Colman Smith illustrations) (1909 first edition, William Rider & Son, London; public domain) — The 22 card images rendered by the image_card overlay; fetched from Wikimedia Commons and resized to thumbnails.
Ptolemy - Tetrabiblos (body rulerships of planets and signs) (F. E. Robbins translation, Loeb Classical Library 1940) — Classical melothesia: planetary and zodiacal organ rulerships used for the placement chain.

Known lineage variants

No historical source maps the trumps onto the body; this system is an explicit editorial synthesis of two attested chains (GD attributions + melothesia) and says so in the overlay epistemic label.
Waite swapped Strength (VIII, Leo) and Justice (XI, Libra) against the Marseille order; we follow the Waite/Crowley GD assignment, which the body positions here encode.
The elemental trumps (Fool-Air, Hanged Man-Water, Judgement-Fire) have no planetary body rulership; their seats (lungs, bladder waters, sacral fire) are editorial readings of the elements.
Thoth-deck and French occultist attribution variants (Eliphas Levi's sequence) place some trumps differently; only the GD chain is rendered here.

Related systems

No other systems share this tradition label.

Points

Frequently asked

What is 00 - The Fool?

The Fool's Air attribution breath-anchors it at the chest's respiratory field; the step-into-void posture is read as inspiration itself. Attribution: Air (breath). The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 01 - The Magician?

The Magician carries Mercury's rulership of nerves and hands - the card of channeling stands at the solar plexus plexus where the will gathers, hands noted in prose. Attribution: Mercury. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 02 - The High Priestess?

The High Priestess bears the Moon, ruler of the left eye in classical melothesia; she faces from the viewer's right (anatomical left). Attribution: Moon. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 03 - The Empress?

The Empress carries Venus's rulership of the throat - the generative voice of nature at the laryngeal field. Attribution: Venus. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 04 - The Emperor?

The Emperor bears Aries, first ruler of the head in the zodiac-body sequence. Attribution: Aries. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 05 - The Hierophant?

The Hierophant carries Taurus, ruler of the neck and throat axis of tradition. Attribution: Taurus. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 06 - The Lovers?

The Lovers bear Gemini's rulership of arms and lungs - the card of union at the thoracic breath-field. Attribution: Gemini. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 07 - The Chariot?

The Chariot carries Cancer, ruler of the chest and stomach - the vehicle of the body at the thoracic-abdominal boundary. Attribution: Cancer. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 08 - Strength?

Strength bears Leo, ruler of the heart and upper back - courage seated at the cardiac field. Waite's deck places Strength at VIII. Attribution: Leo. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 09 - The Hermit?

The Hermit carries Virgo, ruler of the abdomen and its digestive discernment - the inward lamp at the belly. Attribution: Virgo. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 10 - Wheel Of Fortune?

The Wheel carries Jupiter's rulership of the liver - fortune turning at the body's great blood-processing organ (anatomical right). Attribution: Jupiter. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 11 - Justice?

Justice bears Libra, ruler of the kidneys and the balance of the loins. Attribution: Libra. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 12 - The Hanged Man?

The Hanged Man carries the elemental Water attribution - suspension of the fluid body at the lower-abdominal waters. Attribution: Water (element). The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 13 - Death?

Death bears Scorpio, ruler of the generative organs - transformation at the body's creative root. Attribution: Scorpio. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 14 - Temperance?

Temperance carries Sagittarius, ruler of the hips and thighs - the measured gait of the mixed cup. Attribution: Sagittarius. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 15 - The Devil?

The Devil bears Capricorn, ruler of the knees - bondage and its kneeling at the joint of support. Attribution: Capricorn. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 16 - The Tower?

The Tower carries Mars's rulership of bile and muscle - eruption at the gall-seat (anatomical right), the body's own lightning rod. Attribution: Mars. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 17 - The Star?

The Star bears Aquarius, ruler of the calves and the circulating waters - hope pouring at the lower legs. Attribution: Aquarius. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 18 - The Moon?

The Moon card carries Pisces, ruler of the feet - the end of the zodiac-body descent where the walker meets the path. Attribution: Pisces. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 19 - The Sun?

The Sun bears the solar rulership of the right eye - the classical eye-pair completed opposite the Moon's left eye. Attribution: Sun. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 20 - Judgement?

Judgement carries the elemental Fire attribution - the summoning trumpet read at the body's sacral fire-seat. Attribution: Fire (element). The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.

What is 21 - The World?

The World carries Saturn's rulership of spleen, bones, and skin - the completed circle at the body's structural frame (anatomical left). Attribution: Saturn. The card image renders as an image_card overlay at this locus.