The planets and the tarot minor arcana

Looking at the minors' esoteric titles from the Golden Dawn's "Book T"

In revisiting some of my tarot notes and literature from previous classes, I came across the Golden Dawn’s “Book T- The Tarot,” a manuscript which assigns esoteric titles to the 78 cards. (Benebell Wen has uploaded a pdf of Book T here .) The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a Victorian-era magical order that profoundly influenced the imagery we have come to associate with the tarot. The creators of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, A.E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, were members of this order, and Smith (the artist of the deck) incorporated Golden Dawn symbolism into her card depictions. The esoteric titles from Book T also inform the keywords that Aleister Crowley uses in his Thoth deck (painted by Lady Frieda Harris).

The titles have always been intriguing to me, though I never utilize them in my tarot readings. I had never really considered them outside of the order in which they’re listed, but the other day I was inspired to re-arrange them by their associated astrological decans and planets, out of curiosity. I’ll list them here.

Saturn
-Taurus: Success Unfulfilled (7 of Pentacles)
-Leo: Strife (5 of Wands)
-Libra: Sorrow (3 of Swords)
-Sagittarius: Oppression (10 of Wands)
-Pisces: Abandoned Success (8 of Cups)

Jupiter
-Gemini: Shortened Force (8 of Swords)
-Leo: Victory (6 of Wands)
-Libra: Rest from Strife (4 of Swords)
-Capricorn: Harmonious Change (2 of Pentacles)
-Pisces: Material Happiness (9 of Cups)

Mars
-Aries: Dominion (2 of Wands)
-Gemini: Despair & Cruelty (9 of Swords)
-Leo: Valor (7 of Wands)
-Scorpio: Loss in Pleasure (5 of Cups)
-Capricorn: Material Works (3 of Pentacles)
-Pisces: Perfected Success (10 of Cups)

Sun
-Aries: Established Strength (3 of Wands)
-Gemini: Ruin (10 of Swords)
-Virgo: Prudence (8 of Pentacles)
-Scorpio: Pleasure (6 of Cups)
-Capricorn: Earthly Power (4 of Pentacles)

Venus
-Aries: Perfected Work (4 of Wands)
-Cancer: Love (2 of Cups)
-Virgo: Material Gain (9 of Pentacles)
-Scorpio: Illusionary Success (7 of Cups)
-Aquarius: Defeat (5 of Swords)

Mercury
-Taurus: Material Trouble (5 of Pentacles)
-Cancer: Abundance (3 of Cups)
-Virgo: Wealth (10 of Pentacles)
-Sagittarius: Swiftness (8 of Wands)
-Aquarius: Earned Success (6 of Swords)

Moon
-Taurus: Material Success (6 of Pentacles)
-Cancer: Blended Pleasure (4 of Cups)
-Libra: Peace Restored (2 of Swords)
-Sagittarius: Great Strength (9 of Wands)
-Aquarius: Unstable Effort (7 of Swords)