The Tarot & Astrology Handbook: The Quintessential Guide for Harnessing the Wisdom of the Stars to Better Interpret the Cards is a beautifully done reference guide to interpreting the tarot through the cards’ astrological correspondences. This is a handbook that unveils new depths of meaning in the cards by examining them through an astrological lens.

The author, Argus Kaldea, is an astrologer and tarot reader based out of Greece. You might have heard of him or seen his popular videos on TikTok as @MoonPriest.

Not only will you learn the astrological correlations connected to all 78 cards in the tarot, but also how to integrate these two tools– tarot and astrology– together. The tarot reader will learn astrology, and the astrologer will learn about the tarot.

The astrological correspondences that Argus Kaldea has adopted is based on the Chaldean Order, a planetary sequence arranging the Sacred Seven from slowest moving to fastest moving from a geocentric perspective. Thus: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun, Venus, Mercury, and the moon.

The twelve signs of the zodiac, each 30 degrees, are further subdivided into 10 degree segments, each governed by a decan ruler. The resulting sum is 36 decans, each occupying 10 degrees of the 360 degree astrological wheel. Each decan is ruled by one of the Sacred Seven from the Chaldean Order.

The first decan begins with Mars in Aries. where because Aries is the first sign, we begin with the planet that rules Aries– Mars. From there the decan rulers follow the sequence of the Chaldean Order.

Kaldea applies interpretation of retrogrades in astrology to card reversals in tarot.

Addressing you directly in second person, and often with terms of endearment, such as “my love.”

Astrologers are often criticized for using too much astrology lingo for lay people to follow. I am pleased to say that Kaldea is an exception. You won’t get any astrology lingo, and where there is astrology lingo, it is immediately supplemented with a clear explanation. Don’t worry if you know nothing about astrology– you’ll be just fine.

Likewise, don’t worry if you know nothing about the tarot. This is a fantastic beginner’s book on tarot for the astrologer. So if you’re coming in with basic, intermediate knowledge of Western astrology, but have always wanted to pick up the tarot as well, this is the book for you!

Let’s review what you’ll get in each card entry. Half the entry interprets the meaning of the card for you, written in second person, so let’s say The Magician card comes up in your reading.

You can look up the page entry for The Magician in this book and the text is phrased as if it is a reading of The Magician card for you.

The second half of the entry goes into the astrological correlation. Continuing with The Magician card example, the entry talks about the astrological implications of Mercury, then ties it to The Magician card meaning.

There’s an additional section to each entry stratified into three sub-sections:

1. The astrological influence and what to glean from a divinatory perspective from that astrological influence,
2. How to read the card as if the planetary energy was “direct,” i.e., an upright card or dignified, and
3. How to read the card as if the planetary energy was “retrograde,” i.e., reversed or ill-dignified.

Most standout of all, actually, is the production value. The printing of this book is so high-quality, it’s luxe. There’s a velvety matte finish to the book cover. Not to mention the really beautifully designed cover art.

I’m not sure what type of paper they used for the pages, but it results in a very heavy, sturdy paperback book! You’re definitely going to feel the different in weight and heft as soon as you hold the book in your hands.

One fun tarot + astrology use with this book is to look up the Minor Arcanum associated with the decan ruler of a transiting planet in your solar returns chart. (This comes with your Metaphysician’s Day Planner, in the front pages, in case you’re curious.) So, for example, what tarot card reflects my transiting Mercury in 2023, relating to writing projects and publishing? The decan ruler over my 2023 transiting Mercury is Venus in Virgo, which corresponds with the Nine of Pentacles.

One thing that would have been nice to see in the book is a correspondence table for reference. So if you don’t already have a reference table to let you know the Nine of Pentacles – Venus in Virgo correspondence, the only way to figure that out with this book is to look up each card entry one by one until you find the entry with the subtitle “Venus in Virgo.”

Once you’ve found the card entry (in my case for looking up transiting Mercury it was the Nine of Pentacles), the entry reads like divinatory reflections on the implications of my transiting Mercury, Venus in Virgo. It’s very cool!

You’ll see from the table of contents that the order of the tarot cards are not in one that’s standard in tarot books. I couldn’t readily find an explanation for the order from the book itself, but maybe I missed it?

The unusual order means it’s not as easy to simply open the book and begin flipping through it to find the right card entry. It’s not an intuitive order for me. The good news is the book has both that table of contents and a fantastic index, so I just go straight to the index to get the page number of the entry I’m looking for.

The Tarot & Astrology Handbook is a beginner’s introduction into how to read astrological correspondences into the tarot, and also how the tarot relates to astrology. Kaldea has written a beautiful manual to accompany deeply personal and reflective work with the tarot. The tone of the writing is gentle, like a wise mentor speaking to a mentee, and will be your safe harbor when you most need one. Not ot mention The Tarot & Astrology Handbook will be a beautiful asset on your writing desk, next to your favorite deck of cards.

FTC Disclosure: In accordance with Title 16 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 255, “Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” I received this book from the publisher for prospective review. Everything I’ve said here is sincere and accurately reflects my opinion of the book.