My background in Tarot is heavily influenced by the Golden Dawn, specifically, the attributions they use.
About a week ago, I was speaking to a friend of mine, and we started talking about how certain cards within the Golden Dawn system are associated with areas of the globe. I’m going to quote Lon Milo DuQuette, who explains this association better than I can:
Together with the four Princesses, the Aces rule quadrants of the heavens around the North Pole of the Earth. The meridian line intersects Giza and the elements rule in IHVH order going Eastward as follows: Wands covering Asia, Cups the area of the Pacific, Swords the Americas, and Disks Europe and Africa.
I should point out that the Princesses can be thought of as Pages depending on which deck you use.
Anyway, we started talking about whether or not other Tarot cards could be associated with locations around the globe, and if so, what would they be?
This is what we decided to do
We both grabbed the Thoth Tarot. We dealt the cards out one at a time and said the first location that flashed into our minds.
It was great fun … even although a lot of our free associating involved things other than locations.
What are the benefits?
I noticed the benefits as soon as I started working. I felt more connected with the Tarot, I gave more insightful readings, and I had a lot of fun doing it. It’s a bit early to say whether or not there are any objective long term benefits, however, it can’t hurt, and I’m fairly convinced that using the Tarot in this way ( along with other practices of a similar nature ) gradually improves or sharpens reader style and builds upon any foundations the Tarot reader may already have in place.
What Locations are we talking about?
The aim that my friend and I had was to be as specific as possible. We wanted to focus on geographical locations initially, but after a while, we started to incorporate familiar shops, iconic settings and so on. If we said something vague (like a shopping center), we tried to describe what the outside of the building would be! Basically, we wanted to be as specific as possible.
Some Examples
I thought I’d include some examples to give you all an idea of what I’m talking about. I’ve split them up into sections – Majors, Minors and Court cards. Enjoy!
The Major & Minor arcana
- Hierophant: The Theatre.
- The Devil: Ghost Ship.
- The Tower: The Leaning Tower of Pisa
- The Moon: Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the world! Once a year during the winter, the sun disappears for 30 days. I made this connection after watching the film 30 days and nights.
- The Empress: A garden centre.
- The Art or Temperance card: A Kitchen.
- Death: A night club; a Cemetery.
- The Ace of Wands: Tibet
- The Ace of Swords: A music concert (for some reason, I thought of Queen).
- 7 of Disks: I saw an image of the Conquistadores as they moved over difficult terrain in South America.
- 6 of Wands: A Shrine.
- 8 of Swords: A Castle.
- 9 of Disks: Hollywood Boulevard.
- 10 of Swords: Petra.
The Court cards
- The Princess (or Page) of Cups: A sea food restaurant.
- The Knight of Swords: The Grand National.
- Queen of Swords: Statue of Liberty.
- Queen of Disks: A Desert.
- The Princess of Wands: A Temple.
- The Princess of Swords: A Temple that’s located in the Mountains.
The Challenge!
I challenge everyone to grab their favorite Tarot deck and get to work.
- Start by dealing out one card at a time.
- Say the first location that flashes into your mind – Greenland, Tibet, Coffee shop, Kitchen etc.
- Keep going until you’ve done it for all 78 cards.
- Relax, and allow the connections you’ve made to filter into your repertoire of associations.
- Repeat the process again when you feel energized.
- Record the information in a Tarot Journal.
This is basically an adaption of the free association exercise, which is something you could incorporate into your practice sessions. If you’re looking for something a bit more challenging, you could always try the Tarot location challenge with more than one card.
I’d love to hear how everyone gets on with this, especially any cool and creative interpretation 
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16 comments… Let's discuss
An exceptionally awesome and insightful “connection tool.” I can’t wait to try this!
Hi Kafka’s Ghost,
Glad you liked the post. Let me know how you get on with it
Hi Douglas. I am going to try what you suggested. It sounds like a great exercise.
As we are floating around ideas about cards, I wonder if you or anyone else has thought of The Judgement card to represent arranged marriages? I did a reading yesterday where the card came up twice in a young lady’s past. Both spreads were about love. One about a relationship that had ended and she didn’t know why. The other to give her some advice about her love life in general and to see if there were prospects. There were lots of court cards in both spreads. I had the feeling that other people pulled strings in the background. She was not aware of it, but she was also not familiar with the concept of cause and effect, and going for what we want. From what I understand her culture does not promote independence. Anyway, the more I think about it and the more I believe someone told her ex to back off, and may be making plans for her future love life without her knowing yet. Has anyone else experienced the Judgement card that way ?
Anna
Hi Anna,
Great insight into the card! Based on your description of the readings, I do think it’s possible that Judgement could represent this. Even the name of the card suggests “…actions being judged and decisions made (and in the case of this reading, covertly and by other people)”.
The Judgement card has always struck me as being a bit like a Don in the Mafia. He sits in his lofty position (think Rider Waite imagery) and makes Judgements and decisions that affect the lives of others. However we choose to view this card, Judgements, especially those that can be enforced, has worldly power behind it.
I know this card is often thought of as being very Spiritual, but for the most part, when this card appears in readings for other people, it signifies worldly (Courts etc.) power.
I’m not religious but the Sermon on the Mount ( a brilliant oration ) is applicable here.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
That is such a great idea!
Hi Sherry,
Thank you
Doug,
Crowley’s Thoth Tarot describes the quadrants of the Aces, and I used them as the basis of the meditations in Tarot and the Magus. I think the GD mentions them too.
Since the primary attributions of the tarot cards is from astrology (not Kabbalism), you also have access to the placements of height, direction, distance, and type of place (among other things), that are found in horary astrology. I have a not particularly inspiring section on horary astrology on Supertarot, so once you have gone through your own free association, you can see how much corresponds to the traditional system.
You might also like to consider that as the esoteric Greenwich Meridian runs through the Great Pyramid, it also controls time, so that you really have the matrix of time and space at your fingertips.
Paul
Hi Paul,
Thanks for sharing your information
I’m sure the people that read this post and are looking for further research into the Thoth Tarot will certainly find this useful.
Great post and comments!
The “free association” technique combined with Tarot knowledge can be so personal and powerful.
I’d love to hear more about The Thoth Tarot and any intended location associations.
In Spirit, Katrina
Hi Katrina,
Thanks for dropping by
Good idea for a series of posts. I might write about the Thoth Tarot at some point this year
I’m glad you liked the post.
Awesome post… I thought I’d share a couple of mine that I found interesting. Not using the thoth deck BTW so knight means knight, not king (!)… probably says more about me than the Tarot though…
The Emperor – a gym where there’s weightlifting going on
Judgement – a vantage point with a panoramic view – like the summit of a mountain
The Devil – a dark alley or a nightclub
The Ace of Discs – a car showroom
7 of Wands – a talent show or lap dancing club
High Priestess – A snow scene in the twilight, anywhere in scandinavia
10 of swords – A big city at the weekend, at 2 am in the morning
6 of swords – on an airplane or in a Dr.’s waiting room
5 of Cups – an airport terminal (departures lounge)
7 of Discs – a sex shop
The Moon – a theatre
5 of swords – A&E department waiting room in a hospital
10 of cups – a family bar-b-q in someone’s garden
8 of swords – prison
4 of swords – a cottage in the countryside
The Fool – a children’s party or school trip
4 of wands – anywhere in the Mediterranean
9 of cups – a toy-shop
knight of swords – a callcentre
4 of cups – female toilets in a bar or a club
Hi Chris,
Wow!!!
Thanks for taking the time to share your ideas. Great stuff!
Very interesting activity Doug. Can’t wait to try it both with tarot and oracle decks…I love free association and feel like it filters out the unimportant and often leaves the kernel that is most important.
Hi Ginger,
Good to see you around these parts
Glad you liked the post 
Doug,
Record the information in a Tarot Journal.
The question is, did you actually record any of your experiences in a journal?
For the most part, the only kind of journaling I do is my blog. And I don’t record the minutiae that probably makes up a typical tarot journal, as people can see.
Hey Jason,
LOL, yes and no
If I get inspired by something I write it down – not really a diary as such, more of a collection (random) of connections that I’ve made. I get frustrated by it because what I write is often cryptic to me (whenever I get the impulse to look back over them again). I guess I should develop a better system
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