Tarot Weather Forecasting

This winter (2021), we were rather impatient for the snow to start in earnest, and I started looking for ways to use Tarot with the weather. I found a very interesting blog post from 2013, and tried this spread…but my lack of intuitive reading skill made it very difficult to get anything out of the reading.

I mostly lurk in /r/Tarot on Reddit, and a comment thread came up recently that has inspired my interest in this subject.

The four suits are commonly correlated to the four classical elements:

• Cups - Water
• Pentacles - Earth
• Swords - Air
• Wands - Fire

The four elements may be correlated to basic categories of weather events:

• Cups - Rain
• Pentacles - Snow
• Swords - Wind
• Wands - Dry

Larger numbers mean larger, more intense weather events. Numbers can also correlate to inches of precipitation.

Based on the above, these correlations seem logical. Time will tell if I'm right.

• Cups + Pentacles = sleet, hail, ice
• Cups + Swords = fog, hurricanes and tornadoes
• Swords + Wands = dry, hot wind
• Wands = potential wildfire conditions

Major Arcana may be more challenging. The referenced redditor's correlations are as follows:

• Temperance - mild weather
• Strength - strong wind
• The Chariot - strong wind
• The Lovers - beautiful day
• The Tower - hailstorm
• Death - extreme temperatures

Comments archived here, because stuff disappears from Reddit all the time.

So, to start with, I did know there was a chance of snow. So I asked, “Is it going to snow the first or second half of the week,” I pulled the seven of pentacles, it's over 5 and it is earthy, definitely going to snow. I shuffled again and asked if it was going to be a big storm and got the 3 of Wands. A smaller number on an affirmative card. 3-5 inches is a smaller amount of snow for us. It snowed that much on Wednesday and and Thursday.

I keep a pretty detailed weather and gardening journal and compare my predictions against the local news. I'm 95% accurate. This is something I've really tuned into over the last 30 years.

Mostly the elements associated with the cards and numbers. I get a lot of Swords because I live in Wyoming (air/wind). 10 of Swords means there is going to be a ridiculous amount of wind even by our standards (I pulled it a week or so ago when wind was gusting above 80 MPH in Casper). I was also taught all the local lore (heavy German influences) about reading weather through signs from my grandparents. So, I look for signs that may indicate weather changes in the cards.

I forget the name of the deck, but occasionally I'll pull a card that has a field full of cows that are all bunched up and moving across a hillside, this means we're getting a Nor Easter and we need to tie everything down more than usual.

Colors seem to correspond across all decks. Warm colors = warmer weather. Cool colors = cooler weather. Green is more humid. Red is dry.

The major arcana is pretty straightforward. Temperance is a card I've never pulled in regards to the weather here, lol. Strength and The Chariot show up a lot. Justice has ushered in some pretty gnarly thunderstorms. The Lovers indicates a great day to skip work and go on a picnic. Death is tough, but more than once it's indicated -20s. The Tower pops up in late July and August when we get hail storms.

I think it's a little bit of base knowledge and a lot of trial and error. Having a handle on your local folk traditions is really helpful even if it's not directly tarot related. I'm not even a little bit Shoshone, but learning their beliefs in regards to the weather here has really been helpful. Go straight to a trusted source on that instead of the internet. You might be able to find a name and address that way, but it's best to learn an oral tradition by having it spoken to you. They'll let you know the correct way to use the knowledge as well, that way you don't use something sacred in a profane way.