A List of 5 Deities Associated with Tarot Cards

Tarot cards have a strong deep connection with some deities but, to be honest, only some are truly connected in a natural, meaningful way to specific deities. If you want to know which deities are associated with tarot cards, this is the right article for you.

5 Powerful Deities That Are Associated with Tarot Cards

Pan – The Devil

The association between the god of vegetation, animals, and uncontaminated nature and the Devil of the tarot tradition finds its origin in the medieval Christian interpretation of the figure of Pan, a pastoral and rural god of a world without laws, of pure enjoyment and wildness.

Pan is presented as a sort of anthropomorphism of nature but was also described as “filthy with shiny hair” as a show of uninhibited sexuality independent of any morality, reminiscent of archaic times, during which the human being lived immersed in this sort of “panic promiscuity”.

All these functional characteristics led to the identification of Pan as the Devil because he was transformed into Lord of the Underworld and eternal tempter of the human race. Pan is not only a lookalike of the devil, but he presents the same draining and obsessive, wild and promiscuous energy of the devil. That’s why they are definitely connected and why Pan is the deity associated with the devil tarot card.

Apollo – The Sun

As god of the Sun, Apollo brought spring to Earth, making flowers bloom, then with the arrival of summer, with his powerful rays he wilted and killed what he had created in spring. He was the god who had to announce to men the will of Zeus. He was the god of the oracles.

As a god of health, he also had the power to send evil to those he wanted to punish. All sudden deaths were due to his lethal arrows; it is by shooting with his silver bow that Apollo, irritated by the unjust outrage done to his priest Chryses, spread the plague in the Greek camp as described in the Iliad.

Apollo is the god of the sun and light, of health, and especially of song, music, and poetry. He is the perfect representation of the Sun tarot card because of his strong, bright, positive energy and all he can bring.

Artemis – The Moon

Artemis is the form that a goddess of pre-Hellenic origins assumed in the Greek civilization linked to the cult of forests, wild animals, the Moon, and more generally of the regenerative power of Nature. She is one of the virgin goddesses, independent, and a skilled archer. With her golden bow and arrows, custom-made for her by Ephesus and the Cyclops, Artemis, who the Romans called Diana, never misses a shot.

She is a competitive, vindictive goddess who rushes towards her goal without letting herself be distracted by anything. Artemis always gets what she wants and mercilessly punishes anyone who disrespects her or any of her nymph sisters. Artemis protects women (there are many occasions in which she prevents or avenges rapes against one of her nymphs or women who have invoked her help), women in labor, puppies, wild animals, and the woods.

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More generally, it can be said that Artemis protects uncontaminated nature, the regenerating power of Nature in its purest, most primordial form. She is the goddess of what does not belong to man, of what man cannot and must not control or violate, the most mysterious part of Gaia, her green heart. She is the goddess of Life who regenerates herself, and as such she is a young, impetuous, indomitable goddess, full of strength.

The Moon is the hidden part of the earth, the mysterious side of life just like the feminine energy. The moon is strongly connected with Artmis, sister of Apollo and counterpart of the Sun. This makes her perfectly in tune with the Moon.

Also read:
A List of 5 Deities Associated with the Moon [With Stories]

Zeus – The Emperor

There are many versions of Zeus’ childhood and growth. Some claim that he was educated by his grandmother Gaea. Others say that he was raised by a goat. Still, others say that a Nymph would have raised him.

The only common truth is that he was the only one of the sons of Cronus who managed to save himself. Once he grew up, he made his father Kronos vomit up all his brothers through a clever ruse. Zeus thus began a war against his father and the other Titans (Titanomachy). At his side, he had the help of the Cyclops, freed from Tartarus. Together they managed to defeat Kronos.

After the battle, Zeus decided to share the throne with his brothers, drawing lots from different parts of the world. Poseidon touched the kingdom of water. Hades controlled the kingdom of the dead. Zeus became ruler of the kingdom of heaven and air.

The land was divided into equal parts instead. From that moment, Zeus began to reign on Mount Olympus, considered sacred by the Greeks. All the gods lived on the mountain. The king of the gods tried to rearrange and rebuild everything that his father had destroyed. His leadership, his power, and his authority make Zeus the Emperor of the Major Arcana set.

Demeter – The Empress

Demeter was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, sister of Zeus. The name most likely means “Mother Earth”: in fact, Demeter is the mother goddess par excellence, the goddess of the producing earth, who presides over agriculture, watches over the serene work of men, helps them, and makes it easier with her teachings.

Characteristically Greek divinity, she is distinguished from other “mother goddesses”, such as Rhea and Cybele, because while these express the wild unleashing of the mysterious forces of nature without terms and rules, Demetra represents the ordered and regular generation of the earth, subjected to certain laws and the work of man. This makes her the perfect Empress, the Mother of us all, the powerful empress of the tarot deck.