What’s the Tarot Card for the Cancer Zodiac Sign?

“What card is Cancer?”

It’s a common question from sun-sign Cancers when they first start learning tarot.

The answer unfortunately, isn’t quite as simple as a 1-to-1 correspondence between tarot cards and astrological symbols. The reality is there are a total of 5 tarot cards which can be associated with the sign of Cancer.

Of these 5 Cancer-associated cards though, only 1 of them is a Major Arcana card. So we’ll start there:

The tarot card that represents Cancer

The tarot card which is most closely associated with the zodiac sign of Cancer is The Chariot.

The Chariot card and the sign of Cancer are connected on both visual and conceptual levels. Not only does the Chariot card feature a man encased in a hard shell, emerging from the water behind him, but the conceptual similarities are even more stark.

Cancers tend to exhibit a duality of nature, being able to exist in the water and on dry land — which symbolizes their ability to exist simultaneously in the dual realms of the emotional and the material.  Likewise, the Chariot card is led by dual Sphinxes, colored black and white. The dual sphinxes signify a similar duality, and accentuate the theme of transmutation which defines the Chariot card.

Transmutation and duality are at the core of The Chariot’s central mystery. The charioteer and his chariot are half-transformed into a solid block, and his clothes are adorned in alchemical symbols signifying the powers of transmutation.

Minor Arcana tarot cards associated with Cancer

In addition to Cancer’s Major Arcana association with The Chariot, there are 4 Minor Arcana tarot cards which are frequently associated with the sign of Cancer.

The Minor Arcana cards associated with Cancer are:

• The Two of Cups
• The Three of Cups
• The Four of Cups
• The King of Cups

These 4 Minor Arcana Cups cards are linked to the sign of Cancer for two reasons:

1. They share a primary elemental connection to Water.
2. They share a cardinal astrological modality.

Cardinal astrological modalities typically signify actions and initiations. To learn more about how astrological modality and primary elements can be used to connect astrology and tarot, see our article covering the links between astrology and tarot cards.

Why learn which tarot cards represent Cancer?

The truth is, for most practitioners of tarot and astrology, the two fields are separate and don’t cross paths. While it’s not necessary to combine astrology with tarot reading, learning to combine the two fields can provide much deeper and insightful results.

Being able to connect a tarot card to distinct astrological concepts like months of the calendar year, specific zodiac signs, people or primary elements should be a welcome skill to any tarot reader.

Now that you know which tarot cards represent Cancer, try putting that knowledge into action with a free online tarot reading.