Tarot decks were originally designed to represent all the possibilities in life for their medieval Italian and French readers. Various Tarot decks then evolved over time to incorporate new life possibilities and different religious and occult symbolism. This process of evolution means that the various decks, while divergent, are not inconsistent and shared symbols and themes are imbedded in their iconography.

One common theme across Tarot decks is the representation of mythological creatures such as the Sphinx and the Chimera. But how do creatures of myth and story help the cards represents the possibilities of real life? The myths associated with the various creatures carry messages that add layers of meaning to the cards. Let’s take a look at what the different mythical creatures depicted in the Tarot deck signify.

Chimera

The word Chimera has come to refer to any animal that is a composite of other animals, but in the original Greek myth the Chimera was a monstrous fire-breathing lion with the dead of a goat growing out if its back and a snake for a tail. The Chimera was female and wreaked havoc in the kingdom of King Lobates in Lycia. The Chimera was eventually defeated by the hero Bellerophon.

The Chimera appears on the Two of Cups, but is not a classic Greek Chimera, as while it has the head of a lion and probably the tail of a snake, wings are visible rising from its back.

As said by Numerology Sign, “the Two of Cups represents the flow of love between two people and the creation of deep connections and partnerships”. The presence of the Chimera, however, suggests some kind of danger within the relationship, and the need for heroism to overcome challenges.

Dragon

While the Dragon appears in many cultures, this is probably a European Dragon. European Dragons have many meanings. They are known to wreak havoc on local communities and could be a symbol of evil and calamity. The Dragon in the story of St George demanded a human sacrifice daily until he we killed. Dragons are also associated with treasure as they were thought to hoard treasure; if you killed a Dragon you could keep its wealth.

The Dragon appears on the Seven of Cups. On this card a man stands before seven cups, filled with various gifts. The Dragon pokes his head out of one of these cups.

The Seven of Cups points to the need to make choices, and the Dragon cup suggests that the dogged pursuit of wealth, financial or of another kind, can have calamitous consequences.

Jackal

Jackals are dog like animals that were known in Ancient Egypt to hang around graveyards at night and were therefore associated with death. The Jackal in the Tarot deck is meant to represent the Egyptian god Anubis, who had the head of a Jackal and the body of a man. Anubis was associated with mummification and the afterlife, and therefore ideas of death.

Anubis appears on The Wheel of Fortune. This card shows a giant wheel around which are located a snake (Typhon), a Jackal (Anubis) and a Sphinx.

The presence of Anubis represents the fatality of life, as no one can escape death. But Anubis also represents the promise of renewal and the opportunity to rise on fortune’s wheel again, as things must come to an end in order to make space for the new.

Sphinx

The Sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion, and sometimes wings. In myth the Egyptian Sphinx is described as benevolent, but with a ferocious strength and temper. In Greek stories the Sphinx is more malevolent and often asks riddles and kills those that cannot solve them.

The Sphinx appears on two cards in the Tarot deck, on both The Wheel of Fortune and The Chariot. On The Wheel of Fortune card, it sits outside the wheel like the Jackal, representing the need for both knowledge and strength to meet life’s challenges.

On The Chariot card, the Sphinx sits in front of the armoured charioteer. Here the Sphinx represents duality and the two sides of any coin, the positive and negative. It also alludes to the conflicting forces that often wreak havoc in our lives, and the need to unravel riddles in order to move forward.

Typhon

While seeming like a normal snake, the snake that appears on The Wheel of Fortune represents Typhon, a monster from Greek mythology. The deadliest creature in Greek mythology, the giant monstrous snake represents evil.

But of course, nothing in life is entirely good or entirely evil, things are rarely so black and white. Here Typhon represents Karma, and the consequences of actions. Its presence suggests that if you rise to the top by sordid means, you fall will be equally dramatic.

Tetramorph

A Tetramorph is a symbolic arrangement of four different elements. The Tetramorph appears again on The Wheel of Fortune, with an Ox, an Eagle, a Lion and an Angel in each corner of the cards. While the elements are not combined to make a single animal, they are meant to be read together.

The four symbols are thought to represent the four fixed signs of the Zodiac: the angel as Aquarius, the eagle as Scorpio, the lion as Leo and the bull as Taurus. They are also thought to be linked to the four Evangelists: the angel to Matthew, the eagle to John, the lion to Mark and the bull to Luke.

Each of the elements appears winged, which suggests the maintenance of stability amidst movement and change. This suggests that while our lives transition as we travel the wheel, there is overall stability in the universe.