Court Card Rut

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Aug 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Dee 04	09 Aug 2001
Hello: Until recently I had felt that I had a handle on reading the court cards however lately I feel like I have been drawing a blank specially with the knights and pages. I don't remember what helped me get past this before. What could this be about? Does anyone have any suggestions? This happens wheather I am reading for myself or for others.

.dc	09 Aug 2001
dee, as i have the same problem with you... the only advice i can share is this: since the Court cards are more directly related to persons and their traits you can try and relate the court cards to people in your life. that way they'll trigger what the cards mean to you. or pick out a key symbol on the card to correlate a meaning with. hope these help, as they are what i do. blessed be, .dc

destinyawaitsme	09 Aug 2001
Remember the suits and what they stand for. Wands - desire (courage, creativity, enthusiasm) Swords - logic (ideas, truth, justice, perserverance) Cups - emotions (intuition, intimacy, feelings, love) Pentacles - senses (prosperity, practicality, trust, material) I usually think of pages as children or young people...even a young at heart adult...sometimes immaturity. They seem to stand for messages also. When I think of Knights (these can be a young man..or woman...or well, really could be anybody) I think of change...sometimes swiftly. Usually the coming and going of something. Just remember that queens have more of an inward focus. Like the queen of wands is cheerful and self-assured. And the king of wands is too, but he's more of an outward focus, he's forceful, charismatic, and bold. I know that with court cards there are physical descriptions that go with them, but I find if you explain the personality traits...you can get more out of it.

joya250	09 Aug 2001
hi dee, destinyawaitsme said it well. Also, Joan Bunning's site helped me better understand the court cards. http://www.learntarot.com/top.htm I try to see Pages as sort of an encouragement to cultivate the energy of the suit - for example the Page of Wands urges you to be confident and assertive (or represents someone who embodies those traits) ... The Page of Sword reminds you to be clear-minded and sharp-witted... etc. Also, all the pages are also sometimes considered messengers, bringing news that correspond with their suit. Pages are STUDENTS of their suit's energy. Knights can be seen as the EXTREMES of that energy. And, as Destiny said, the Queens are the inward focus (yin) and the Kings are the outward expression (yang) of that energy.

Dee 04	11 Aug 2001
Ok - Thanks all! I'll you know how it is going.

Smalloli	14 Aug 2001
Since We're talking about court cards... I have a question. I have a deck ( my only deck) with court cards (like all decks) but this one is strange, in that LWB that came with the deck, it said that whenever you see a court card(card A), you'll have to put another card on top of it(card B), now, the court card have meanigns like: the notion suggestion on card B will be: 1) on creative urge 2) have magifested 3) is starting to take shape etc... but when a court card comes on top of the court card, i kinda get really lost... Any suggestions? (although i would really, really, like to read those court cards the traditional way, you think it's proper?)

nexyjo	15 Aug 2001
sounds like the witches tarot, smalloli... my suggestion is to read 'em as you see 'em. actually, the issue of court cards comes up a lot, and i'm starting to wonder if there existance in a tarot deck is questionable altogether. cards are supposed to represent facets of life that use universal archetypes, or some such method to convey their meaning. if so many people have trouble with court cards, perhaps there is something inherently wrong with them. i've always had trouble with them too. i usually fall back on what the suit represents, as destiny suggests, and use the "level" - page, knight, queen, king - as either a stage of developement or a description of the energy in the suit. pages being "child-like" or immature, and kings being mature and confident. that doesn't always work though. sometimes i get the distinct feeling they refer to a person, or a facet of a person, myself included, depending on their position in a spread. and other times, i just draw a blank. i think the issue with the court cards are that the people depicted in them are usually not doing anything - just sitting there. with no action in the illustration, there's nothing to go on in the way of a meaning that the card might suggest. in robin wood's deck, she does have a bit of action in the court cards, so i do find that helpful. like the page of swords shows a young girl running down a hill with a sword in her hand. and robin's key words for this card is "running with sizzors". that works for me. well, that's nexy's theory on court cards... luv and light, nexy

XCOTYS	17 Aug 2001
I am beginning to wonder if I shall ever 'get' these cards. Very frustrating at times. Rarely do I feel that I can interpret the meaning behind them. I have read that they can represent a person, an aspect of oneself, an event or a situation. Blhhhhhhh, I say! I have even considered removing them just for the hell of it. Verrrrry rarely am I able to say yes, I get this one. :::wondering if the 'idiot' light will go on someday and I will get it:::

Dee 04	18 Aug 2001
XCOTYS: LOL - I totally know how you feel. What has been helping me lately is to relate back to the element of the suit depending on the court card. That is how I keep sane!!!:)

The Court Card Rut thread was originally posted on 09 Aug 2001 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.