Court Cards...help, please!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Vita-morte	30 Jan 2003
I'm having very little trouble with learning and adapting the tarot to my personal meanings and style, but the court cards are just being mean to me! The best I've found is that the Kings are the 'decision' cards in that field (mind, body, heart, spirit), the queens are the 'development' cards, the knights are the 'action' cards and the pages are the 'growth' cards. Can anyone tell me what meanings they use? Thanks!

Macavity	30 Jan 2003
I know I have cited this before, but I remain enthusiastic about: http://www.llewellynjournal.com/article/387/ HTH, Macavity :)

Keslynn	30 Jan 2003
My advice would be to not be so rigid in assigning types to the court cards. Yes, all Queens have a certain receptivity common to them, but the Queen of Cups is going to be a lot nicer about it than the Queen of Swords or Wands. Take out the court cards either one at a time, or in "family" groups (all swords or wands, etc). Take a minute to actually look at them like it's a picture of a person you don't know yet. What sorts of feelings do you get from them? How would the King of Swords act in a conversation with you? How is that different from the Page? Would you like to have tea with the Queen of Pentacles? What kind of clothes would they wear if they lived today? How would they handle stress? Don't read what Rachel Pollack or Mary Greer or any other author says. Get to know them on your own. It would also help to have a deck where the court cards are fairly well illustrated rather than having all the Knights look alike except for what they're holding. I highly recommend the Spiral deck for it's intuitive courts. Good luck. :) Kes

ihcoyc	31 Jan 2003
My approach would be to break them down logically, by their rank and by their suits. For example: the King of Cups is a king. He is a public leader, a head of state, a decision maker. And his kingdom is the kingdom of Cups; the business of the Cups is what he is king over. The Queen of Cups is a queen. She too is an authority figure, but in a more behind the scenes way than the King is. Her chief concern is with the business of Cups. Likewise, the Knight is a traveller, a person of action, who is on the Cups side and who sallies forth on Cups business. And the Page is a herald, a steward, an employee who once again is engaged in the business of Cups. Imagine each of these roles and play with them, thinking up different ways in which people playing these different parts might behave while occupied in the business of the suit. Repeat for each suit as necessary.

Francesca	31 Jan 2003
ihcoyc I think you have a good start with the courts actually. Here are some things I keep in mind: Queens--Inner stuff Kings---Outer stuff pages---contemplation Knights---Action I find that there can be a lot of tension between the suit and the court within the card; for instance the knight of Cups. Knights are active, but this one is more emotional. Also the Queen of Swords. To me she is like a shy woman who is obliged work among people. Francesca

algiz	31 Jan 2003
Court cards are tricky little buggers... The people i have talked to that can be classed as amazing on the subject have told me that they are difficult because they symbolise a person, character, and an event. ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! damn... and the only way to see what these are is by using your intuition(there's my fave word again!!! LOL) not very helpful i know... but gets you thinking doesnt it

Jewel	31 Jan 2003
I would like to recommend you read the Court card descriptions from the Tarot Basics here on Aeclectic (sticky close to the top of this forum titled Tarot Basics). They really helped me out. Kes' suggestion of doing exercises with them is also really good. Actually, in Mary Greer's workbook Tarot for Yourself she outlines exercises to do exactly that. The King of Disks and Queen of Wands had quite a discussion in my journal :D. You can put all the Kings together, all the Queens, etc and see their similarities and differences ... perhaps you could role play them all in your journal. Then again as Kes suggested bring them into family groupings by Suit and do the same, while using ihcoyc's outline. These are just some ideas, nothing more. Good luck!

ihcoyc	31 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Francesca iI find that there can be a lot of tension between the suit and the court within the card; for instance the knight of Cups. Knights are active, but this one is more emotional. Also the Queen of Swords. To me she is like a shy woman who is obliged work among people. Exactly. There are some courts who are better at their jobs than others are. The Knight of Wands is always at home, as is the Queen of Cups. But the King of Swords doesn't say much; but when he does, you'd better listen; he's only going to say it once. The King of Cups is easily distracted; he doesn't really like being the King. And the poor Knight of Swords --- his brain works faster than his tongue will go, so he stutters. The Queen of Swords is shy and sad, but her tongue is sharp. The Queen of Wands is easily frustrated; she wants to be the centre of attention, and if she doesn't get it look out.

Vita-morte	31 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Keslynn My advice would be to not be so rigid in assigning types to the court cards....Take out the court cards either one at a time, or in "family" groups (all swords or wands, etc). Take a minute to actually look at them like it's a picture of a person you don't know yet. What sorts of feelings do you get from them? How would the King of Swords act in a conversation with you? How is that different from the Page?...How would they handle stress?...I highly recommend the Spiral deck for it's intuitive courts. Actually Kes, I do have the Spiral and I love it for the reason that it is a very intuitive deck. I don't know if you mentioned it because you knew I have it or if that's just a coincidence :) Quote: Originally posted by ihcoyc Imagine each of these roles and play with them, thinking up different ways in which people playing these different parts might behave while occupied in the business of the suit. Repeat for each suit as necessary. Thank you for this advice, Ihcoyc, I had read this somewhere before but forgotten it. It seems to me that I'm just trying too hard with these cards and should loosen up with them the way I am able to with the other cards. Something about these cards just makes me a little up-tight. Thank you ALL for the advice!

blackmon487	14 Feb 2003
Are you trying to decide a basic definition for the court cards or are you having trouble deciding how the court cards are related to the spread? Personally, I look at the cards as being a personality type we need to acquire during a certain situation, but they can actually refer to an individual.

The Court Cards...help, please! thread was originally posted on 30 Jan 2003 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.