Court cards....aaahgh!!
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 29 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Gigi |
29 Mar 2003 |
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I know this question has probably been asked 4 gazillion times but....okay, here goes.
Can anyone offer any guidance on how to interpret the court cards? I'm using the RWS deck to read and all the cards "speak" to me except the court cards. When I encounter one in a reading I end up just parroting stuff I've gotten from books -- casting about desperately for a conventional meaning that seems to fit the occasion.
Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.
Blessings to all!
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| Thirteen |
29 Mar 2003 |
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First, consider that the court cards are usually people. So when they turn up, think of them turning into photographs of people you know or are likely to meet. Types of people.
In most cases, you can use what they look like to guide you--a queen as an older woman, a knight a youthful man or woman, a page a kid. The suit tells you their personality--A King of Cups is a family oriented, emotional man (the dad sure to cry at his daughter's wedding), the Page of Pentacles is that kid who loves building things with his legos.
You can also go by Zodiac. Cups = Water Signs, Wands = Fire signs, Swords = Air signs, Pentacles = Earth. Kings are usually (but not always, depends on deck) Cardinal (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), Queens are Fixed (Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio) and Knights are Mutable (Sag., Gemini, Virgo, Pisces). So, Queen of Cups = A Scorpio.
As you get to know the court cards better, you can start to intuit who they might represent irregardless of sex or age. Also what they might mean beyond symbolizing real people (like, pages sometimes mean messages you might receive). But for now, just start with trying to see them as people, as characters, almost, from a television show or movie--types you can match up to real friends, relatives, aquantances, etc.
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| zorya |
29 Mar 2003 |
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the courts are usually the hardest to understand for most of us.
just to confuse you a bit more ;) sometimes court cards are read as aspects of ourselves instead of others. noone is clearly defined by just one court card, we each have all of them within us.
for example, if you pull the page of swords... it could be a young intellectual person, or it could be telling you to be careful of your own defensive nature. the knight of coins could be another person that fits the 'physical achitect' archtype, or it could be telling you it's time to take care of and work on practical matters.
you have to look at the whole reading in context to decide which kind of interpretation to use.
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| WolfSpirit |
30 Mar 2003 |
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A way to get closer to the courts may be to let them tell you their feelings, for example for the knight of wands: I want to see action wherever I go... I don't want to be bored or tied down and I think I need a new challenge...etc.
That way they may litterally speak to you.
You still don't know in a spread if it is your inner voice or another person speaking, but often the position in the spread gives you a clue like "outside influences", "self" etc.
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| Indigo_lady |
31 Mar 2003 |
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Originally posted by Thirteen
In most cases, you can use what they look like to guide you--a queen as an older woman, a knight a youthful man or woman, a page a kid. The suit tells you their personality--A King of Cups is a family oriented, emotional man (the dad sure to cry at his daughter's wedding), the Page of Pentacles is that kid who loves building things with his legos.
heyyy
wow - my first post
I have two questions,
1. regarding the quote, what kind of people do the other two suits, wands and swords, relate to?
2. And second, do u have any pointers or tips on how court cards might relate to ethnicity ? As in perceiving asians, latins, hindus, arabs, mediterraneans, africans, etc... besides the obvious caucasians, from the court cards???
Thank u!
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| HudsonGray |
31 Mar 2003 |
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I was frustrated at the limited options the suits offered (100% European, basically) so for me I don't go by what the person on the card looks like--I go by the attributes the card stands for. Otherwise you'd never get an Asian, Black, Native American, Hindu, etc. showing up on the physical card in this lifetime.
Other than ages, or implied mental ages & attitudes (an aged grandfather can be represented as a Page, you know), I stick to the breakdown of what the suit represents in that capacity, not the actual look of the image on the card.
You can have your young attitudes coming up with the Pages, the knower of all knowledge show up in the King, the "I'm getting this done NOW and it's going to be done right" in the Queens, and the 'Let's start this thing' from the Knights. All parts of the same person, just different ways of looking at things via the particular card.
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| Thirteen |
31 Mar 2003 |
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Originally posted by Indigo_lady
1. regarding the quote, what kind of people do the other two suits, wands and swords, relate to?
Wands are folk who are full of energy--on the go, doing things--the kind that say, "Let's put on a play!"--and they'll be both director and lead actor ;) The Queen of Wands is the sort who is heading every committee, the King is a charismatic town leader, the Knight is captain of the football team, always out driving about town with his buddies, and sure to be voted King of the Prom.
Wands, in short, are exhausting.
Swords are way too smart, and way too clever, especially with words--cool in temperment. The knight of swords is that too smart teenager you're getting into a flame war with on that other forum--his posts are long, logical--aggrivating! Queen of Swords, brilliant, can cut you down with a word. King of swords is fair and objective in judgement--sometimes too fair and objective.
2. And second, do u have any pointers or tips on how court cards might relate to ethnicity ? As in perceiving asians, latins, hindus, arabs, mediterraneans, africans, etc... besides the obvious caucasians, from the court cards???
As HudsonGray wisely points out--using the actual image on the court card to tell you "who" they are (your mother, your brother, your best friend) is fine when you're still a raw beginner, but it'll become very clear, very quickly that we can all be any one of these folk at any given time. Sometimes, you'll turn up the King of Wands, and realize, hey, you're him--all bossy and in charge. Another time, you'll be smart and clever and realize that today, you're the cool Queen of swords. Other times, you'll feel like a little kid with legos--hey, you're the page of pentacles.
Ditto with trying to use the cards to relate to ethnicity--it don't matter. Personality inside is what tells you who they are, not outside image. Though sometimes the images of certain court cards in a deck can be useful in finding a signifier (someone to "stand" for your querent).
For example, there's one deck (sorry, can't recall the name), one of those that has 4 different ethnicities for the different suits (swords = asian, wands = black/Egyptian, cups = caucasion, pentacles = American indian). I had a friend, female, black (Aries) who was very drawn to the Queen of Wands in this deck--a Black, Egyptian queen image. So that became her card; whenever I did a reading for her, I used that deck and when the queen appeared, it almost always stood for her.
In other words, you can get multi-ethnic decks if you want to be a bit more literal with the court cards--the Japanese King standing for an older, Male Asian, the Black Egyptian Prince standing for a young black man, the Native American princess standing for a young, brown-skinned girl. Or if you're looking for a deck with images that your multi-ethnic friends can identify with--and court cards that can stand for them--during a reading.
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| NeXoRiouS |
02 Apr 2003 |
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i wonder... if the outcome comes out as a court card, what does it mean? most of the time, my predictions will end in the outcome with court cards...strange?
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| HudsonGray |
03 Apr 2003 |
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That would have to be taken in context with the previous cards. A court card COULD be showing that a particular individual person is the best way to resolve the problem in the reading, or it could be showing that an aspect of that court card is needed to complete the issue. If you get a Knight of Swords, for instance, it could be a recommendation for you to go forward ready for battle & do your best. Or just to be strong willed and persevere by being right there on the problem rather than standing in the background. It could also mean your brother or someone else you see as fighting some battles for you may be needed to fix a problem.
Hard to say difinitively, as the rest of the reading is going to have an impact on that final card.
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| skytwig |
04 Apr 2003 |
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Does anyone use the court cards as modifiers?
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| Indigo_lady |
04 Apr 2003 |
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Originally posted by skytwig
Does anyone use the court cards as modifiers?
As suggested by ellen Cannon Reed in the Witches Tarot u mean?
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| skytwig |
04 Apr 2003 |
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Yes. I use the method and find it very revealing and helpful. Often it reveals aspects of my participation in the area that is modified.
I also believe it is an olde form of divination; I don't know if I picked it up from reading or from another lifetime, but I fell into that type of card drawing very soon after (finally!) getting back to cards.
I find that court cards reveal alot about what's going on in my thinking, energy, emotions, etc. Or in what I need to do.
Interestingly, I use the Celtic Cross in my eveeryday reading and I rarely draw court cards in hopes and fears, almost as if that is already assumed to be mental!!!
Do you use them as modifiers?
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| Indigo_lady |
04 Apr 2003 |
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I perceive them both as modifiers and as individuals depending on the area the card I draw after them is related to
They're very useful as modifiers, though sometimes I just KNOW they're actual people that influence in that area and I interpret them as individuals
How do u interpret several court cards one right after the others?
The witches tarot says that when u throw a court card u must draw another card that the court card will modify in that area, but what if the next card is a court card too???
I think it's an area to focus on, coz of several influences, what do u think?
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| skytwig |
04 Apr 2003 |
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Definitely.
I consider whether it means many areas of myself are involved (determination - wands, or lack thereof; thinking, swords; attention to health, work; etc.) or whether many people are involved or affected by it or it could even mean that i am being supported by much attention from my Guides in that area. Since i tend to be a lone wolf in addressing problems, finding that I have help in a problem is always a wuhoo moment.
It amazes me how accurate such readings are. Often, doing so reveals 'clues' to a dilemma that i hadn't considered or given enough attention to. It tends to be a grand 'hellooo!" that i needed to see.
Maybe that's why I use it. People are important, yes, but I find that most of my dilemmas arise in me. something needs to be addressed in the way i am viewing, thinking, acting, etc. I also tend to find that people are represented by Major Arcana in my readings, as if I need to learn something about a Spiritual Truth in that person. It's as if the Universe says, pay attention, this is important. For instance, recently I got the Empress card. It wasn't me they were referring to, it was my adult daughter helping me deal with a self-care situation. That was a powerful revelation to a beauty in her I needed to not only SEE, but accept and receive. It has brought us both closer together, which is delightful. The Universe could use no less than a Major Arcana in that instance.
Also, I believe we are all that so precious that we are represented by Majors. It is eye-opening to view people with that awareness, especially when they might be revealed by the Devil card or the Tower or the Heirophant!!! (Then it tends to be a whoa! moment; tred softly here!)
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The Court cards....aaahgh!! thread was originally posted on 29 Mar 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.
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