My first question - why court cards in tarot?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

moon_mermaid	27 Mar 2003
My first question in this forum. I have just start to study tarot and I have been pondering why there are court cards in tarot? I have a vague idea on this and need some to help me to get a better understanding. Major Arcana – archetypal images. Minor arcane – representative fragments of daily life. Court cards – reflecting roles people play; anima, animus?? Also, different decks have variations in how they present court cards, some use King, Queen, Knight, Page; some use Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess; some just reinterpret the court cards such as Place, Knower, Gift, and Speaker in Shining Tribe. Cheers!

Astraea	27 Mar 2003
Welcome! Your first question is a great one. I believe the court cards are included in the deck because tarot is modeled on the standard playing card deck -- but the card historians here will be able to answer that question with more depth and insight. In terms of what the court cards mean, I think more or less along the lines you do -- and they can also represent events and circumstances (depending on surrounding cards). You might want to click on the search button at the top of the page and type in "court cards" -- there are many, many threads about them in the forum, since they are such an interesting (and often perplexing) part of the deck. See you around the forum, moon_mermaid (love that name)! :)

HOLMES	27 Mar 2003
there is two books on the court cards forthcoming. the first one is in june. tarot and the archtypical court cards.it is by innerlight publications (i think the title may be off but you can find it by doing an court cards search in amazon ) the second is in december 2003 the tarot court by mary k greer (least it was advertised as such in her tarot reversal book) soon there will be good court cards books whoo hoo *CHEERS FOR ALL TAROT LOVERS EVERYWHERE *

Thirteen	27 Mar 2003
Quote: Originally posted by moon_mermaid I have just start to study tarot and I have been pondering why there are court cards in tarot? Major Arcana – archetypal images. Minor arcane – representative fragments of daily life. Court cards – reflecting roles people play; anima, animus?? Also, different decks have variations in how they present court cards, some use King, Queen, Knight, Page; some use Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess You seem to have it quite right! Major Arcana are certainly archtypes Minor are cycles of life--the ups and downs, say, that a person may go through lost in Love, for example. Or trying to build up a business. And yes, Court Cards are the roles people play. Child, youth, adult female, adult male. No matter our age, we play all these roles, sometimes many of them in the same day. So the Knight/Prince of Cups is that young guy or girl who's acting like a teenager in love. The Knight/Prince of Wands might be that man who's going through a mid-life crises and just bought a new sports car. The Queen of Cups could be a young girl who's acting like a mother to her brothers and sisters. Court Cards do have meanings outside of symbolizing people (Knight/Prince can indicate journies and travel, the Pages can be messages, letters or e-mails)--but most of the time, they symbolize actual, real-life people. Those you know, those you may meet, or who you are at the moment. And I suspect that it might be that playing cards have court cards because tarot cards had them, not vice versa--but I'm not knowledgable enough to say on that score.

moon_mermaid	29 Mar 2003
Thanks for the information. I am looking forward to the books Holmes mentioned (ouch, my wallet is bleeding) Thirteen, your knowledge in tarot really really impressive (clapping hands) and also the your ability to write down your thoughts.

The My first question - why court cards in tarot? thread was originally posted on 27 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.