Starlight23
I'm studying the Gilded Tarot deck. I got through the Major and Minor arcana just fine, but the courts are giving me difficulties even with book in hand. Are there any tips on learning the court cards?
Court Card Tips
re-pete-a
Get out of your head and into your feelings or heart.
Thats where things start to move.
Thats where things start to move.
MareSaturni
Court Cards get easier only with practice. No book really helps in the end, 'cause then you have to memorize meanings or personality traits, and that's never good.
I advice for you to grab a notebook and your deck and go through each court card. Write down what you see in each card. If you had to deserve the person in the card, how would it be? What the King of Cups seems to be feeling? And the Queen of Swords... if you had to guess her thoughts, what would they be? And so on. This way, the Court Cards will stop being just cards with meanings and will become characters... like people you know. And when you se them on a spread, you will somehow know what they are telling you.
Is it easy? No. Fast? No. It takes some practice. But it'll help you more than the book. Meet your court cards, don't just read about them.
I advice for you to grab a notebook and your deck and go through each court card. Write down what you see in each card. If you had to deserve the person in the card, how would it be? What the King of Cups seems to be feeling? And the Queen of Swords... if you had to guess her thoughts, what would they be? And so on. This way, the Court Cards will stop being just cards with meanings and will become characters... like people you know. And when you se them on a spread, you will somehow know what they are telling you.
Is it easy? No. Fast? No. It takes some practice. But it'll help you more than the book. Meet your court cards, don't just read about them.
celticnoodle
Starlight23 said:
oh, great deck! i have the same one, and it is a wonderful deck.
but, i agree with the previous two posts, as difficult as it is to do so, you need to let the book go and just read. if it helps, in the beginning just read them as a male or female, young or old, in the beginning. and do take notes on the readings, noting how they fall and what you notice about each card. you can also keep in mind basically the suits with each court. what do the wands mean? swords, cups and pentacles?
and, Marina is right. it gets much easier after playing with the cards for awhile.
if i also may advise---offer many reading exchanges here-always for feedback. you'll get to understand how others see the court cards. play the games here as well that have you use the tarot cards. it is a great way to learn and have fun at the same time. and really go through the forums here finding different threads that pertain to the court card you are you wanting to learn about. read them and see if you agree with what is posted.
tarot reading is also a life time learning process. you may get a pretty good hold of cards along the way, but you never ever know it completely!
nisaba
The best thing I ever realised about the Courts, was that court cards are not people. They are energies or qualities. In a reading, those energies or qualities may come up to point to people, or equally, they might come up to point to situations or actions. No little leaflet included with a deck will tell you that.
papercut
I think a lot of people struggle with courts. I know I did for years.
I spent a lot of time a few years ago working on the court cards. I very methodically went through all them and worked out a system based on rank and suit (kings = outward mastery, cups = emotions, therefore the king of cups = outward mastery of emotions). I thought about what type of people they would all be based on this - what type of friend would they be? What type of lover? How would they act at a party? Or when they were faced with a crisis? I filled up half a journal with this kind of thing.
It did help some when actually reading, but not as much as I thought it would.
So I pushed aside all the methodical associations I had developed and just decided to *look* at the cards.
For instance, in my Noblet, the page of coins looks like a sweet kid, but a bit dopey - not someone you'd want to trust with anything important, because it's quite likely he'll (unintentionally) muck things up. As another example, the page of swords in my Vieville deck, well he looks really wound up - quite anxious and on his guard, even paranoid - someone who doesn't trust other people very easily.
Those initial impressions of the courts gave me a jumping off point to develop a more complete system for the entire court, with much of it based on my impressions, and some based on more traditional associations (page of swords meaning gossip, for example). This was a far more natural way to tackle the court I found, and I finally feel like I've got a solid grasp on it.
Since the courts represent different people, or personality types, ideally they should be clearly depicted in the deck. But if not, my advice is to get a deck with very expressive court cards. Ones where the personalities just jump out at you - when you see a card you automatically think "Yep! I know exactly what type of person this card represents!" Work with that for a while. Then you can switch back to your regular deck and transfer your court card associations across (and probably gain further insights in the process).
I spent a lot of time a few years ago working on the court cards. I very methodically went through all them and worked out a system based on rank and suit (kings = outward mastery, cups = emotions, therefore the king of cups = outward mastery of emotions). I thought about what type of people they would all be based on this - what type of friend would they be? What type of lover? How would they act at a party? Or when they were faced with a crisis? I filled up half a journal with this kind of thing.
It did help some when actually reading, but not as much as I thought it would.
So I pushed aside all the methodical associations I had developed and just decided to *look* at the cards.
For instance, in my Noblet, the page of coins looks like a sweet kid, but a bit dopey - not someone you'd want to trust with anything important, because it's quite likely he'll (unintentionally) muck things up. As another example, the page of swords in my Vieville deck, well he looks really wound up - quite anxious and on his guard, even paranoid - someone who doesn't trust other people very easily.
Those initial impressions of the courts gave me a jumping off point to develop a more complete system for the entire court, with much of it based on my impressions, and some based on more traditional associations (page of swords meaning gossip, for example). This was a far more natural way to tackle the court I found, and I finally feel like I've got a solid grasp on it.
Since the courts represent different people, or personality types, ideally they should be clearly depicted in the deck. But if not, my advice is to get a deck with very expressive court cards. Ones where the personalities just jump out at you - when you see a card you automatically think "Yep! I know exactly what type of person this card represents!" Work with that for a while. Then you can switch back to your regular deck and transfer your court card associations across (and probably gain further insights in the process).
Fostha
This is what I done with my usual deck (cosmic)~I like all the court cards in my deck as they're all full facial images of each,and I kinda get a better idea of what behaviour/characteristics each one has. I especially love the swords/pents courts in this deck,there definitely my faves.Marina said:
irisa
nisaba said:
I found that too once you get past the people the mist clears...
irisa
PAMUYA
I do look at the court cards as people and energy. I started with the Guilded deck and assigned a person that I knew who represented each card. We all know a Queen of Swords, how about a Queen of Swords reversed?? Ouch! I know each person is not just one court card, we are a mixture of many, but for me I found the general feeling and energy of a personality is what I am looking for.
Now when the card comes up I can feel the energy of that person whom I have assinged to the card, and go from there on that reading.
Find what works for you and build from that, there is no right or wrong.
Now when the card comes up I can feel the energy of that person whom I have assinged to the card, and go from there on that reading.
Find what works for you and build from that, there is no right or wrong.
celticnoodle
Sassyjackal, I do the same exact thing! lol!
in my Golden Tarot, its so uncanny that the one queen looks exactly (truly!) like a person I know AND both the upright and reversed 'generally accepted' meanings for her fit this person too! so, whenever that particular queen is turned over, i know exactly how to interpret the card immediately!
and, I so agree with you. we ALL know people who fit the general descriptions of the courts. both upright and reversed. but, in the situation above, the one queen in my GT, also happens to look exactly like the person too!
in my Golden Tarot, its so uncanny that the one queen looks exactly (truly!) like a person I know AND both the upright and reversed 'generally accepted' meanings for her fit this person too!
so, whenever that particular queen is turned over, i know exactly how to interpret the card immediately! and, I so agree with you. we ALL know people who fit the general descriptions of the courts. both upright and reversed. but, in the situation above, the one queen in my GT, also happens to look exactly like the person too!
