Jewel

THE COURT CARD PERSONALITIES

The information presented here is taken from Chapter 5 of Tarot for Yourself by Mary Greer. The purpose of this summary is to initiate our work into the exercises presented in the same chapter, thus the ideas presented here are Mary Greer's not my own. In addition I would like to recommend Thirteen's Tarot Basic section (on these boards) for those that are having trouble interpreting the court cards and/or are new to Tarot. With credits properly given here is the summary of Chapter 5.

Court cards are often the hardest cards for readers to interpret. According to Ms. Greer, court cards operate primarily in two ways, they are: (1) representatives of you (or the querent), (2) represents someone you know, particularly someone on whom you (or the querent) projects parts of their personality. These two ways can, and usually do, operate simultaneously.

Kings and Queens usually represent someone in authority or to whom you look to for direction. They are usually mature persons that are able to give you advice. Knights often refer to young men who bring energy into your life, "they invite, entice, encourage and pull you along with their interests." They tend to be "experienced as headstrong and single focused." Pages often refer to children or young women or "any person who brings messages or new ideas." As parts of yourself, court cards can represent the way you are acting given a specific situation, "those aspects of your identity which you are drawing upon."

Ms. Greer goes on to talk about the Jungian framework of "projection," which refers to characteristics (good or bad) that we possess and project and see in others when they are really our own. This means that person on whom we project these characteristics may or may not really have them. When we see or "project" these characteristics on another person, we are in essence able to "see what power and abilities we might be "giving away."" This means that we might be "giving away" parts of ourselves we are "discouraged from expressing" and we find someone to "act them out" for us. Another form of projection is that of projecting our negative or "shadow" qualities on others.

In summary the book states "a reading containing several court cards often refers to your interpersonal relationships and the many different roles you have to play. Sometimes a fragmentation of your energies is indicated by all these different personalities and aspects you are expressing."

Following the description, the chapter is divided into four sections:
1. The Court Card Party
2. Understanding the Court Cards
3. The Three Modes of Tarot
4. Contacting Your Inner Teacher Card

Each section contains a series of exercises. As you post your exercises please label the post with the section you are working on. Please make sure to include what deck you are using in your post as this will assist the rest of the group in providing commentary or providing assistance when requested.

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Jewel
Entity of the Water/West Corner

Jewel

EXERCISE - THE COURT CARD PARTY

This exercise has two distinct sections. Please post your work for both sections. Make sure and include which deck you are using. First, pull out the court cards from your favorite deck and spread them out randomly in front of you. Pretend they are people at a party and answer the following questions:

1. Which card are you most attracted to?
2. Which card would you like to avoid?
3. Which card do you feel the most comfortable with?
4. Which card do you feel talkative towards?
5. Which card do you feel secrecy and solitude about?
6. Which cards seem aloof or rude?
7. Which cards do you feel welcomed and warmed by?

Once you have answered those questions, lets take the exercise a step further so we can better understand the court card personalities. Pick 2 court card figures "who might be dynamically attracted to each other. Imagine a dialogue between them about some provocative subject. Write it out."

1. Court cards selected:
2. Conversation Topic:
3. Dialog

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SAMPLE EXERCISE:
Deck: Robin Wood

PART 1:
1. I feel attracted to the King of Wands - He seems to have a cheery and positive demeanor, there is something about the way he carries himself that reminds me of the Magician. He seems fun and easy going with a lot of energy.
2. I would like to avoid the King of Swords - He looks unapproachable with his arms across his chest and the serious face. Way too serious for me.
3. I feel uncomfortable with the Queen of Swords - she seems to be expecting or demanding something … feels like forced compliance to me.
4. I feel talkative towards the Queen of Wands - She seems so friendly and warm, really funny and sweet. She looks like she has all kinds of neat things to share. She projects a lot of positive energy. Her smile is very inviting.
5. I feel solitude about the Knight of Pentacles - He seems quiet and reserved, very responsible. Somehow I get the sense that sometimes he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, which makes him sometimes withdrawn and quiet … he keeps the secrets of his burden instead of sharing them with the others.
6. The Queen and Knight of Cups seem aloof; the King, Queen and Knight of Swords seem somewhat rude and/or aloof; and the Knight of Pentacles seems aloof to me.
7. I feel warm and welcomed by King and Queen of Wands, the King of Cups, King of Pentacles and the Page of Swords.


PART 2:
The court cards I selected to have a dialogue are the King of Pentacles and the Queen of Wands. The topic: Upcoming Costume Party

KP: ~humor in his voice~ Well hello there
QW: ~smiles playfully and answers in a cheery voice~ well hello!!
KP: Are you coming to my costume party?
QW: I would not miss it for the world! So are you dressing up like a corporate tycoon? ~laughs~
KP: ~laughs~ Why if I did that I would just be my boring old self! No I think I shall dress up like Dyonisus.
QW: ~busts out laughing but in a very feminine way~ Oh!! You party animal you!! Need some help with your costume design?
KP: I have already purchased it, but if you have any specific ideas I would love to hear them ... after all you are very creative ~gives her seductive smile his eyes glinting with a hint mischief~ …
QW: Are you flirting with me? ~laughs~ All I have to say is don't take your role as Dyonisus too seriously or you might end up shattering your image.
KP: And what Goddess will you be shaming with your radiance and beauty?
QW: ~laughs~ Ohhhh how about Medussa? ~waves her hands about her head pretending they are snakes and giggles~

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Jewel
Entity of the Water/West Corner

Kaz

i used robin woods deck for this.
and i picked just one card for each question, the one that fitted best, turns out they are all different cards.

i feel attracted to page of pentacles.
here i see part of myself, as a kid and now. always dicovering new things, being outside in nature and enjoying that.

i would like to avoid the king of swords
he looks very defensive, not someone you would wish to have against you. he would go all the way to eliminate you if you seriously opposed him.

i feel uncomfortable with the queen of cups.
she represents to me the sharing of emotions, and as i am not so good at that, i don't feel comfortable with her.

i feel gay and talkative with the queen of wands.
this is someone with lots of energy and passion in all that she does. she is a do-er, always active and she has a winner attitude. yea, i can relate to her very well.

i feel a secrecy and solitude with the queen of swords.
she is a interesting person, very intelligent and confident about herself. she knows from experience, but doesn't give it all away. someone with an unusual, unconventional approach to things, which makes her a loner sometimes.

the knight of swords seems rude.
he is someone that just charges in, not caring about anything or anyone, going for the goal he set out, and thinking he has all the right in the world to do so.

i feel welcomed and warmed by the queen of pentacles.
she represents the mom i never had......

kaz

Kaz

jewel,
i see we have some cards in common
after doing this, and telling my reasons for picking that card for that question, i see that this tells a lot about myself.
what did you experience?

kaz

Jewel

Hiya Kaz I could not help but smile when I noticed we had selected cards in common. Obvioulsy you and I are attracted to the same type of personality and we also agree on who we want to avoid. I also felt this exercise helped me pin-point why I have selected certain persons as my friends, those I try to avoid, etc. I got a lot more out of the exercise than I had expected to.

Wait until you do the second part of the exercise, the dialogue, it really helped me see what specific qualities of the cards attracted me. This is an exercise I think I will also try with 2 of the cards I liked the least, and then also in combination. This hopefully will help me explore what it is in the cards that makes me percieve them to be either rude or aloof. By the way I loved your description of the Knight of Swords, that was the exact image I had.

I look forward to seeing your dialogue piece, and later this week I will post the next exercise in Chp. 5. Maybe you and I can alternate leading for each Chpt. until Bec can re-integrate fully then we can split them 3 ways. What do you think?

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Jewel
Entity of the Water/West Corner

imperium

1. Q of Swords
2. Knight of Swords
3. Q of swords ( i have had this card alot recently )
4. Q of Rods
5. P of Rods/P of cups
6. Q of Pentacles ( although very beautiful! )
7. Q of swords

Step 2:

1. King of cups and Queen of Rods
2. Topic: holidays
3. Dialog:

King: Hello old girl, where will you be travelling to this year?
Queen: I should rather like to stay at home and tend to the garden this year.
King: Fair enough. Mind you, I do yearn for sunnier climes! I like to be away from home as much as possible when I get the chance.
Queen: I am happy as long as I am surrounded by beauty although I do hear there are some great deals going around for Amsterdam....

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Imperium_sine_fine

"Being broke is a state that is temporary but being poor is a state of mind." - Linda Goodman

Kaz

i will give the dialog a serious shot, but mind you, english is not my first language and telling stories is hard for me.

kaz

Kaz

imperium, welcome here
may i ask why you choose the cards you choose? curious here now...........

kaz

Jewel

Hi Imperium! Welcome to the group! I am also curious as to why you selected the cards you did. Sorry I guess I forgot to tell you that we are nosy here *LOL*. Great to have you with us.

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Jewel
Entity of the Water/West Corner