Astological Types & Court Cards

[Dogmother]

I'm just wondering which court cards you associate with which astrological types? My very first deck set me on the path of kings=fixed, queens=cardinal, pages=mutable, knights=elemental action.

 

[LovelyMissAries]

Well...the way I taught myself was...

King of Wands - Aries
Queen of Wands - Leo
Knight of Wands - Sagittarius

(Pages don't have an astrological sign)

King of Pentacles - Taurus
Queen of Pentacles - Virgo
Knight of Pentacles - Capricorn

King of Swords - Libra
Queen of Swords - Aquarius
Knight of Swords - Gemini

King of Cups - Cancer
Queen of Cups - Scorpio
Knight of Cups - Pisces

 

[franniee]

The way I know it is based on cardinal fixed mutable....

King of Wands - Aries
Queen of Wands - Leo
Knight of Wands - Sagittarius

King of Pentacles - Capricorn
Queen of Pentacles - Taurus
Knight of Pentacles - Virgo

King of Swords - Libra
Queen of Swords - Aquarius
Knight of Swords - Gemini

King of Cups - Cancer
Queen of Cups - Scorpio
Knight of Cups - Pisces

 

[Thirteen]

I'm just wondering which court cards you associate with which astrological types? My very first deck set me on the path of kings=fixed, queens=cardinal, pages=mutable, knights=elemental action.

There should be a sticky on this topic. Look, there are three ways to associate court cards with astrological types and none of them are wrong. It's all up to you, the reader, to decide. Everyone here can give you what they think, and they are right for their readings as you are right for your readings. There is no absolute on this topic. Here is all that can be said on the matter:

1) Pick a method and stick to that method no matter what the deck. Hence, if to you Queens are Cardinal, then they're Cardinal no matter what. To me, personally, Queens are fixed, but that's me. To some other reader the Queens might be mutable. They're right, I'm right, you're right. What works for us, works. The end.

2) Use whatever astrological associations are assigned by the deck creator--either as established in the book that goes with the deck, or hinted at on the cards themselves. This means that you have no opinion on the subject; the courts are what the deck you're using says they are; so, for example, the Queen/Wands in one deck is pictured with a Lion, then when you read with that deck she's a Leo. In another she has the sign of Sag on her throne, so she's Sag.

3) Go with your own method some of the time, go with the deck creators other times.

There is, ultimately, only real rule most readers agree to is that it's best to keep all suits with one element. Hence, all cup cards are water signs--which cup court is which water sign is up to the reader, but all cups are water signs. Otherwise, you end up with a messy problem, like assigning Virgo to the Queen/Swords and leaving one Air sign with no court card to go to.

 

[Dogmother]

I learned that one method is: Kings - fixed so Wand King=Leo, Cup King=Scorpio, Sword King=Aquarius, Pentacle King=Taurus.

Queens - cardinal....Wand Queen=Aries, Cup Queen=Cancer, Sword Queen=Libra, Pentacle Queen=Capricorn

No signs/types for Knights; just elemental action

Pages-mutable....Wand Page=Sagittarius, Cup Page=Pisces, Sword Page=Gemini, Pentacle Page=Virgo

 

[Lumen]

That's my take as well: I see kings as fixed, queens cardinal, and pages mutable, as for knights these represent more events and actions than people, or personality, but sometimes they surprise me and appear as a person - that's when I get tangled.

Now, how do we use these elements in a reading? Or, how to apply astrological correlations to a reading? That is my challenge - I understand that these court cards have these attributes, but I failed to bring them together in a reading; I just don't know how to connect astrology and tarot.

How do you connect the two?

Lumen

 

[Dogmother]

I don't know if this is will be a help....the most influencial astrology book I've ever encounter is "The Inner Sky" by Forrest. In a discussion of the signs very succinct "I" statements are used and they have always resonnated for me. I was versed in astrology before I came to tarot and the court cards have never been "people" for me; but rather more like flavors or essences of self/others. The "i" statements that work well for me with Kings/fixed, Queens/cardinal and Pages/Mutable are:

Wand Page/Satittarius: I Perceive
Wand Queen/Aries: I Am
Wand King/Leo: I Will

Cup Page/Pisces: I Believe
Cup Queen/Cancer: I Feel
Cup King/Scorpio: I Desire

Sword Page/Gemini: I Think
Sword Queen/Libra: I Balance
Sword King/Aquarius: I Know

Pentacle Page/Virgo: I Analyze
Pentacle Queen/Capricorn: I Utilize
Pentacle King/Taurus: I Have

For me having an astrological path into the tarot court cards helped solidify my bond with the tarot.

 

[balenciaga]

I learned it ages ago as:
Pentacles are earth signs (Virgo, cap, taurus);
cups are water signs (scorpio, cancer, pisces);
wands are fire signs (leo, sag, aries);
and swords are air (Libra, aquarius, gemini).

But as time has marched on, I do not pigeon-hole my courts anymore. I now view them more with personality traits or how they will act - the queen of sw is sharp, discerning, sees all and misses nothing, likes to talk and you will listen; a king of wands is ready to act, etc.
But I will fall back on it if the sitter asks, "what sign are they?"

 

[Basic Elements]

I use the deacon system elaborated in the book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley for relating astrological information to the court cards

 

[Jai1216]

The way I know it is based on cardinal fixed mutable....

King of Wands - Aries
Queen of Wands - Leo
Knight of Wands - Sagittarius

King of Pentacles - Capricorn
Queen of Pentacles - Taurus
Knight of Pentacles - Virgo

King of Swords - Libra
Queen of Swords - Aquarius
Knight of Swords - Gemini

King of Cups - Cancer
Queen of Cups - Scorpio
Knight of Cups - Pisces

I do the same thing -- I see Kings as cardinal, Queens as fixed, and Knights as mutable when I am describing a personality trait to a client.

But a lot of times, when I get a court card, say King of Pentacles, I will just in general tell the client that the man coming into her life is an earth sign.

For a time, I struggled with the King of Pents and Queen of Pents. My good friend is a Taurus but comes up as King of Pents all the time. So, while I associate based on modes, it is not a hard and fast rule.