The Court Cards

They are the people of the tarot: a Page, a Knight, a Queen and a King in each of the four suits. And because they look like people, everybody's first instinct is to ask who they are. Sometimes that is the right question. Most of the time there is a better one.

Three questions

When a court card turns up, ask three things, in this order.

Could it be a part of me?

Could it be an approach I need to take?

Could it be someone in my life?

I put them in that order on purpose. More often than not the first answer is the right one, and the third is where everybody starts. If you ask about your relationship and the Knight of Swords appears, it is tempting to decide your partner is sharp tongued and charging about. Before you do, ask whether that is you.

The four ranks

Each rank is a stage of growing into the suit.

The Page is the student and the messenger. Curiosity, a beginner's eagerness, news arriving. A Page often means you are new at something, and that is fine. Everybody was a Page once.

The Knight is movement. The one who acts and pursues, and often goes too far in the direction of the suit. The Knight of Swords charges in with the sword up. The Knight of Pentacles sits on a horse that has stopped, so careful he barely moves. Knights are energy in motion, and they need steering.

The Queen is mastery on the inside. She holds her suit, feels it fully and nurtures it in others. The Queen of Cups is emotional wisdom and deep intuition. The Queen of Pentacles makes a home that feeds everyone who walks into it.

The King is mastery in the world. He leads with his suit and puts it to use. The King of Wands is the visionary who gets people moving. The King of Pentacles is the steady provider, the one who built the business and kept it going.

Rank and suit together

Put the rank and the suit together and you can read any court card.

A Page of Wands is an exciting new idea, still raw. A Knight of Cups is the romantic, arriving with an offer and his heart on his sleeve. A Queen of Swords is clear sight and plain speaking, someone who has been through pain and come out clear about it. A King of Cups is calm, generous feeling, the person who stays steady while everyone around him is swamped.

Age and gender

A Queen can be a man and a King can be a woman. A Page can be seventy.

The court cards were drawn in a different century, and the ranks are energies. When I read, I read the rank for what it does, and the person in your life it describes may look nothing like the figure on the card.

The exercise: most like me, least like me

Take the sixteen court cards out of your deck and spread them in front of you.

Pick the one that is most like you today. Then pick the one that is least like you.

Sit with the second one. The court card you would least like to be is usually the one with something to teach you. If you are a Knight of Wands, forever charging at the next thing, the Queen of Pentacles may have a lot to say about staying put. If you are a King of Swords, all logic and fairness, the Page of Cups may be asking when you last let yourself feel something without explaining it.

Do it again in a month. The answers change more than you would expect.

If you would like the cards read against your own chart, my readings are here.