Court Cards

To continue on from last weeks post and now that you can see how the numbers work through the "pip" cards of the Tarot, lets look now at their regal companions and the qualities the Kings, Queens, Knights & Pages share.

The Kings and Queens both represent maturity.  The Queens embody the more feminine aspects of appreciation of life - connection to family, enjoyment of the world and it's wonders - this does not make them passive however.  We only have to look at each one to see their strengths, they are more involved with the world around them and with relationships.  The Kings on the other hand, rule.  As the final card in the sequence they bear responsibility for society, therefore they make decisions and take action.

Knights are figures of action.  Young in character, they want to explore and test their skills.  They may be romantic or courageous.  At the same time, they bear a responsibility to help others, for that is what knights do.  This works well in the more aggressive suits of Swords and Wands, but can develop trouble in the introverted Cups or the stable Pentacles.

Pages are young, they have no responsibility except to learn, to become skilled through immersing themselves in the energy of the suit.  In readings, Pages can refer literally to children or students or a person who is entering a new stage in their life. 

People who do readings with Tarot cards often describe the court cards as the most difficult to interpret.  They do not show an action or a situation or even an idea, but simply a character.  Beyond the possibility of identifying actual people in our lives, how do we understand them?  Some people find the structure of the court cards sexist, and there is no doubt that the court cards flow from an old fashioned and traditional view of male and female roles, but when doing readings you should go beyond this limitation if you recognize that the cards do not limit themselves in their applications to real people.  In readings, a King may symbolize a woman if she shows the special traits of the card, and a man may act out the Queen of Wands, in the way he lives his life or in a particular situation.  These are not permanent designations that last a person's whole life! A court card in a Tarot reading says something about a person right now, not for all time!  If you think of them as characters in a play, the play doesn't last forever and the performers can change from one character to another while still remaining their essential selves.


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