Holding Court with Court Cards

Is this Knight of Cups a generous charmer or a sleazy manipulator? It all depends on what you see. (Image from the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck)

When I started reading tarot thirteen years ago, I had a block when it came to reading court cards.  I’m not sure why this was… perhaps I heard they were difficult somewhere and bought into it (entire books have been written about the court cards, alone).  It could also have been that I didn’t completely understand the nature of the court card in a reading or how to use my intuition when reading on of these cards.

Eventually, through trial and error, I developed a knack for reading court cards.  These days, they are one of my favorite cards to read for people. 

First off, for those of you aren’t as familiar with court cards, let me explain their function in a reading.  When a court card (that’s a Page, Knight, Queen, King or variation on those titles) appears in a reading, it signifies a personality.  This personality may be a part of the person you’re reading for (i.e. querent)  or it could be someone that is impacting the querent’s life in the position it occupies.  For example, if the Queen of Wands were to appear in the subconscious spot in a reading, I might assume that the querent is being affected, subcsonsciously, by another person who is like the Queen of Wands–or by the part of their personality that is like the Queen of Wands. 

Figuring out if the card signifies the person you are reading for or another person, like much of reading tarot, requires trusting your gut and exploring the card deeply. Over years of reading tarot, I’ve developed this technique for getting more in depth with your court cards and finding out just who they represent.

Practice Exercise
The easiest way to demonstrate this technique is to have you try it out, yourself. 

1. To start, pull all of your court cards out of the deck

2. Shuffle the cards, face down, while asking the tarot to give you the best court card to learn from (this is a technique I love doing when I’m working on an exercise.  Oftentimes, the tarot picks out the perfect card or spread to learn from, when you just ask)

3. Next, pull out your card and flip it over.  What did you get?

4. Think about what you already know about this card.  This will give you a general idea of the personality you are dealing with.  For example, pages are typically younger people and Queens can often be mothers or someone older, etc.  You can find plenty of examples of court card meanings online or in books for this step–but it is not required to proceed with the exercise.

5. Establish a link to the card.  Imagine the card is a photograph of someone you are about to meet as you consider the following: 

-Study your reaction: Is this someone you want to be friends with?  Do you feel drawn to them?  Do you think they are trustworthy?  Intimidating?  Many times, during this part of the reading, I’ll have a strong reaction to the card, I might be unable to stop smiling or I may get angry.  My reaction often hints at whether or not I will actually like the person–if I’ll think they are trustworthy, cute, or funny, etc.

-Look at their face:  What does their expression tell you?  Are they determined?  Are they thinking about the future or the here-and-now?  Is the person confrontational?  What are they focused on?  If the court card could smile, what would it look like (imagining this can give you an idea of the person’s sense of humor)?

-Think about body language:   What is the person doing with their body?  Are they offering something (which can hint at a generous personality)?  Are they holding up something to look at it (maybe the person is absorbed in issues surrounding the object and is not paying attention to anything else)?  What is their body telling you?  A lot of times, the face may be saying one thing and the body, another.   I often view the face as the first impression a person gives and their body language as their personality when you get to know them.

-Look at the environment:  Is the person in a stormy situation?  Are they near the beach?  This can hint at the kind of environment the person thrives in.  It may also tell you where they currently are in their lives.

6. Put the pieces together.  This can be as simple as writing everything down to form a whole picture or sharing what you’ve seen with the person you’re reading for.  When I read, I basically share as I go, fleshing out the picture as I get more in depth with the card.  (NOTE: When reading for other people, I can’t always establish this type of connection with a court card.  This normally signifies, for me, that the court card is speaking to an aspect of the personality of the querent.)

7. Do the exercise again but this time ask the tarot to show you someone  you can turn to for friendship.  See what hints the card gives you and, once you’ve gone through the exercise, try to identify who the tarot is speaking about.  It’s fun to practice with court cards in this way; asking the tarot the identity of your next crush or someone at work that can help you, etc., can open up doors of potential relationships (or relationships to avoid) while building your court card reading skills.

This approach to court cards has made reading them easier and even fun.  For me, it is like people-watching, only with the tarot, and I find that it is always accurate.  I’m also impressed when the same card comes up in two different readings and the feelings I get from the card are completely different.  One time, when reading the Knight of Cups, I saw a sleazy man who manipulated those that trusted him.  That same card in a reading for someone else revealed a charming, genuine, and helpful person who was loved by many.

Feel free to share your experiences with this exercise or techniques you’ve also developed when reading court cards in the comments section!