They’ll see you in court.
Wait! Don’t run away!
Students first learning Tarot tend to groan when the Court cards turn up.
It’s supposed to represent an actual person, right?
Or is it an aspect of the self?
Is it advising a way to approach a problem?
I don’t get it.
When starting a daily Tarot practice many feel a sense of disappointment and confusion when the card-of-the-day is a Page, Knight, Queen or King. Don’t be afraid of the Courts! They can be as interesting and helpful as the rest of the deck once you get to know them.
Human personalities are too varied and complex to be reduced to 16 categories, 8 for boys and 8 for girls. Each Court does represent an aspect of personality that may remind you of someone. It may also describe qualities that are showing up strong or sorely missing in your own behavior. Also, more things than people can be said to have a personality. Workplaces, households, relationships, projects- all of these can be said to have a character of their own.
We’ll break down here the basics of the four possible positions a courtier can hold, then provide an example of interpretation for a specific card (the Knight of Disks.)
IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t get too hung up on gender. You’ll find our card descriptions will sometimes call Knights and Kings “she” or Pages and Queens “he”. We mix it up deliberately. None of the qualities assigned to the courts are exclusively male or female.
The PAGES
The Pages are the eager young students of the Tarot. They love communication and collaboration. They can have trouble focusing- everything is so interesting it’s tough to settle on some narrow field of vision. They relate to the Aces as announcements of all the wonders a suit has to offer, but in a less abstract and more practical get-your-hands-dirty way than the Ace. They are the enthusiasm and naiveté of beginnings.
The QUEENS
The Queens sit comfortably on their thrones, free from the Knight’s restless drives, but they are not bound to their thrones as the Kings are. They live in that sweet spot between struggle and sovereignty. Their approach is more flexible and collaborative than that of the other Courts. We are entering the “older”, more adept half of the Court cards. The Queen’s power is often wielded softly, through diplomacy, networking and consensus-building. Others don’t even recognize how their subtle methods have shaped events, and they are not usually eager to take the credit. Keeping their movements behind-the-scenes helps maintain their flexibility and freedom. It’s up to them to get involved or to sit back and let things play out on their own.
They are the element of their suit in its most balanced and positive expression. They inhabit their place in the world comfortably, so benevolence comes easily to them.
The KNIGHTS
The Knights are heroes questing after a goal. They are all about a certain type of movement. They have a focus. There is something they seek to attain, often a goal that has to do with ‘leveling up’: a change in status that will allow them to put down the sword and shield for a bit. In negative expression the Knight’s movement can become compulsive action; a focus on a goal or desire used to escape growth and responsibility.
The KINGS
The Kings are individuals of established power that has been attained through the exercise of their suit. Since their enviable prestige can only be maintained by more of the same, they sometimes feel constrained or ‘bound to the throne.’ While this feeling chafes, it seldom chafes enough that they would be willing to give up their position for freedom. These monarchs sometimes indicate a level of mastery has been reached that demands the individual seek more challenging work.
As abstract symbols Kings can represent a high level of achievement in a field associated with their suit.
Example reading: Knight of Disks
Let’s take as an example the Knight of Disks.
Knights are about movement and questing after a goal. In the suit of Disks this movement is practical one-step-at-a-time progress. This Knight does not hurry or cut corners; what he builds, he builds to last. If that means he moves a little slower than the flashy Sword and Wand Knights, so be it. He’s not going to be pressured into rushing his work. Things will be done in the proper way, in the proper order, at the pace that will yield the best results.
Now, you may read that description and think immediately, “That’s my dad!” How do you relate to these qualities in your father? Do you try to emulate them, or do they make you crazy with impatience? When do you feel that your own thoughts are “your father talking”?
Or you may be in your third semester at law school and this Knight’s plodding progress is what you feel like you are living right now. Look at his strong steed with all four feet on the ground, look at his great posture! He may not be the most glamorous hero, but he is a hero. Channeling his earthy practicality and patience might be useful to you right now. Summon his picture to mind when the grind is wearing you down.
Or you might have begun the edit of the first draft of your novel, a draft you finished in an explosive fever of creativity in just six months! Now, two weeks into the editing process you’re barely clocking three pages a day. Here is the Knight of Disks to tell you that tedious editing is his job. Maybe one of those flashy Sword or Wand Knights helped you get the first draft done. He’s here to do the slow work of turning it into a manuscript that will sell. Embrace the suck.
Or the disorganized nature of your household is so deeply rooted and overwhelming it feels like change is impossible. But you so want change. “One small step at a time,” says this Knight.
Or you’ve been putting off sitting down to work out a personal budget that will allow you to grow your savings…
You get the idea.
Any of the Knights’ need for movement can indicate compulsive or addictive behavior. In the suit of Earth this would indicate overindulgence in physical pleasures such as eating or drinking, or a pathological obsession with finances. In this case the card is a call to ask yourself, why do I keep going back there?
Each Court card covers a way that we inhabit each individual suit. They can provide powerful ways to outpicture a symbol for a kind of behavior we want to emulate… or avoid.
Wait a minute… Princess Who?
Many decks substitute “Princess” and “Prince” for Page and Knight. Some substitute “Son”, “Daughter”, “Mother”, and “Father” for all four courtiers. It’s usually pretty easy to figure out which of the traditional names they align with.
UNLESS…
you are reading Alistair Crowley’s Thoth deck or a deck based on the Thoth deck. Then things get a little complicated.
We at Daily Practice Tarot interpret a Thoth Queen as a Queen, a Thoth Knight as a Knight, a Thoth Princess as a Page, and a Thoth Prince as a King.
You will find sources that do these differently – most commonly making the Thoth Knight a King rather than the Thoth Prince. In truth is there is no exact correspondence because Crowley’s is simply a different system than RWS.