Through the years and lessons we learn, we begin to master life. As human beings, we begin to piece together bits of wisdom that helps us to shape our lives. From our understanding of life, we grow and create lifetimes filled with joy and at times pain. Yet with all this wisdom, people seem to remain one of the most complex and even mind boggling aspects to life.
When I began my journey with tarot, I had no idea how representative the cards were about life and the human experience. As I grew and learned more about life and the tarot cards, I found a unity within this tool and my life.
It then stands to reason that the one area of tarot that has left me the most puzzled is the Court Cards. Comprised of four cards per suit, these cards represent various situations and people. When you stop to think about the great diversity of people in this world, you can begin to understand just how monumental a task 16 Court Cards have in representing all of humanity.
For this reason I believe some changes need to be made to the meaning of these 16 cards. Since tarot represents people’s understanding of the human experience, as time and the human experience changes the cards can fail to work.
Through my studies and work with the tarot cards I have shifted the meanings and understanding of some of the cards, to approach life from a more loving and heart-centered place. But when it comes to the Court Cards I think a new approach with a lot of up-dating is needed.
The Court Cards in The Past:
Long ago the creators of tarot created the Court Cards to represent people. The Pages were children, the Knights male teens, the Queens women, and the Kings men. The Suit of Wands, Swords, and Cups were people who were white with various hair and eye colors. The Suit of Pentacles were people of any other ethnicity.
As you can see… there’s some problems here.
Since tarot is said to be a creation from Italy or Egypt, where this tool then spread through Europe, we can see how these stereotypes were created. When the majority of people in your life are white, it makes sense to diversify them between eye and hair color. In addition, when you live in a patriarchal society and are a man, overlooking teen girls makes sense. Especially when girls became women without ever really being teens.
When you consider where the creators and users of tarot were coming from, they made a deck based on their understanding of life and the human experience, and in a way that worked for them. When you have many white friends and few to none of other ethnicities, if you want to know who the cards are talking about you, break your friends into different eye and hair colors.
But times have changed. We now have different genders, sexual orientations, and ethnicities all within our personal world. Which means that we need to make changes in order for this tool to remain relevant and aid us the most it can.
Court Cards Today:
Since I don’t believe the Court Cards are in a position to offer the most insight and aid, I have changed what they mean and how to use them. In this way, whoever you are and no matter who your friends are, they can be found and honorably represented within your spreads.
Court Cards: The Basics-
In the past there were 4 Court Cards:
- Pages/Knaves/Princesses
- Knights/Princes
- Queen
- King
While the names change from deck to deck, their meanings remained the same. Pages were messages in life and children. Knights were the young men and action in life. Queens were women and feminine power. While Kings, were men, masculine energy, and positions of power and authority.
The Components to My Court Cards:
As I worked with the Court Cards, my first response was to become overwhelmed. For only having 16 cards, they sure do cover a lot. For this reason, it can be hard to know just which meaning is being represented in your spread. As I’ve said, people are complicated.
Once I covered the generalities of the Court Cards I began to diversify what I knew. Through my work with the cards, not being blue eyed or blond hair, or having many friends that fit those specifications, and most importantly due to my teacher, how I understood these cards transformed. Since I picked up my first deck and did a spread, my understanding of the cards have grown.
I underwent another huge shift in my understanding of the Court Cards because of this blog series on tarot. It’s one thing to know the cards and do readings, it another to write down what I know to share it with you guys.
In doing so, I took a long look at each card. Not having done such a deep study of the tarot since I started learning this tool, my understanding of life has grown. As a result, my understanding of tarot did too.
Which is why I am going about the Court Cards in a different manner that I had planned. Originally I was going to place what I knew about the Court Cards into a single post. Since I drew out my lesson plan, I have reached the decision to break the Court Cards into topics.
What We’ll Cover:
Since there are many various components to a single Court Card I have discovered an trick to reading them in a spread. When a Court Cards presents itself in a spread, I use my intuition to guide me to, which aspect of the card is being represented (person/personality trait/energy/situation/health/relationship).
It is then from my intuition that I can pull up that aspect of the Court Card. Rather than running through every possible meaning of the card, I can narrow down what the cards are trying to tell me. As a result, I have broken down my posts on the Court Cards based on the various aspects they have…
Energy- In looking at the energetic influence of the elements, astrology, numerology, and Qabalah, we can learn the qualities found within each card.
Person & Personality- Since these cards represent people I have come to learn them as people and personality traits. In this way, the cards can represent a person or a personality trait we need to watch out for or learn in order to become successful.
Situation/Health/Relationship- Another component within the Court Cards, is the various situations that can be manifesting. Rather than having a single card representing a message on its way to you. You can discover what type of message it is based upon which Page presents itself.
Family- Within the Court Cards there is a story arc, just like all the other components within tarot. One story arc is the evolution of child to adult, which we will address within the person & personality post. But another story arc is being told between the Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings.
Final Thoughts:
The Court Cards remain one of the most challenging cards to master in tarot. For this reason, I encourage you to be gentle with yourself as you delve into these 16 cards. I also encourage you to take what you know about yourself and people, and compare what you know with what you find here.
As I have said, these cards are meant to represent people. My understanding of these cards comes from the knowledge I have learned from others and my own understanding of people. But I don’t know everything about people. So add what you know. In this way, your tarot deck will be able to offer you amazing insight into the questions you posit.