When I first introduced Court Cards, I mentioned that these sixteen cards can be the most challenging to learn. Whether you are a master or a novice with tarot, you know that while these cards offer great insight into the various personalities of people, there’s a lot to learn.
Following my four articles on the personality traits of the Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings its time to address how they work in a spread.
Your Court Card:
We each have a Court Card that represents us in a spread. The same can be said for every person. In this way, we can identify who is being referred to in a spread, whether the spread is about you and your life, or for someone else.
The Tricky Part:
While we each have one predominant Court Card to call our own, there are times when other Court Cards can reference us or someone else. As a result, we need to understand the various influences there are in determining which Court Card is ours and which ones might be present in a spread.
The Underlying Court Cards:
If you have taken the time to read about the personalities for each of the Court Cards, or have some knowledge already, you’ll know that these sixteen cards, while diverse are also very limited. When reading through their personalities, maybe more than one sounded life you. Or maybe none really seemed to fit completely.
This is because, we are rarely just one Court Card. Just as I mentioned about Chinese Face Reading having one predominant element for each of our faces, we also carry other elements to a lesser degree. While you might resonate completely with a Court Card, or know of someone like that, most people have an underlying Court Card.
We are complex in our identify, and while tarot does a wonderful job of representing the diverse range of personalities. The Court Cards are generalizations and limited in this ability to represent people. Unless you have a dominant card, with an underlying influence.
The Set of Circumstances:
The next major influence is the context of the spread. While we all have a dominant nature, we are also a species that can learn and adapt. For this reason, context will influence just what Court Card appears.
For Example:
I am by nature a Queen of Pentacles. When I feel most like myself or in my element, this is the Court Card that will appear. However, if the set of circumstances change, I might appear differently.
When I’m highly sensitive or focused on my psychic abilities I will read as a Queen of Cups. When I know what I want, a Queen of Wands. And when I’m being analytical, my head is disconnected from my heart, or I’m approaching things from a harsh place I might read as the Queen of Swords.
Then if that wasn’t complicated enough, I can read as a Page of Pentacles when I am in a situation where I am completely out of my element and inexperienced. That’s not to mention when a Court Card is reading as a personality trait needed or being used. Then, I can be any one of the sixteen Court Cards.
Essentially, it all comes down to what the question is being asked, what spread is being used, and what cards are present. These three main factors when paired with your intuition are all you need to understand the story that lays before you.
The Impact of Time:
As you know, Pages represent children or inexperienced adults, Knight’s teens, and Queens and Kings as adults. The impact of time will have a person journey from Page to a Queen or King. But there is another impact time has, and that is the impact of change.
When we first addressed the Page of Swords, we saw how wounded a child reading as a sword personality would be. Oftentimes, as in 99% of the time, a child is not born this wounded, but through time will come to be read as a Page of Swords. Due to circumstances, experiences, and choices made.
For Example:
I once did a reading to better understand the personality shift of a child I knew. In a basic Grand-Cross spread, two Pages appeared. The Page of Cups filled position four or the resent past. While the Page of Wands filled position one, the current environment.
Through a series of events, this child no-longer felt safe being highly sensitive and emotion-based. As a result, this child had subconsciously chosen to embody a different personality. One of a more active and playful child who took things less seriously and to heart.
Another Example:
For both my friend’s husband and a once close family member, these men changed their Court Cards in adulthood. These men read as a King of Wands and a King of Pentacles, but through time came to be read as the King of Swords.
While the King of Swords possess the potential to be a very smart card, I’m afraid in both of these cases, this King came to represent deception and unhealthy behavior.
Both of these men encountered great wounds in life, but never dealt with them. As time passed, these wounds festered and ultimately led them down a dysfunctional path.
Final Example:
Both of my examples have demonstrated a change in Court Card due to need and self-neglect. But I don’t want you to think that time only negatively impacts things. Sometimes, time can strengthen and aid a person, even if their Court Card changes.
For example, if you are familiar with the television show, Rizzoli & Isles, you will know Rizzoli’s mother, Angela. In the first season, this woman is a Queen of Cups. Not only highly emotional, but co-dependent and completely invested in her family.
During the course of the show (spoiler alert), her husband divorces her, she studies and obtains her GED, she gets a job (instead of being a stay-at-home mom), and she not only learns but experiences a lot. As a result, she becomes a Queen of Cups with an underlying Queen of Swords.
Through time, experiences, learning, growing, adapting, and change this character becomes more grounded. Part of this transformation comes through hardships, and some comes from the skills learned in order to support herself as she pays the bills and navigates her own life. In this case, time provides her with what she needs to come to a healthier and happier place.
This example just goes to show us, that if you or someone you know reads as a wounded Sword (Page, Knight, Queen or King) that with time, they have the potential to heal. Whether it’s an underlying card or even turning the dominant Sword to an underlying card, people have the potential to know healing with time.
What’s Available:
Sometimes a Court Card will present itself different from who you are, not because of a change in you, but merely because your Court Card has already been used. While I have a friend who uses two tarot decks in one giant stack, most people only have one Queen of Pentacles available. Whether it’s a massive spread or a simple one, sometimes multiple Court Cards will appear for one person.
For Example:
I had a friend who severed ties with me, when I shared my personal philosophy. To better understand the situation, I did a basic Grand Cross Spread (10 cards). I ended up with two Queens, the Queen of Pentacles, the Queen of Swords, and the Empress.
Based on the positions of the cards (Queen of Pentacles “Seeker,” Queen of Swords “present,” the Empress “outside influence”), and the surrounding cards, I was able to read the story before me. Essentially, my friend thought I had gone off the deep end.
In this case, multiple Court Cards and Major Arcana cards were needed in order to give me a clear picture of what was running through my ex-friend’s head.
Let’s Not Forget The Major Arcana:
As you saw above, we are not only the Court Cards but every other card as well. The pip cards of the Minor Arcana (#1-10) represent a set of circumstances, situation, or experience. But that person on the card is our Fool.
While the Major Arcana cards generally represent teachers or major life events, they can also represent you. Most commonly women can be read as the High Priestess or the Empress. While the men can be read as the Magician or the Emperor.
In these cases, it can be an element or quality within you being referred to, since we all are connected to a Court Card.
The Meyers-Briggs & Tarot:
As I wrote about the sixteen personalities, I linked in the sixteen personality types of the Meyers-Briggs. In this manner, you can discover an added level of understanding to each card and maybe shed some light onto which Court Card is like you.
That being said, I view this tool as more of a study guide so you can learn and understand to a greater degree the cards before you. I don’t recommend using these connections to identify which card is you. The simple reason being, that it is not how the Court Cards were set up.
Since the Meyer-Briggs personalities weren’t yet uncovered. If you choose your card based on your Meyers-Briggs personality, you may end up with a Page or Knight. This is not in keeping with the structure of tarot, which predates Meyers-Briggs.
Discovering Your Dominant Court Card:
With all of the variations and influences had, it might seem overwhelming. But we all can know ourselves when we honestly look into the mirror. My first suggestion is to re-read the personalities of the Queens & Kings and listen to your intuition. Which card or cards resonate with you?
My second recommendation is to pull out your tarot deck and start practicing. While you might not be able to decern multiple levels to your spreads, you will begin to discover patterns and basic insight. In this way you’ll find your Court Card. It is through time and practice that we improve our reading ability.
The Zodiac Spread:
In some spreads, you need to have a Court Card that you identify in order to utilize the spread. For example, in the Zodiac Spread following the reading of the thirteen cards (plus shadow card), you are instructed to lay the rest of the deck out on top of your spread.
As a result, you get stacks of cards for each position. These cards act as clarification about your spread. When doing a reading for the coming year or your coming month, you look for your Court Card to know where your efforts and time are best spent. (Where your focus is needed.)
You also have the opportunity to tailor your reading. For example, if you know if the coming month you will need to be decisive in your actions, you may choose to look for the Queen of Wands rather than your Court Card. Doing so, because you know you need to channel the personality traits of this card in order to be successful with what you have planned for the month.
Final Thoughts:
Court Cards are a complex thing. When seen from different viewpoints a plethora of meanings become relevant to your reading. As a result, they are both filled with insight as well as requiring more time to fully learn.
As one who still studies the Court Cards and needs to pull out my notes on occasion, go with the level and speed you are at. The whole point of tarot is to utilize this skill to help guide you. It does not possess all the answers and can provide insight even with a simple three-card spread. Trust in your intuition and you will be all set to see just what story the tarot cards have to share.