The Court Cards

The smallest group of cards in Tarot is the Court-Cards, there are only 16 of them.

Each suit (Wands, Cups, Swords & pentacles) has 4 court-cards.

It easiest to see the Court-cards as people, each an exaggerated character that highlights their strengths & weaknesses.


In a tarot reading court-cards are most likely to represent;

  • You-offering you advise as to how to best to act in a specific situation or relationship
  • A specific person- as you get to know the cars you will recognize members of your family, work & friends within the court cards.

Action Point;

  • Separate your court cards. Sort them into the four suits.

Now let's look at the four "ranks" with in each suit. Names will differ from deck to deck,so check with the book that came with your deck, and be guided by the pictures if the names aren't certain.

Page (princess)

The "youngest" of the court-cards. Pages represent how you can feel at the start of a new project. Excited, optimistic, enthusiastic, curious.

There is a need to learn, to focus on the next step, to explore. To build confidence, and experience.

For court-cards I love the Druid-Craft tarot, here are the four princesses. Don't be put off by the name, or gender. The court-cards refer to your psychology not age or gender.

An 84 year old man could be a princess in Tarot if he was feeling the excitement of starting, or learning something new!


Now lets move onto the knights.

This is the stage of testing. When you are focused on proving yourself, succeeding. There is a single mindedness to the knights, that can be a good thing....


The Queens, again- I want to emphasize the cards reflect your psychology, not your actual age or gender!

The Queens represent self assurance, confidence, mastery.

They use their suit to express themselves.

They are independent & put themselves first (which isn't always a bad thing)



The Kings have responsibility.

He has mastered his suit, integrated into his personality, and now using his suit for his advantage- and in particular the advantage of others.

Action Points;

The best way to get to know the court-cards?

  1. Go through the court-cards. Who are you- at work, at home, with friends, angry? Who is your partner, mother, boss? No one is ever "one" court-card- but we all have our comfort zones. Relating the court-cards to people in your life really helps them to come alive.
  2. Read- using only the court-cards. Shuffle the 16 court-cards and ask "how should I best be-in a relationship/circumstance/problem" Now deal one card. How is that card, and what advice is it giving you?

Perfectly Balanced;

A perfectly balanced person can use the psychology of each & every court-card, when they need to.

They can be focused & determined (like the knight of swords), reflective and gentle (like the Queen of cups) Or enjoy a good meal & good company (like the king of pentacles)

Most people however will have certain court-cards they prefer & identify with, and others they simply don't like.

This can be extremely telling!

Go through the cards one by one. Be honest, do you like this court-card, why? why not?

As for me;

Card I most identify with; Princess of Wands

Card I most dislike; Queen of Cups

Card I most admire; King of Pentacles

Most frustrating card; Knight of pentacles (I just want to shake him)

Card I'd most like to spend time with; King of Swords

This is just a brief introduction, I am currently finishing the next module-the Court Cards- where I will introduce you each Court card one by one, and explain exactly what the symbolims in each card means.

Complete and Continue