Amethyst Rose
June 8th, 2005, 03:22 PM
Lesson 6 - Court Cards
The court cards are often the most difficult cards to interpret in a reading. This is because of a couple factors... first of all, a court card can represent different things in a reading: a person, a person's personality, a needed outlook, an aspect of a situation and many other things. Once you've determined the aspect the card is relating to, you need to understand it's meaning. The key to understanding these cards is to remember that each 'personality' is a made up of a combination of the suit meaning, and the card's rank.
I'll start with a very simple lay out of how to remember what card means what, in general and then go into more detail with the personalities of each card.
Rank:
King - passionate, filled with energy, leaders, motivators, commanders and creators, adult man
Queen - creative force, growth, development, adult woman
Knight/Prince- changes, movement, travel, extremely loyal, young man
Page/Princess - newness, messages, child like, child or young woman
Suit:
Cups - emotions: love life, emotional extremes, psycic powers, element water
Wands - passion: ambition, career, religion etc., element fire
Coins - the physical: health, money, work, element earth
Swords - the mind: intellect, thinking, speaking, communication, element air
So, if you come across a court card, say, the Queen of Cups, you can look and see that the Queen represents developments and creation...in this case she can represent the development of a relationship or a family, or psycic powers. If she was the Queen of Wands she could represent the development of a career or starting out on a new religious path. Another example, the Knight of Swords can represent travel by air, while the Knight of Wands could mean travel by something that requires fire, like cars, buses, motorcycles, etc.
Alright, so here is a more indepth look at each of the court cards' personalities:
Kings:
King of Wands: Full of energy, expansive and fun, the King of Wands would make a perfect preacher, motivational speaker or politician. He loves challenges, danger, competition and aventure. He always has to be the leader, and trails worshipful friends in his wake. He's great with kids, a fun an engeretic dad who loves to play. However, everything needs to be about him. If people don't support his visions or wants and go along with his plans then he can get impatient and tyrranical, forcing his plans on employees and family alike.
King of Cups: The King of Cups is a kind gentle man. Nothing is more important to him than his family, and everything he does is with them in mind. As such, he is extremely protective of them. He is most likely seen in low profile positions like a chef or buisness owner, where he's behind the scenes. He can be very old fashioned and have old fashioned ideas. He can be too soft, however, and that can cause people to walk all over him. His forgiveness knows know bounds, and people can take advantage of that.
King of Swords: To the King of Swords his ideals are what are the most important to him. He is loving and friendly, patient and careful, however he has strong beliefs which he expects his loved ones to also adher to. As such, he makes a great lawyer, judge or politician. He is willing to fight for what he believes for and is willing to go to extremes, he may even be an activist. He can be very stubborn and unmoving if he believes strongly about something. He can hold grudges and be bitterly disappointed in anyone who doesn't share his ideals.
King of Coins: The King of Coins is proud and self reliant. He is the type of man to live off the land - grow his own crops and hunt his own food, and makes a wonderful famer or civil servant. He worked hard to get where he is, and where he is is in charge. He can be charming and funny, is kind, loyal and honest. He expects people around him to work hard for what they want, and to share his values...not to the extremes as the King of Swords, but at least to return a favor. He has a hard time saying "I love you".
Queens:
Queen of Wands: As a woman, this queen represents someone who loves being in the spotlight. She is creative with boundless energy, loves children and can tend to be over active in her children's lives, being involved with everything. She radiates warmth and energy, good humor and spirit. She's very intense and her high engery often leads her to politics or entertainment - where ever she can lead and be recognized. She has amazing charisma, and people flock to be near her. She is hot, passionate and offen relentless in her persuits. She needs to be aware of being over bearing and bossy. In a reading she can
Queen of Cups: This queen is often a healer, of the body or the mind....counselors or psychologists, doctors or nurses, and wise women. She is affectionate and loving - the woman you go to when you need a shoulder to cry on and a hot cup of tea. The Queen of Cups makes the perfect "grandma" - always there for hugs, kisses and chocolate chip cookies. Other characteristics she has include shyness, an amazing intuition, and often mysterious. Unfortunately, she needs to be aware that she is prone to depression, hormonal imballances, psycological problems and addictions.
Queen of Swords: The Queen of Swords is an amazingly intellectual woman. She's very well educated and well read. She knows her facts and figures and loves to discuss what she knows. She gravitates towards intellectual persuits like science and philosophy, especially in areas where she can talk and share her knowlege, like in the classroom or political forums. She absobs information like a sponge and always does her best to keep learning. Unfortunately men tend to be intimidated by her and she can seem a little aloof or cold, especially when confronted with something she feels is beneath her knowlege.
Queen of Coins: The Queen of Coins/Pentacles is a very down to earth woman. She is in tune with the earth and loves spending time outdoors, either exercising, like biking or hiking, or spending time in her garden and working on her immaculate yard. She is very down to earth and successful in her own buisness...she makes and handles money very well, and isn't afraid to spend it if it means helping her loved ones to be successfull. She loves beautiful things and is often artistically inclined...she surrounds herself with beautiful things: clothing, jewlery, paintings, flowers, etc. Unfortunately, the queens metaculous nature can be intimidating to her loved ones, and they may be afraid that their best won't be enough for her.
Knights/Princes:
Knights of Wands: This young man is your typical popular jock teenaged boy....he loves to party hard, has tons of friends, is very charismatic and is always the leader of the crowd. He is very energetic and quite possibly MVP on the football team or most likely to get voted Prom King. On the down side, like a lot of popular kids, he can be a bully and bossy, because he's generally thinking about himself, and not caring about other people's feelings. Despite that, he's very loyal to the important people in his life.
Knight of Cups: The dreamy romantic teenager...this is the boy who writes poems and love songs and gets engaged to his girlfriend when their 16 (and they'll be together forever!). He's sensative, moody and deep, possibly a loner. Such sensativity and moodyness can make him prone to depression though, especially when his love life is involved. He's very loyal to the people he loves.
Knight of Swords: The Knight of Swords comes across as a know it all - who wants everyone to now it! He has knowlege and opinions and he's going to share them. He argues for the sake of arguing, especially with people in positions of authority. This can get him in to all kinds of trouble, as I'm sure you can imagine. He can also be prone to spreading rumors or gossip, just for the sake of the reaction. He believes strongly in the freedom of information and free speech.
Knight of Coins: The Knight of Coins is a bit of a loner.... he hates to stand out, and would prefer to be at home and comfortable rather than out partying. He wants the best that money can by, just so he can fit in with everyone else. As such, he always has something on the go, jobs, projects, etc., to ensure he'll always be a part of it all. He fears being different or left out. However, this attitude can lead to just what he fears - if he stays on the sidelines out of fear of rejection, then he will ultimately lose people's respect. He values beautiful things and is a loyal employee.
Page/Princess:
Page of Wands: The Page of Wands is a kid or teenage girl who never sits still. As a young child, the page is always running, climbing and playing, and never wants to stop, or go to bed (sounds like my son!). He is charismatic, joyful and fun loving, a truely wonderful child to be around. He loves being the center of attention, but has potential to be a bully. As the teenage girl, she is the popular girl, the cheerleader, the partier with tons of girlfriends trailing after her. She always has plans to be with someone or do something, and she loves being the center of attention. She also, has the potential be a bully.
Page of Cups: The Page of Wands is a dreamer. He's very sensative and has a big heart, caring about everything and every one around him. He'll pick all the flowers in your garden to give you a present to make you happy. He is devistated by a hurt animal, and couldn't imagine using a worm to go fishing. Very kind and sweet, his emotions are very extreme. The Princess is the romantic teenage girl, most likely to fall in love and marry her high school sweet heart. She's a dreamer who falls in love instantly and who's heart gets broken just as easily.
Page of Swords: This kid just won't shut up! We've all seen a Page of Swords somewhere....they're the kid that needs to know the why of everything. They are constantly talking and exploring and learning. They are completely honest and abrupt with what they say . They are usually very brainy and quick to learn, good at puzzles and math and computers. They also love to argue like their teenage counterpart, so be careful! The Princess is the teenage girl you'd love to have on your debate team! She's smart and sharp and knows her stuff, and won't let anyone tell her differently. Expect her to be the valedictorian, and have awsome speach.
Page of Coins: The Page of Coins loves the outdoors. They can usually be found playing in the dirt somewhere... catching frogs, digging up worms or making mudpies. They're very creative and love to build things like forts or tree houses. They're willing to work for an allowance or have small jobs to make extra money, but that money gets saved for something very important, like a bike, not frittered away on candy. They're they kind of kid that seem too mature for their age. The Princess is a teenager who has all her ducks in a row.... she has an after school job and is saving up money for college, she might volunteer, simply for the experience. She's not a partier, she's more intent on her studies, as such she doesn't have a lot of friends and isn't popular, but she's happy
with what she has.
Any Questions?
This lesson brought to you by:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/meanings (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/meanings)
http://learntarot.com (http://learntarot.com)
The court cards are often the most difficult cards to interpret in a reading. This is because of a couple factors... first of all, a court card can represent different things in a reading: a person, a person's personality, a needed outlook, an aspect of a situation and many other things. Once you've determined the aspect the card is relating to, you need to understand it's meaning. The key to understanding these cards is to remember that each 'personality' is a made up of a combination of the suit meaning, and the card's rank.
I'll start with a very simple lay out of how to remember what card means what, in general and then go into more detail with the personalities of each card.
Rank:
King - passionate, filled with energy, leaders, motivators, commanders and creators, adult man
Queen - creative force, growth, development, adult woman
Knight/Prince- changes, movement, travel, extremely loyal, young man
Page/Princess - newness, messages, child like, child or young woman
Suit:
Cups - emotions: love life, emotional extremes, psycic powers, element water
Wands - passion: ambition, career, religion etc., element fire
Coins - the physical: health, money, work, element earth
Swords - the mind: intellect, thinking, speaking, communication, element air
So, if you come across a court card, say, the Queen of Cups, you can look and see that the Queen represents developments and creation...in this case she can represent the development of a relationship or a family, or psycic powers. If she was the Queen of Wands she could represent the development of a career or starting out on a new religious path. Another example, the Knight of Swords can represent travel by air, while the Knight of Wands could mean travel by something that requires fire, like cars, buses, motorcycles, etc.
Alright, so here is a more indepth look at each of the court cards' personalities:
Kings:
King of Wands: Full of energy, expansive and fun, the King of Wands would make a perfect preacher, motivational speaker or politician. He loves challenges, danger, competition and aventure. He always has to be the leader, and trails worshipful friends in his wake. He's great with kids, a fun an engeretic dad who loves to play. However, everything needs to be about him. If people don't support his visions or wants and go along with his plans then he can get impatient and tyrranical, forcing his plans on employees and family alike.
King of Cups: The King of Cups is a kind gentle man. Nothing is more important to him than his family, and everything he does is with them in mind. As such, he is extremely protective of them. He is most likely seen in low profile positions like a chef or buisness owner, where he's behind the scenes. He can be very old fashioned and have old fashioned ideas. He can be too soft, however, and that can cause people to walk all over him. His forgiveness knows know bounds, and people can take advantage of that.
King of Swords: To the King of Swords his ideals are what are the most important to him. He is loving and friendly, patient and careful, however he has strong beliefs which he expects his loved ones to also adher to. As such, he makes a great lawyer, judge or politician. He is willing to fight for what he believes for and is willing to go to extremes, he may even be an activist. He can be very stubborn and unmoving if he believes strongly about something. He can hold grudges and be bitterly disappointed in anyone who doesn't share his ideals.
King of Coins: The King of Coins is proud and self reliant. He is the type of man to live off the land - grow his own crops and hunt his own food, and makes a wonderful famer or civil servant. He worked hard to get where he is, and where he is is in charge. He can be charming and funny, is kind, loyal and honest. He expects people around him to work hard for what they want, and to share his values...not to the extremes as the King of Swords, but at least to return a favor. He has a hard time saying "I love you".
Queens:
Queen of Wands: As a woman, this queen represents someone who loves being in the spotlight. She is creative with boundless energy, loves children and can tend to be over active in her children's lives, being involved with everything. She radiates warmth and energy, good humor and spirit. She's very intense and her high engery often leads her to politics or entertainment - where ever she can lead and be recognized. She has amazing charisma, and people flock to be near her. She is hot, passionate and offen relentless in her persuits. She needs to be aware of being over bearing and bossy. In a reading she can
Queen of Cups: This queen is often a healer, of the body or the mind....counselors or psychologists, doctors or nurses, and wise women. She is affectionate and loving - the woman you go to when you need a shoulder to cry on and a hot cup of tea. The Queen of Cups makes the perfect "grandma" - always there for hugs, kisses and chocolate chip cookies. Other characteristics she has include shyness, an amazing intuition, and often mysterious. Unfortunately, she needs to be aware that she is prone to depression, hormonal imballances, psycological problems and addictions.
Queen of Swords: The Queen of Swords is an amazingly intellectual woman. She's very well educated and well read. She knows her facts and figures and loves to discuss what she knows. She gravitates towards intellectual persuits like science and philosophy, especially in areas where she can talk and share her knowlege, like in the classroom or political forums. She absobs information like a sponge and always does her best to keep learning. Unfortunately men tend to be intimidated by her and she can seem a little aloof or cold, especially when confronted with something she feels is beneath her knowlege.
Queen of Coins: The Queen of Coins/Pentacles is a very down to earth woman. She is in tune with the earth and loves spending time outdoors, either exercising, like biking or hiking, or spending time in her garden and working on her immaculate yard. She is very down to earth and successful in her own buisness...she makes and handles money very well, and isn't afraid to spend it if it means helping her loved ones to be successfull. She loves beautiful things and is often artistically inclined...she surrounds herself with beautiful things: clothing, jewlery, paintings, flowers, etc. Unfortunately, the queens metaculous nature can be intimidating to her loved ones, and they may be afraid that their best won't be enough for her.
Knights/Princes:
Knights of Wands: This young man is your typical popular jock teenaged boy....he loves to party hard, has tons of friends, is very charismatic and is always the leader of the crowd. He is very energetic and quite possibly MVP on the football team or most likely to get voted Prom King. On the down side, like a lot of popular kids, he can be a bully and bossy, because he's generally thinking about himself, and not caring about other people's feelings. Despite that, he's very loyal to the important people in his life.
Knight of Cups: The dreamy romantic teenager...this is the boy who writes poems and love songs and gets engaged to his girlfriend when their 16 (and they'll be together forever!). He's sensative, moody and deep, possibly a loner. Such sensativity and moodyness can make him prone to depression though, especially when his love life is involved. He's very loyal to the people he loves.
Knight of Swords: The Knight of Swords comes across as a know it all - who wants everyone to now it! He has knowlege and opinions and he's going to share them. He argues for the sake of arguing, especially with people in positions of authority. This can get him in to all kinds of trouble, as I'm sure you can imagine. He can also be prone to spreading rumors or gossip, just for the sake of the reaction. He believes strongly in the freedom of information and free speech.
Knight of Coins: The Knight of Coins is a bit of a loner.... he hates to stand out, and would prefer to be at home and comfortable rather than out partying. He wants the best that money can by, just so he can fit in with everyone else. As such, he always has something on the go, jobs, projects, etc., to ensure he'll always be a part of it all. He fears being different or left out. However, this attitude can lead to just what he fears - if he stays on the sidelines out of fear of rejection, then he will ultimately lose people's respect. He values beautiful things and is a loyal employee.
Page/Princess:
Page of Wands: The Page of Wands is a kid or teenage girl who never sits still. As a young child, the page is always running, climbing and playing, and never wants to stop, or go to bed (sounds like my son!). He is charismatic, joyful and fun loving, a truely wonderful child to be around. He loves being the center of attention, but has potential to be a bully. As the teenage girl, she is the popular girl, the cheerleader, the partier with tons of girlfriends trailing after her. She always has plans to be with someone or do something, and she loves being the center of attention. She also, has the potential be a bully.
Page of Cups: The Page of Wands is a dreamer. He's very sensative and has a big heart, caring about everything and every one around him. He'll pick all the flowers in your garden to give you a present to make you happy. He is devistated by a hurt animal, and couldn't imagine using a worm to go fishing. Very kind and sweet, his emotions are very extreme. The Princess is the romantic teenage girl, most likely to fall in love and marry her high school sweet heart. She's a dreamer who falls in love instantly and who's heart gets broken just as easily.
Page of Swords: This kid just won't shut up! We've all seen a Page of Swords somewhere....they're the kid that needs to know the why of everything. They are constantly talking and exploring and learning. They are completely honest and abrupt with what they say . They are usually very brainy and quick to learn, good at puzzles and math and computers. They also love to argue like their teenage counterpart, so be careful! The Princess is the teenage girl you'd love to have on your debate team! She's smart and sharp and knows her stuff, and won't let anyone tell her differently. Expect her to be the valedictorian, and have awsome speach.
Page of Coins: The Page of Coins loves the outdoors. They can usually be found playing in the dirt somewhere... catching frogs, digging up worms or making mudpies. They're very creative and love to build things like forts or tree houses. They're willing to work for an allowance or have small jobs to make extra money, but that money gets saved for something very important, like a bike, not frittered away on candy. They're they kind of kid that seem too mature for their age. The Princess is a teenager who has all her ducks in a row.... she has an after school job and is saving up money for college, she might volunteer, simply for the experience. She's not a partier, she's more intent on her studies, as such she doesn't have a lot of friends and isn't popular, but she's happy
with what she has.
Any Questions?
This lesson brought to you by:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/meanings (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/meanings)
http://learntarot.com (http://learntarot.com)