Another complex group; Court cards can symbolize actual people in your life or situation. There are multiple ways to look at the court cards to decipher who they are. Qualities, personality traits, Astrological Ascending signs, and authority. There is no right or wrong way to figure out how to decode these individuals.
Overview
Going beyond their personification, the court cards can symbolize qualities or behaviors we are presenting or need in order to succeed. The court cards also have their own meanings within the Tarot for situational purposes. Try all the methods to figure out the method that works best for you. If you still can’t find one, look deeper into what they could mean by looking at additional sources.
Gender and the Court Cards
The first thing you need to know about the personification of the Monarchy, is that they are all androgynous. It depends on if the individual exerts active or passive energy. A father can be seen as a queen because he yields to the mothers’ authority. A mother can be King because it’s her word that is final.
Classifications of the Hierarchy
Another way to look at the Monarchy is by age and physical characteristics. Pages are individuals between the age of birth and Fourteen. Knights are between the ages of 15 and 35. The King is a male over the age of 35 and the Queen is a female over the age of 35. The Suit the Page and Knight falls into can Gender (Cups and Pentacles, Female; Swords and Wands, male).
The Monarchy
The King and Queen can be seen as authorities in our life. Knights and pages are a different story. They are not only seen as people that are our equals, and that are younger than us, but messenger. The difference between the two is one of the messages can come in chaos, and the other can come slowly. The knights message come quickly, and with haste comes destruction. Messages from the knights tend to me a little more consequential than the Pages. Pages are slow messengers that trickle in and tend to be information that is useful to your quest.
Kings [Air]
The only name on the line is his own, the consequences and victories are his responsibility alone. According to your devotion, punishment and reward will be handed out as he sees fit. The king is an authority figure which affects the final resolution of a situation and can often be seen as a father or father figures. They have the last, indefinite word on your conclusion. The highest level of authority that you will deal with, they aren’t always necessarily the CEO.
Kings can be seen as someone who is holder, masculine, and in charge. They are typically seen as males over the age of 35 or someone older than you are.
Queen [Water]
If you are on her good side, the queen is a favorable and critical ally to your quest. A nurturing sub-leader who has influence on the final say, her opinion is highly regarded making her power hidden. She is mature, confident, with an effeminate, nurturing decree. But, if you happen to cross her, expect conflict. The Queen will make your life hell, undercut you if you step on her toes and cast a shadow on your name to the other monarch. Luckily, it’s easy to enlist her with some admiration to her tenacity in her pursuits, and the strength gained through her endeavors.
Queens are the 2nd in command to the king, and someone who resonates with their feminine, hidden power. They can represent the significant other to the king in question, or the assistant to the boss. On a physical level they can represent a woman over the age of 35, a female authority, or someone older than you.
Knights [Fire]
“Coming in hot!” is a common phrase for the knight, and they do not arrive quietly. Regardless of their objective or their level of preparation, they are flying towards their end game fearlessly on fire. Goals blindside them and in their desire to succeed they hardly realize (Or care) they leave turmoil in their wake. If you can slow this cowboy down and gain his good fortunes, you have a warrior in your corner.
With bravery only pride can provide, they have the confidence to lead an army. Commitment, energy, drive and thirst for adventure has them honored by kings, which is where their loyalties are. They are so target-locked, they are unpredictable. If it doesn’t fit their conclusion, it doesn’t fit their life.
Knights can be seen as someone between 15 and 25 and androgynous. They are messengers that come quickly and brashly. The correspondence they bring is indicated by the Suit of the knight.
Page [Earth]
This little guy has a lot of the same qualities of the king and queen, but they may not have matured yet. They may seem shy but they’re not, they’re skeptical, observing. They are trying to figure out where they fit in this grand scheme. Skepticism doesn’t stunt their curiosity, or thirst for knowledge even slightly. Pages are the personal attendant to the monarchy, which may or may not give them an authoritative edge. Still, they understand they need to work their way up if they ever expect to be a knight. They maybe insecure and need encouragement and assistance but your patience and kind words will grant their alliance.
The page is androgynous and can be between the ages of birth to 15. They are messengers; the correspondence they carry is light hearted, and indicated in the Suit they are aligned with. They can also be seen as your insecure or immature sides of your personality that need developing.
The Suits as personalities
When Tarot first started making its rounds, the Suits spoke to the social-class of the individual being personified. Swords were nobles, Cups were clergy, Pentacles were merchants and Wands were artists. While those terms aren’t as relevant today, they can indicate what the person does for a career or hobby. Wands are still artists or blue-collar workers, Pentacles have expanded to the sales and business class. Cups are the middle class and scholars, Swords are upper class, CEO’s and business owners.
In terms of the traits of the cards, the Suit they come from are reflective of the personality traits of the individual. The Suit of the individual can also represent their ascending sign. The Ascending sign in Astrology is the constellation that was directly overhead when the individual was born. It is different than the sign we identify with in western astrology. To figure out your ascendant you need to know the time, place, and date of birth to determine. It is thought to be more descriptive of the person than the zodiac sign they align with, which is why ancients often identified people by this sing instead of the sun sign.
Cups
Ruled by their emotions, these people who can be turned with a phrase. You can see these people crying at weddings, when babies are born, or while watching a video of a puppy falling into a bucket. Dreamers, idealists, sensitive and creative; they see the world through rose-colored goggles but don’t have the thick skin to deal with it. They tend to over-romanticize damaging situations and justify it the whole way. A victim to their empathetic nature; they will see the hurt in other people, while ignoring their own hurt in the process. Naturally this makes them one of the best friends you could have in the event you need a shoulder to cry on. They feel everything deeper than others and have a keen sense to the energies around them.
In astrology, the cups can symbolize someone with their ascending sign in Scorpio, Pisces or Cancer
Wands
Fire can be seen in drive, energy, determination and sense of adventure. They are people who recapture their losses as quickly as they lose them. If they had the chance to run with the bulls, they’d try to grab it by the horns and try to saddle up. They maybe the kind of people who seek out competition, challenges, or engage in sports. Wands are hard to hold, and always seem like they are on the go. They maybe a muse of yours, or someone who inspires your will.
The wands can be seen as someone with their ascending sign in Aries, Sagittarius or Leo
Pentacles
Inspired by the material world, someone represented by the Pentacles can be superficial and materialistic. Stable, slow moving, persistent and grounded in their energy; they are stubborn, and hate being rushed. They enjoy life to the fullest with all the luxuries it has to offer, and they have a keen eye for things that are beautiful. Everything in their world is aesthetic, expensive, and always of great quality. They want their loved ones to appreciate it just as much as they do so they extend their good will to those they love. They are giving, nurturing, and supportive. These people yield material or social power, which is evident in the way they carry themselves.
The Pentacles can be seen as someone with the Ascending sign in Taurus, Capricorn, or Virgo
Swords
Swords can be seen in individuals who are intellectual, well-spoken, logical and realistic. They always think something through before putting it into action. They can move a crowd or manipulate a situation with grace and underhandedness. Overly realistic, they can burst your bubble with logic while making it seem ok. The weight of their words can sink a ship, and with experience they become choosy with words. A blunt way of communicating can make them seem cold and calculating, but they are the most honest people you will ever meet. Just don’t shoot the messenger when you don’t like what you hear.
The Swords can be seen in people with ascending signs in Aquarius, Gemini or Libra.
Myers Briggs Personalities
Myers-Briggs did a study on dominant personality traits and came up with 16 possible combinations of traits. There just happened to also be the same number of Court cards in the Tarot deck. A significant number of people read by this standard, but for some seeing the qualities in these people can prove difficult due to the number of moving parts.
While you may be the most introverted extrovert you know, there is still one trait that is more dominant than that other. There are four groups that outline one of two possible traits you can see dominantly in your personality.
Extroverted or Introverted [ E or I ]
Intuitive or Sensory [N or S]
Thinking or Feeling [T or F]
Judging or Perceiving [J or P]
According to the Suit and court, they provide different qualities to a person as charted below. Additionally, I’ll add the personality types named by the test below the abbreviation.
| Suit | Page | Knight | Queen | King |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wands | INTP The Thinker | ENTP The Visionary | INTJ The Mastermind | ENTJ The Commander |
| Cups | INFP The Idealist | ENFP The Champion | INFJ The Counselor | ENFJ The Giver |
| Sword | ISTP The Craftsman | ESTP The Do-er | ISTJ The Inspector | ESTJ The Supervisor |
| Pentacles | ISFP The Composer | ESFP The Performer | ISFJ The Nurturer | ESFJ The Provider |
