Significator Cards

Some Tarot readers will decide to use a card to represent the querent, also referred to as a Significator card.

I sometimes do this. Depending on the reading, depending on the querent. I like to do this when I don’t know the client. It helps me form a connection.

“They” say to pull one of the court cards (Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings) that either feels like the energy of the querent or let the querent decide.

When I do pull a significator card, I don’t separate the court cards from the deck and choose from that stack. Instead, I just think about the querent and close my eyes while I shuffle through the entire deck of cards, face down in my hands. And for whatever reason, whichever card I pull, whenever I decide to pull it, it’s almost always a court card (unless it’s the fool or the hermit) and it always is accurate. I like those moments. It feels like a breath of fresh air, that the magic is working and you’re connected to the Guides.

It’s also been said that if you pull the card to represent the querent, it’s helpful in seeing the story of the Tarot card spread. It’s as if you’ve got a main character within the deck and she’s traveling through the spread. I don’t like to pull the significator card for people I know because I feel like sometimes the energy of that card can be an important message if it were to come up in the reading.

It can be interesting to let your querent decide on the card as well. They’ll pick a card that interests them, and if you, the reader, describes the energy of the card and what it means, it always resonates with them in a way that can be profoundly helpful and insightful.

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