Oh, the Court Cards.

From every Tarot class I’ve ever taken (which has been a few), to every book on Tarot I’ve ever read and reread (which has been a lot), the teachers/authors/Tarotists almost always say a variation of the following when it comes to defining the court cards:

“Worry about the specifics of those later.”
“It’ll dawn on you what the card means when your intuition is more developed.”
“Court cards can represent a messenger or the querent.”
“The more Court cards present, the more opinions there are present.”
“It could be an event, or the querent him/herself, or a messenger.”

For me, when it comes to reading the Court cards, it has to do with the intention and the intuition of the reader. If you, the reader, set intentions before you lay out the cards, and stick to the same systems/rules/doing what feels right throughout all of your readings, the message will become clear.

Don’t be afraid of any card that the spread reveals. Especially that card that you think that you hate only because you don’t understand it.

Let’s start at the beginning. Start with the basics of the card that you’ve pulled.

Focus on the Rank (Page, Knight, Queen, or King) and the Suit (Wands, Cups, Swords, or Pentacles).

Of course, as you continue down your Tarot path, your intuition will pick out details on the card that are very important to the reading. But the suit and the rank are important and can be very helpful in determining what the card is trying to tell you.

For the Queen of Wands, the rank is Queen, the suit is Wands. A Queen is receptive, maternal, calm, patient, strong, experienced, mature, and keeps her emotions at bay (this can be for either gender). The Wands represent fire, passion, quick, bold, adventure, and strength. She feels like a magical, warm, feminine energy card. The combination of the Rank of Queen and the Suit of Wands then transforms this card to become a passionate, bold, quick-thinking, experienced, energized, warm energy.

So what to do if a court card appears in a reading?

What I have found that works for me and my readings is that the court cards represent two things, and two things only:

1. Energies that the querent is or needs to embrace

2. Other people in the querent’s life.

Let’s walk through a few examples using Alice Smeets Ghetto Tarot.

Say you pull 3 of Swords, the Hermit, and the Queen of Wands as pictured above.

It looks like you have been hurt by a loss or heartbreak in the past and have put up a wall to keep yourself from getting hurt again. The court card here, the Queen of Wands, wants you to open yourself back up, embrace the essence of passion and be strong for yourself. Here she wants you to move on away from the Hermit energy. I gather this simply from using the idea of the rank and the suits of her card.

Here’s another 3 card example (I truly love examples):

Let’s say you’ve got the 5 of cups, the King of Swords, and 7 of cups (as seen above):

If you work with numerology within Tarot, 5’s almost always represent conflict/change, kings of swords vibe with the Knowledge is Power concept, and the 7’s are usually reflection or knowledge.

This time, let’s just look at the images on the card to see what story they are trying to tell.

My first instinct is to forget the meaning of the cards and follow my intuition.

To do that, I read the cards from left to right and look at the images. I feel the loss and regret in the 5 of cups, but then I see the stern, yet, blasé face of the king. To show the progression, I believe he is looking towards the 7 of cups, which is one of my favorite cards. The 7 of cups reveals the possibilities and the potential.

This 3 card combination for me means don’t cry over spilled milk, focus instead on the cups behind you (the you in the 5 of cups) that you do have and its potential, the possibility of creating more in your life.

This 3 card spread shows that the best way to handle what you’re going through is to become the energy of the King of Swords. Strong, experienced, assertive, sharp, smart, and levelheaded. He’s like the silver lining guy here in this spread.

Here’s the same card, the King of Swords in another reading, however a different interpretation (yes, these cards can mean different things during different readings, thus why I think they are the most difficult cards in the deck, aside from the Hierophant, but that’s an entire other post).

I once read for a woman who wanted to know what was wrong in her marriage. I only wanted to do a 3 card pull because sometimes, less is more. She was afraid of the Tarot, so I wanted to just get a basic reading. Well, when you want a certain outcome from the Tarot, the Tarot gives you what the querent needs regardless of how nervous the querent is. It’s always going to tell the truth, reveal what’s been swept up under the rug.

I pulled the King of Swords, Lovers Reversed, and 6 of cups. I immediately saw the King of Swords thwarting off responsibility, his sword stuck in the ground, unmoving at his throne, and his face of disgust and lack of responsibility. He didn’t look mature or respectful at all like a King usually represents. He looked like a big ole baby. As if he’s saying the infamous cousin Urkle line, “Did I do that?”

I told her how I saw it. I did not know anything about her life. I knew nothing about her relationship with her husband. All I knew was something was wrong with her marriage based on her question: what’s wrong with my marriage, and it looked like that something was her husband.

To me, the court card in this context represented her husband. So I said, “Your husband does not help out around the house nor disciplines the children, thus making you always feel like the bad cop. Your sex life has fizzled out and your children are the glue that is keeping you two together.” She gulped.

What I should have done next is pull a few cards to see how to work through this problem along with possible outcomes. I didn’t pull any other cards because she wanted to sit with those messages. She wanted to see how she should deal with things herself, she didn't want the cards to show her options and suggestions. But honestly, it’s clear that they need to have a conversation about their parental roles with their children and how it was affecting their marriage. 

When a reversed card comes up, in this case the lovers, that revealed their sex life sucks presently. I always read reversals as the potential to flip it right side up, there’s a block that can be removed. Their connection is strong. It was a great reading that showed her what she knew herself, but was avoiding.

Like I said, the King represented her husband here. It also could have been interpreted as she always has to be the king, the enforcer of her family. That would work, too, and takes us round-about to the same message, in this case lack of help from her husband. But I followed the story of the card. My eyes traveled from his sword to his disgusted blank face which showed me that this card stood in for him. It’s ultimately up to the reader and their intuition of the court cards.

I recently did a Celtic Cross spread where there were maybe 6 Court Cards. That’s a LOT of Court Cards, even if you think Tarot is all chance. 3 of the Court Cards were clarifier positions for the outcome. My client was about to start a new job so I felt like for her here, these all represented new people and influences coming into her life. The other three cards were still energies she represented or people in her life presently.

Overall, the court cards can be tricky. It takes practice.

It’s difficult when these cards come up but always take a deep breath and just look at the rank, the suit, and the context of the cards surrounding it. Also, don’t be afraid to pull clarifier cards!

Let your intuition be your guide through the story the cards are trying to tell. The little images or ideas that pop up in your head during this time is your intuition speaking up. The more faith you have in yourself and your readings, the louder that voice gets.

Good luck <3