Court Cards in the Tarot are often the most complex and confusing cards to interpret. Why? Because there are so many different ways to interpret them – as people, as personalities, as situations, etc.
In this post, I show you the different ways to read the Court Cards and share some tips on how to know which method to use when.
Court Cards As Specific People
Most often, Court Cards represent a person. That person can be either yourself or someone else. By understanding the personality and attributes of the card, you can pinpoint whether it is yourself or someone else represented by that card.
Court Cards primarily reflect personality traits and characteristics. They provide clues as to how a person thinks, feels and acts, and what truly motivates them.
The Court Cards have often been linked to the Myers-Briggs Personality Trait Indicator (MBTI). Myer-Briggs is based around the theories and ideas of Carl Jung and is now a very well-respected method of gaining a deeper understanding about personality types and motivational factors.
According to the MBTI tests, there are 16 different Personality Types. Interestingly, this corresponds to the 16 Court Cards in the Tarot.
If you have worked with MBTI before, you may like to draw your own conclusions about which MBTI profile fits with each of the Court Cards and note it in your Tarot Journal. At this stage, there is no single universal system of correspondences between the 16 court cards and the 16 MBTI types.
In more traditional Tarot books, Court Cards are also given physical attributes such as hair and eye colour, gender and age (e.g. male, brown hair, blue eyes, attractive, mature, etc.). However, in my experience, I find that this is very limiting and often inaccurate. Many times, Queens come up for men, Kings come up for women, Pages come up for older people and so forth.
Court Cards As a Part of Yourself
Sometimes, the Court Card may indicate a part of yourself, rather than your complete personality. It shows a side of yourself that is being expressed or is seeking expression. It may be part of you that you draw upon regularly, or that you need to nurture and develop.
For example, the appearance of the Page of Swords in a career reading may indicate that you need to adopt a more curious mindset to be successful. Or, if you have already been asking questions, its appearance confirms that you’re doing everything you need.
Court Cards As a Situation or Event
However, there are times when it just doesn’t make sense for the Court Card to represent a person or part of their personality. Thus, sometimes Court Cards can represent a situation or an event that takes on a personality of its own. For example, the appearance of the Page of Cups often indicates an invitation or an offer that brings a lot of joy and excitement. Or the King of Wands suggests a situation where you are maturing your goals and visions in life.
Court Cards As a Level of Maturity
In addition to Court Cards representing people, personalities or situations, they also represent different levels of maturity.
From a personal perspective, maturity can allude to the age of the person in question, but it is usually more insightful to look at maturity as a mindset. For example, the Page, who is often viewed as a young, immature person, doesn’t have to be under the age of 21, but may indicate someone who is young at heart, naive, or unfamiliar with a particular situation.
Maturity level can also point to the various stages of a journey. The Page represents the start of a journey, while the King represents the conclusion of a journey, complete with life lessons and a deep understanding.
How to Know What Interpretation to Use and When
With so many different ways to interpret the Court Cards, no wonder many Tarot students struggle with these cards. So, how do you know which method to use and when?
Here are a few tips:
- Before you start your reading, determine whether or not you want the Court Cards to symbolise people, personality traits or situations.
- Use your intuition. Listen out for your inner voice to guide you in the right direction.
- List out possible interpretations for the Court Card as a person, personality and situation. Select the interpretation that makes the most sense in the reading.
I also asked my FaceBook fans how they interpreted the Court Cards in a reading. Here are a few different approaches:
“Sometimes I see them as the emotions they represent or the level of understanding of a situation. More often I see the Page and the Knight more as possible events, like a homecoming, moving, or a message.”
“Personally, the Court Cards represent people, without fail! I have given myself goose bumps from the accuracy!”
“I usually try to match it to a person. If I can’t find a person who matches I try to take on the attributes of the card.”
“The querent’s question or which spread I am using, clues me in to whether it is a person, trait, or an energy. Overall, I trust my intuition.”
What works for you? How do you interpret the Court Cards in a Tarot reading? And what tips do you have for those learning the Tarot? Leave your comments below.
Want to find out more about the meanings of the Court Cards? In The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Card Meanings eBook, you can access comprehensive interpretations of all 78 Tarot cards. Click here for more information.
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
really great article My Tarot Club!
I was wondering about the classical characteristics. I have always thought that the Queen of Cups best represents me more than any other card. Comparing MBTI characteristics it fits too. More than the King of Cups! Someone keeps coming up in my readings as the Queen of Swords who I am convinced is a guy in my life! It’s true that the traditional characteristics are limiting. Perhaps I use the personality attributes the most in the cards, rather than descriptions, but its interesting
I almost always interpret them according to astrological elements and signs. Other than that I found that Pages often stand for new situations or opportunities, or children/teens, knights represent either more brash or immature people, queens for women and kings for men. For clarity, I sometimes reshuffle and draw another card to clarify.
I’m a great believer in “programming” my Tarot deck, especially with the Courts. I talk to the deck I use and set out right from the start what the Court cards are going to mean to me when they turn up in my readings. I find this helps lower the confusion factor.
I tend to use the Courts as facets of personality. I also combine court card attributes with suit energy to act as a barometer of what thoughts and actions are helping or hindering in a certain situation. Psychologically, that can be very revealing when it comes to sorting out people’s problems.
I also see the Courts as expressions of individual action within each suit; what a person is actually *doing* in a situation. Beginning thoughts (Pages), initial outward actions (Knights), inward reflections (Queens) and long-term personality defaults (Kings).
Rarely for me are they astrological signposts or other people in a person’s reading – but like I said, that’s probably because I’ve programmed my Tarot deck to speak to me in a different way.
Sammy-Rose, watch this space! I’ll soon post on each of the court cards and what these mean in a reading. It’s very interesting to look at the cards as actions, as you say, and then how this relates to the client’s situation.
The Court Cards are the hardest card I find to interpret because, jut like My Tarot Club says, they could represent anything — people, events, situations, traits, characteristics, and goals. I interpret the Court Cards by identifying its general definition first. Say for example, the Knight of Cups. I associate this card to romance, love, and loyalty. Then, I identify what the theme of its surrounding cards so I can pull a more concrete definition for the said Court Card. If for example, the Strength is on the right side of the Knight of Cups, then it could mean that the client is a romantic person who will soon gain the attributes of determination and the characteristics of The Strength Card.
Or maybe, the Court Card is a representation of an event that would require the client to be strong emotionally.
Another example would be looking for more Court Cards on the reading. Two or more face cards on a general reading would mean that people are of the main significance in the client’s question. Those people could have also been the most influential in the client’s life. To gaion insight, I often look at court cards as if they were speaking to each other. What would the Queen of Pentacles say to the Queen of Swords? What conversation are they having? Do they agree to one another or do they oppose one another’s beliefs?
Sometimes, I also view Court Cards as situations in the client’s life. I can pull this meaning out from the reading when there are less court cards and more “situational” or “events” cards. If the tower card is in the left side of the King of Wands reversed, then it could mean that a disruptive event on the cleint’s life had caused him to be immature and stubborn.
These are only some of my ways to interpret Court Cards. Even though they are a part of the Tarot’s challenge, I enjoy interpreting Court Cards a lot.
Marianne, great suggestions on how to use the Court Cards in a reading, especially by looking at how many Court Cards are in a reading and how they interact with other cards.
Dear My Tarot Club,
I wanted to ask something about the avatar used in the My Tarot Club Blog. How come some people have pictures of themselves? Is there anyway I can also put a picture/avatar of my own? I was just curious because avatars are cool and I think they are cute little stickers besides the comment.
Thank you,
Marianne Quintinio
Hi Marianne,
You can select an avatar via gravatar.com and it will appear on most blogs.
Brigit
My Tarot Club, I look forward to your post on each of the court cards and what these mean in a reading. I find your blogs most helpful and informative.
Thanks for the informative post My Tarot Club, and thanks Sammy-Rose for the excellent idea of “programming” your deck with what you want the court cards to represent. I love that, seems like it will make things easier!
Thanks, Brigit, this is a very interesting post.
Sammy-Rose, I totally love your idea of programming your deck. I speak to my deck at the beginning of the reading with the question and at the end to give thanks, but your idea is great, so you both know where you are going. I’m sure it works in lots of ways.
As for the court cards, like Marianne I watch what other cards are in the reading, to confirm whether the court cards are talking about a person, an aspect of a person, an event…
if in doubt I ask the subject what they think. They might say: “Oh, I know EXACTLY who that is! It’s my uncle Bob!” or: “Oh, that’s me when I’m at work, you wouldn’t recognise me.” If the subject doesn’t know who the court card is or what it might mean (they might also not be telling) I describe the personality of the court card, and they usually get a clearer idea. I always see the Court cards as real people, in any event, and then their characteristics may fit into a situation or as an aspect of the subject’s personality. If they still don’t have a clue, I shuffle again and ask for clarification.
Thanks for your comments, everyone.
as always great post, but what messages can a reversed court card convey?
I feel the Celtic Cross is a good spread for understanding on a simple level of how to start reading the Court Cards.
For a beginner….3 of the easier card positions to practise on are:-
The first position – usually represents the client, giving you an idea of the personality type.
The eighth position or the 2nd position of the staff, if a Court Card appears it is most likely another person who represents the attributes of this Court Card. I have found this usually to be an immediate member of the client’s family or very close loved one.
If it is the 7th position it usually represents the qualities of the client that could be accessed or addressed at this time to enhance their life.
All the other positions then become a lot easier once you have gradually practised reading the Court Cards in these positions, as it gives the new reader confidence allowing intuition to kick in with ease as they keep practising this spread and working with the placement meanings of the cards.
This is how it worked for me….hope it helps someone…
Clare, thanks so much for sharing! This is great!
Tarot court cards are the most difficult, though they are always complicated to comprehend in the spread, I have noticed that most of the times they have indicated the person to me, whenever I read a spread for me I mostly notice swords and wands in the spread, and Knight or King of swords making it’s presence felt . Court cards are all about intuition and that answer straight from your subconscious in the conscious. I completely like the way Marianne Quintinio has used a method . However on the personal front when there are questions that are very different and a court card can be a complete misplacement makes the reading next to impossible, at such events I don’t stress myself much on it, and do the reading later. Of course the surrounding cards are of great help, but the court cards need a much better clarification, I would appreciate if My Tarot Club does post an article on reading court cards when there are some questions which are not relevant to the question, for example question – What should I do to find my wallet? and I get a King of cups or queen of pentacles? In such case, do we take them as culprits (this will be suspicion) or the helpers to find it?
Hi Amit,
Good question! I would say an upright Court card would indicate a helper, and a reversed Court card a ‘culprit’. You would also need to look to other cards… Seven of Swords, Five of Swords, etc. would be a culprit; Six of Pentacles, Empress, etc. would be a helper.
Thanks, Brigit
But what if the upright card is the seven of swords and the reversed is queen of cups?
Perhaps there is a woman who is using emotional blackmail to get away with something? Or, if it was to find out where your wallet was, perhaps someone has stolen it who is emotionally unstable (addiction to stealing)? All possibilities!
Hi Brigit, Ya!! very nice observation. Thanks .
Hi Brigit,
Maybe someone could enlighten me on which way to interpret in this situation….asked if I should apply for a specific job….which I never ask for prediction, I guess my confusion serves me right lol!! Drew the 9 of pentacles reversed, Queen of Cups, and Queen of Pentacles reversed….of course in my confusion I drew a clarifier, again something I rarely do, got the 9 of cups…. Card on bottom of deck as the underlying influence, The World….two Queens, is this different aspects of me?? And two nines…. Same suits, and I relate queen of pents to 9 of pents, funny those are both reversed….job is very humanitarian, definitely a cups/pents job… Any thoughts? Really I’m trying to determine WHEN to consider aspects of myself, or me and competitor? I’ve always considered myself the queen of cups, all water sun sign, moon sign, rising sign!!!
Hello Brigit!
I recently read on an web page that when the Chariot card appears in a spread next to a Court card (doesn’t specify which one/s (?)) that “someone around me has no consideration for my plans or ideas and will not offer help or support”. I haven’t read this anywhere else. From your knowledge and experience, what do you think of this?
Thank you!
Val
That’s new to me too! I would say that a reversed Chariot might be more likely. An upright Chariot could mean that there is another person driving their agenda, so you’d better get on board. Of course, it all depends what position it shows in and the other cards in the reading.
Hello Brigit: I happen to agree with you in respect to the court cards as far as kings and the queens could represent both the sexes. I have recently read a client female where the king of wands, and the king of Swords but wands were dominating in the reading; which was a lot of yang energy. An instrument needed to established the boundaries and guidelines towards her son (Page of Swords). In this case my client was dominating a lot of yang energy. We all have yin quality and yang quality. It is a matter of identifying the client in it’s elements attribution and finding the balance in the reading that would benefit all and or lacking.
Thanks for sharing. Yes, it’s much more helpful when we look at it as yin / yang energy rather than definitive male/female.
I am a beginner with learning the tarot and i am having a course of 12 lessons and my tutor only uses court cards as people, i’m so confused because it doesn’t always work for me, and if the quirent can’t place them your stuffed. I have done several readings like this where when presented with a court card i couldn’t continue because i didn’t know who the court card was. I feel that i would like to learn the other meanings to them as the readings may become easier to understand. My learning journey is very stressful.
Dear My Tarot Club, I recently did a tarot reading on myself concerning money issues and got justice, hangman, king of swords and 6 of cups, and was wondering where does the king of swords fit in as I did enquiring about the money by women over the phone. Explain please. Marisa
The King of Swords is often about making firm decisions based on fact, and getting to the truth or the heart of the matter from an objective perspective. It can also indicate the need to bring in legal advice, depending on what the money issues are.
I have been reading the tarot for over 30years and I have found that when reading the court cards, it depicts a person, a situation around this person and also the charecteristics of this person, all at the same time. I read all this information from just one court card. This gives a much more indepth information on what this person is thinking, how he/she feels, their personality traits and even what their intentions are. When reading their personality & characteristics of the person in the court card, you need to have a knowledge of the star signs of each of the people in the court cards. For example the knight of swords is an Air sign and is a Gemini, Libran or Aquarius.
I have been told that I have been accurate every time.
Also the pictures on each Rider & Waite tarot card, also tells me what the person in the court card is thinking, feeling, in their life at the time of the reading. Basically I get feelings from each card.
If a Court card appears in a reading I draw another card, if it’s a Court card than it is a person. If I draw a Minor or Major the card represents that additional aspect of the Client, or a situation that Client is currently involved in. This technique removes a lot of confusion.
Love and Light,
aeneas