Introduction to Court Cards:
The Faces of Rank and Maturity
Elizabeth Palladino
New York Intuitive Tarot Classes
© Elizabeth Palladino, 2012
New York Intuitive Tarot Classes – Elizabeth Palladino (epalladino@yahoo.com)
Contact for information or for a reading
Introduction to Court Cards: The Faces of Rank and Maturity
Do the court cards in a Tarot reading represent the querent, people or events in the
querent’s life, psychological or spiritual states, abstract energies – or all of the above?
Many Tarot card readers, even advanced students or professional readers, find interpreting the
court cards to be more difficult than other cards in the deck – and with good reason, as these
sixteen cards are the most complex cards in the deck in their underlying structure.
Many Tarot card readers, instructors, and books on Tarot divide the deck into two sections –
the Major Arcana (or Trumps) and the four suits of the Minor Arcana. The word arcanum
(arcana in the plural) means hidden, secret, mysterious, or esoteric. It is from this root that we
get the English word “arcane,” which has a similar meaning – with the further connotation that
only the elite few understand such arcana.
Interpreting court cards in a Tarot reading is often looked at as “arcane” in such a way,
and many readers feel lacking in the ability to interpret court cards. This is one reason why
some readers and quite a few books on Tarot will limit the court cards to only referring to other
people in the querent’s life and leave it at that. This may appear to simplify the interpretation of
court cards, but leaves some readers to flounder when the meaning of a particular court card is
unclear and it obviously does not represent other people in the querent’s life.
It also becomes problematic when you try to view the court cards as merely an extension of the
suit that they appear in – as if the Page, Knight, Queen, and King of each suit are a continuation
of the numerical sequence that starts with the Ace. Some readers do exactly that and assign the
number 11 to the Page, 12 to the Knight, 13 to the Queen, and 14 to the King. This does not
really work in either standard Pythagorean numerology or in the Kabbalistic numerology that is
the underlying structure of many Tarot decks, such as the Rider Waite or Thoth decks.
However, another way of looking at the Tarot deck breaks down the deck into four Arcana rather
than the usual two of Major Arcana and Minor Arcana.
• The first arcanum is the twenty-two archetypes usually referred to as the Major Arcana.
• The second arcanum is the Four Aces, which represents more than merely being the first
card in each suit of the Minor Arcana. Each Ace is also the root of the power of the
element of that suit and holds the rest of that suit in the Ace as seed and potential.
• The third arcanum is the 2 through 10 of each suit, representing the events and
archetypes of everyday life.
• The fourth arcanum is the sixteen court cards, looked upon as a unit separate from the
rest of the deck. These cards can represent actual people, levels of maturity, steps in the
completion of a process, psychological states, and much more.
In some ways, the court cards are more similar to the archetypal realities of the Major Arcana
than to the other cards in the Minor Arcana. Just as in many of the Major Arcana cards,
each court card displays a standing, riding, or enthroned figure on that card and the title at the
bottom of the card names that figure – such as Page of Wands, Knight of Swords,
Queen of Cups, or King of Pentacles.
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Yet, even if the imagery of a court card appears simple with the single figure illustrated on the
card, the underlying meaning of a court card is complex in a way that a Major Arcana card
would never be. A Major Arcana card still represents one single archetype no
matter how complex the imagery of the card appears or how complicated the meaning of that
archetype can be in a reading.
The cards of the Minor Arcana are actually more complex than those of the Major Arcana.
Each card in the Major Arcana represents one single spiritual or psychological reality – such as
Death, Justice, The Magician, or Judgement. This is different than in the Minor Arcana where
each card combines two realities – one that derives from the meaning of the number of the card
(or the rank in the case of a court card), and one that derives from the energy of the suit.
Even if you can consider court cards as a separate part of the deck, they are still part of the four
suits that comprise the Minor Arcana. Yet, the court cards are a compound of rank and suit in a
way that is different from the combination of number and suit in the other Minor Arcana cards.
The rank of a court card (Page, Knight, Queen, King) is also a complex reality,
combining attributes of age, maturity, authority, completeness and gender.
One of the more apparent attributions in a court card, outside of the courtly rank, is the gender.
Yet, you need to be careful in assuming that masculine court cards can only represent men and
feminine court cards only represent women. The gender of the various court cards can also
stand for the masculine and feminine natures that are part of every human being.
In addition, just as in the other cards of the Minor Arcana, each of the four ranks represented in
the court cards have a numerological connection to the ten sephiroth on the Tree of Life, even if
this connection is not as apparent. One system of Kabbalistic attributions assigns the King to
Number 2 (Wisdom), the Queen to Number 3 (Understanding), the Knight to Number 6 (Beauty),
and the Page to Number 10 (Kingdom).
Each court card rank also has an element associated with the rank that is separate from the
element associated with the suit of a particular court card. This leads to a system of elemental
counterchanges that combine the two elements – Water of Fire, Air of Earth, Earth of Water,
Water of Water, Fire of Fire, etc. How these elemental counterchanges align with individual
court cards is different from one system to another. I usually work with a commonly used system
that assigns Fire to Kings, Water to Queens, Air to Knights, and Earth to Pages.
Some systems switch Kings and Knights, so that Knights are Fire and Kings are Air.
Other systems also switch Queens and Pages, so that Queens are Earth and Pages are Water.
Regardless of what system of elemental counterchanges you use, these also add another level
of subtlety to the court cards that you don’t find in the other cards in the deck.
This dichotomy between age and youth, maturity and immaturity, authority and lack of authority,
completeness and incompleteness, masculine and feminine, relates more to the interpretation of
court cards than merely identifying them with actual people. That’s not to say that court cards
will never relate in a reading to actual people, but I’m hoping that you will see how much depth
and information these sixteen cards can add to a reading when you take them far beyond the
personal and individual.
Some information derives from:
Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone, Court Cards: The Fourth Arcanum, The Tarot School, 2012
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Some Attributions of the Court Card Ranks
Page Knight Queen King
Feminine Masculine Feminine Masculine
Female (Younger) Male (Younger) Female (Older) Male (Older)
Incomplete In development Complete Complete
Conception Gestation Labor/Birth Child raising
Immature In process Mature Mature
Child/Adolescent Young adult Mother Father
Beginning Developing Nurturing Completing
No authority Works in behalf of Authoritative Authoritative
an authority figure
Element Element Element Element
Earth (Water) Air (Fire) Water (Earth) Fire (Air)
Astrology Astrology Astrology Astrology
Seasons Mutable signs Cardinal signs Fixed signs
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A Brief Look at the Individual Court Cards
Page of Wands Earth of Fire (Water of Fire); Season of Summer
Basic issues: Successful student; Lover of nature [A tree-hugger];
The beginning of the process of a new idea
But be aware of: Academic failure; Turning nature into a desert;
Unable to consider new ideas
Knight of Wands Air of Fire (Fire of Fire); Sagittarius
Basic Issues: Riding to the rescue — the fire and passion of the pure knight;
The development and working out of a new idea
But be aware of: Riding for a fall — fire and/or purity have been compromised;
New ideas fail to develop
Queen of Wands Water of Fire (Earth of Fire); Aries
Basic Issues: Female sexual energy; A very powerful woman;
Successful nurturing of a developed idea
But be aware of: Voracious female sexuality; Passive-aggressive woman;
Failing to nurture the idea developed
King of Wands Fire of Fire (Air of Fire); Leo
Basic Issues: Ready to assert his masculine power and authority; The successful and
natural conclusion of an idea
But be aware of: Unable to assert his power and authority;
The untimely death of an idea
Page of Cups Earth of Water (Water of Water); Season of Fall
Basic Issues: In touch with the inner nature; Beginning of an emotional matter
or a young romance
But be aware of: The inner nature is ignored or avoided; Emotions are suppressed
Knight of Cups Air of Water (Fire of Water); Pisces
Basic Issues: Prince Charming; Comes to the door bearing flowers and candy;
Development of a romance or other emotional matter
But be aware of: Unreliable lover; Unstable Don Juan; Broken promises
Queen of Cups Water of Water (Earth of Water); Cancer
Basic issues: Sensitive and caring; Nurturing Mother; Nurturing of a romance
or other emotional matters
But be aware of: Overly sensitive to criticism; Self absorbed mother or lover
King of Cups Fire of Water (Air of Water); Scorpio
Basic Issues: Riding calmly over troubled waters; Nurturing Father;
Mature emotional control
But be aware of: Drowning in a sea of emotions; Inner turmoil breaks
out of external control
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Page of Swords Earth of Air (Water of Air); Season of Spring
Basic Issues: The student grasps new ideas; Ready to defend one’s self or ideas;
Start of an intellectual endeavor
But be aware of: Failure to learn; Using wit to defeat others
Knight of Swords Air of Air (Fire of air); Gemini
Basic Issues: Charging into a situation headfirst, possibly in an angry manner;
The quick development of intellect
But be aware of: Totally out of control; Anger becomes violence
Queen of Swords Water of Air (Earth of Air); Libra
Basic Issues: Makes decisions with her head not her heart; The critical mother;
Nurturing of the intellect
But be aware of: Decisions can be overly harsh; The mother is overly critical;
A rigid stance is released and she reaches out
King of Swords Fire of Air (Air of Air); Aquarius
Basic Issues: Rules through measured justice and intellectual prowess;
Successful completion of intellectual endeavors
But be aware of: Decisions can be dictatorial, arbitrary, unjust, or swayed by pressure
Page of Pentacles Earth of Earth (Water of Earth); Season of Winter
Basic Issues: Persistent student who may be in training for a profession or
business career; Beginning of a financial or business endeavor
But be aware of: Lack of persistence brings failure; Refusing to train for a career;
Naïve over things dealing with money
Knight of Pentacles Air of Earth (Fire of Earth); Virgo
Basic Issues: He may look like he’s not moving, but he will gain what he is after through
sheer persistence; Slow but steady development of a business or financial endeavor
But be aware of: Giving up when the going gets tough; Gains come to a standstill
Queen of Pentacles Water of Earth (Earth of Earth); Capricorn
Basic Issues: Fertile woman; She takes good care of her home and family and is good
with household finances; Successful nurturing of a financial or business endeavor
But be aware of: Infertility; The home and household finances are neglected
King of Pentacles Fire of Earth (Air of Earth); Taurus
Basic Issues: Financially secure — a good businessman; Takes good care of his home
and garden; Has encountered all dangers and defeated them; Successful conclusions to
business or financial endeavors
(As the last card in the deck in a certain order, this card can also have the suggestion that any
matter has, or will, come to its expected and natural conclusion and not expected to return.)
But be aware of: Unsuccessful in business or finances; Doesn’t take care of his own;
Matters that one thinks are over and done with resurface or endings are inconclusive
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Intuitive Technique: The Court Card Array
Adapted from: Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone, Court Cards: The Fourth Arcanum, The Tarot School, 2012
First, divide your deck into four separate piles. (Don’t bother putting them in order):
• Pile 1: The 22 Major Arcana
• Pile 2: The Four Aces
• Pile 3: The 2 through 10 of each suit
• Pile 4: The 16 court cards
Set aside the first three piles, but keep the Aces on top.
Take the stack of 16 court cards, and arrange them into four piles according to the suits.
Arrange the stacks horizontally left to right in the order of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.
Once you have completed this, turn each stack face-down.
Pick a stack at random, and turn the four court cards face-up in front of you in a horizontal row.
Rearrange the cards in your order of preference; placing the card that you like best to the left
and the others to the right in descending order of preference. You now have a horizontal row of
cards with the card you like best on the left and the card you like least on the right.
Next, place the card you like second-best on top of the card you like best, place the card in third
position on top of the second card, and the card in last position on top of the third card.
You should now have a stack of cards with the best-liked card at the bottom and the least-liked
card on the top. Turn the entire stack face down, which now places the best-liked card on top.
• Repeat this process with the other three stacks of court cards.
Retrieve your stack of four Aces from the top of the other cards in the deck and organize these
cards face-up in order of preference just as you did above with the court cards. You should now
have your best-liked Ace on the left and your least-liked Ace on the right. Move this horizontal
row of four Aces to the top of your workspace, making sure that you have enough room for a
4 x 4 square of 16 court cards below this.
• As you continue working with the court cards below, note how the suits of the court cards
connect to your best-preferred and least-preferred suits in the four Aces
Next, take the top (best-liked) cards from each face-down stack of court cards and arrange this
vertically to the left of your workspace. Reorganize these cards in order of preference, with the
most-preferred of your ‘best-liked’ cards on the top and the least-preferred on the bottom.
You should now have a vertical column of ‘best-liked’ cards in order of preference.
Again, take the next top card from each face-down pile, and place them vertically to the right of
the first vertical column. Rearrange these cards in the second column in order of preference.
• Continue this process with the other remaining court cards.
You should now have a square of 16 cards arranged in vertical columns and horizontal rows.
The card in the upper left corner is the court card you like the ‘best’ of the best, and the card in
the lower right corner is the court card that you like the ‘least’ of the least.
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In some ways, the Court Card Array is similar to a projective test in psychology, which is a type
of psychological test, such as the Rorschach test, in which the subject is asked to respond to
ambiguous images, abstract patterns, and other vague material such as incomplete sentences.
It is thought that the subject thus projects unconscious ideas that, in turn, reveal hidden aspects
of the subject's personality.
In a similar way to a projective test, your responses of preference in the Court Card Array may
reveal your own unconscious relationship to specific qualities of spirit, heart, mind,
and body in yourself and in the world as they are expressed in the four courts of Tarot.
You can also use this technique to help other people see such unconscious aspects in their own
psyche through their relationship to the energies revealed in the court cards.
• Below see a chart that can help you see some attributes of positions in the array that can
help you start to analyze your responses to the Court Card Array. Fill in the cards that
you chose into the various positions on the chart.
