Court Cards:

The court cards are the cards that have given me the most trouble while learning to read Tarot cards. It's hard to figure out whether they are people in our lives, us, or situations. Unfortunately there is no clear-cut way to know for sure which way is the "right way." You will just have to listen to your intuition while doing readings. One way is to ask the seeker if their question concerns anyone else or if their question is strictly about them, concerning no other people. Chances are, if the seeker is interested in a romance in her/his life the Court Cards will represent those people. Some people use the astrological associations, some people use the coloring associations, and some people just use the personality associations. I've found through experience that the personality association is usually the most accurate.

I've used the following excerpt from the book: "The Elements of The Tarot" by A T Mann.

The court cards are associated with the elements and with astrological signs in their function as personifications to be used in tarot, and as symbols of the varying degrees of mastery of consciousness. The wands show intuitive and spiritual consciousness; the swords mental awareness; the cups emotional consciousness; and the pentacles physical consciousness and external reality. In a psychological sense the court cards may be understood as subpersonalities which indicate that a particular level of awareness has been obtained or is being required of us.

Crowley considered the court cards to be families of the four elements and their permutations. His correlation is interesting because it shows how the elements function within us, with each element containing aspects of the other three.

When court cards are drawn in a reading, they signify the coming or presence of an individual who carries the archetype from whom we must see and accept its principles, or onto whom we project these qualitites, and its presence requires that exercise the level of mastery indicated.

King of Wands = Fire of Fire = Intuitive Intuition
Queen of Wands = Water of Fire = Emotional Intuition
Knight of Wands = Air of Fire = Mental Intuition
Page of Wands = Earth of Fire = Physical Intuition

King of Cups = Fire of Water = Intuitive Feeling
Queen of Cups = Water of Water = Emotional Feeling
Knight of Cups = Air of Water = Mental feeling
Page of Cups = Earth of Water = Physical feeling

King of Swords = Fire of Air = Intuitive Thinking
Queen of Swords = Water of Air = Emotional Thinking
Knight of Swords = Air of Air = Intellectual Thinking
Page of Swords = Earth of Air = Physical Thinking

King of Pentacles = Fire of Earth = Intuitive Sensation
Queen of Pentacles = Water of Earth = Emotional Sensation
Knight of Pentacles = Air of Earth = Mental Sensation
Page of Pentacles = Earth of Earth = Physical Sensation

Wands usually refer to Fire Signs of the Zodiac, Leo, Sagittarius, Aries
Cups are water, Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio
Swords are Air, Aquarius, Libra, Gemini
Pentacles are Earth, Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

Wands are Intuition, creativity
Cups are Feelings, emotions
Swords are Thinking, intellectual
Pentacles are Sensation, material

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since 6/16/1999.

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