Readings with Court Cards

The court cards can be a challenge to read, even for the most experienced readers. I have read more than my fair share of books on Tarot, including books based solely on court cards and how they can be understood.

Here is a simple breakdown of how I see courts in a Thoth-based deck:

Queens are the mothers, the married women and the masters of their suit. When I see a Queen in a reading, I automatically relate it to a woman that I know, or myself since I fit the status of an older woman (ok, I am in my mid-thirties). The Queen of Pents, for example, would be a woman living comfortably who is interested more in the physical comforts of life (including sex!) than spiritual or emotional comforts. The Queen of Swords, on the other hand, is traditionally seen as a divorced woman.

The Knights are the Queen's husband or their partners. They usually signify men that are nearby that are older, while the Princes are younger men or men without the same temperance and experience of their Knight counterparts of the same suit. The Princes are often described with more focus, and less flexibility, than the Knights. The once exception is the suit of Wands, where the Prince is less, shall we say, impulsive and active than the Knight of the same suit.

The Princesses hold a unique place in the Thoth deck, but in a reading they often appear when you are dealing with a child or teen who has the qualities of the suit.

By relating the courts to people that you know, it makes them more accessible and easier to pinpoint their meanings in a reading. While it may be true that the Courts do not always indicate people in readings, they often do point to characteristics that you are going to exhibit if they don't relate to you personally or anyone that you know.