One of the things that fascinates me most about the tarot are the people, or characters, in the story you are telling when you are doing a reading.
The court cards are like the four suits in playing cards (pages, knights, queens and kings) and there are four elements (wands, cups, swords and pentacles).
Of course, it really depends on where these colourful characters reveal themselves in the spread and what other cards are present before you make your decision. This is where the tarot reader’s careful intuition and a quick flash of insight comes into play to determine if the court card is a person, an aspect of the client’s own personality, or a situation. For example, traditionally the pages brought news to the court, so a page could mean news coming. Alternatively the appearance of this spritely being in the reading could represent a young person, a child, or that the client is taking an immature approach.
Generally speaking, the suits are based on your astrological sign, or what element you are, namely:
Fire – wands (Aries, Sagitarrius, Leo)
Water – Cups (Scorpio, Cancer, Pisces)
Earth – pentacles (Virgo, Taurus, Capricorn)
Air – swords (Aquarius, Libra, Gemini)
In my twenties, I definitely conformed to my astrological element in the tarot. As an Aquarian, I had many of the traits of the airy swords type. I worked in administration using careful planning and organisational skills; my husband may beg to differ, but it ’s always me doing the filing and decluttering, much to his distaste as he is a Taurean and loves to collect things no matter how unattractive or unnecessary! I finely tuned my communication and writing abilities in this era and I could be cool and detached at times, belonging to everyone but yet to no-one, and I loved socialising!
I ‘feel’ like I’ve changed recently though (I quoted ‘feel’ because this is more what a cup/water sign would say) so this morning my curiosity was sparked to find out which court card I had evolved or transformed into.
There is a way of finding this out, which I will share with you in later in this article.
Just to give you a little insight on how a tarot card can reveal your personality, I will explain to you about Carl Jung. Not as scientific as his other peers and colleagues, Carl Jung (a famous Swiss psychologist) found tarot symbols were extremely useful in his clinical psychoanalysis. He would ask his patients to select tarot cards to create a story, which would relate to the problem being discussed.
Jung identified five main archetypes (a person or behaviour) that can be used to relate to our own lives and help us to better understand ourselves, these were:
• The Persona: The face we present to the world
• The Shadow: The part of us unacknowledged but that exists
• The Self: The essence of the psyche
• The Anima: The female image in the male psyche
• The Animus: The male image in the female psyche
He also noted each tarot symbol has an archetype, relating to the transformation and illumination of the higher consciousness, a process of overcoming situations on a higher level. Carl Jung noticed events in the outside world corresponded with his patients’ psychological states, giving him a “forewarning of the coming events.”
Anyway, back to the court cards again……
When I did it, I came up as personality type: INFJ (Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging). An idealist counsellor and the Queen of Cups. This is good news to me, for if was to choose a court card to be at this present time, it would be this deep and psychically connected one; so I must be on the right pathway. I am a tarot consultant, healer and I empower people with my counselling knowledge so this makes perfect sense!
Once you have worked out which four letters you are, you can google your four letters and you will get lots of information about what career, relationships and personalities suit you most. I did this first when I was at college to see what job I should do. I was a knight then, but now I am a Queen, which shows I am being more reflective and mature in my old age! The following information will tell you which court card and personality you are:-
ESTJ – Guardian Supervisor
ISTJ – Guardian Inspector
ESFJ – Guardian Provider
ISFJ – Guardian Protector
ESTP – Artisan Promoter
ISTP – Artisan Crafter
ESFP – Artisan Performer
ISFP – Artisan Composer
ENTJ – Rational Fieldmarshal
INTJ – Rational Mastermind
ENTP – Rational Inventor
INTP – Rational Architect
ENFJ – Idealist Teacher
INFJ – Idealist Counselor
ENFP – Idealist Champion
INFP – Idealist Healer
Court cards:-
King of Wands- ENTJ
Queen of Wands- INTJ
Knight of Wands- ENTP
Page of Wands- INTP
King of Cups- ENFJ
Queen of Cups- INFJ
Page of Cups- INFP
King of Swords- ESTJ
Queen of Swords- ISTJ
Knight of Swords- ESTP
Page of Swords- ISTP
King of Pentacles- ESFJ
Queen of Pentacles- ISFJ
Knight of Pentacles- ESFP
Page of Pentacles- ISFP
So now you know what court card you are, you will recognise yourself when it comes up in a reading! If you are unhappy about the card you are, my advice would be to meditate on the card you DO want to be, to focus on it’s characteristics and do positive affirmations based on this card. That way you will get into the card’s energy and start it manifesting.
