Getting to Know the Court Cards

Pulling a card each day is a favorite tarot activity, for both novices and experienced readers alike. Newcomers are sometimes overwhelmed with all the options available within this simple practice and would like guidance. Long-time practitioner’s often welcome new ideas to keep their practice fresh. Ru-Lee satisfies both these desires.

For each card in the deck Ru-Lee provides simple yet powerful affirmations, areas of reflection, and activities. The book is inclusive in language, but also inclusive in recognizing that people have different levels of ability physically, mentally, and emotionally. This quality is reflected particularly well in the activities. There are two for each card, each created for various abilities. If you love journaling, the reflections will give you plenty of inspiration.

Ru-Lee understands that court cards can be challenging. Ru-Lee takes an unique approach to teaching about these important cards. Here we will take a look at her approach. To see it in action, check this blog on March 22 for perhaps the best explanation of the Knight of Pentacles I’ve ever read.

Then there’s the matter of court cards. Court cards are weird. There, I said it. They throw everybody off when they’re first learning to read tarot cards. Many older/more traditional tarot guidebooks will tell you that court cards always represent specific people in your world. I’ve found that to be a limiting way of looking at them. To my way of thinking, the court cards are archetypes. Sure, they can speak to particular people you know—the King of Cups will always feel like my dad to me, no matter what context I draw it in—but they can also stand for personality traits and attributes that you may need to cultivate. Or personality traits that you have a bit too much of and could stand to temper. Because the courts can be a bit hard to navigate (especially at first), you’ll notice that I’ve handled their entries a bit differently. They all share the same reflection questions: Who in my life reminds me of this court card? What aspects of this court card do I see in myself? What aspects of this court card would I like to cultivate in myself? But unlike the other cards, I’ve chosen a specific character from fiction to illustrate each court card’s personality. My hope is that this will help you connect the dots between the general descriptions of a court card and the fleshed-out illustration of a known character. If I describe the Page of Pentacles as a methodical worker and loyal friend, you may still see them as a bit abstract and two-dimensional. When I tell you that Charlie Brown of Peanuts fame is the perfect representative for the Page of Pentacles, you immediately have a clearer sense of who this Page is and what they stand for.