The Tarot Court

For many readers, court cards are the most difficult cards in their Tarot deck to understand. In most decks, they lack the convenient titles of the Major Arcana and the helpful pictures of the Minor. So how to interpret them by sight?


If you’ve never been to a Family Reunion, try to imagine one. It may look something like this...Cousin Chuck, a childhood bully, runs around telling everyone how much weight they’ve gained. Right behind him comes peacemaker Bob, explaining how Chuck didn’t really mean the things he said. Across the room, egocentric Aunt Ida has cornered quiet Brother Joe, and is torturing him with unending stories of how she strategized a hostile take-over of her competitor’s company. Everyone brings a camera, and Granny Smith has appointed herself Director of the Photos.


If you look around the reunion with a detective’s eye, you’ll find every one of Tarot's Court Cards posing as your relatives. Court Cards represent personality types. Don’t let gender fool you. Your mom can be the King of Swords and your dad the Queen of Wands. Personality type, not gender is the key.


Exercise


Fill in the Family Tree with your relatives, then assign a Court Card to each. It's okay to use the same Court Card more than once.


In your journal:


1. Were there some Court Cards you used several times? Some not at all? Why do you think this is so?


2. Were there any Court Cards that were harder for you to work with than others? What were they?


3. Did you gain any insight into your family dynamics?


Some fantastic books to read that shows more examples of how to read court cards:


~ Understanding the Tarot Court by Mary K Greer
~ Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners by Joan Bunning
~ Tarot Card Combinations By Dorothy Kelly and Joan Bunning