Help with court cards please - they’re my weakness!!
Do you read them as actual people, aspects of yourself, or situations? How do you decide which one? Does anyone have a good system for remembering court card meanings? The elements + suits + ranks are overwhelming me.
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Court cards might be where we see the most variations in how different readers work with a card. For me, I almost always use them to represent a person unless the combination in the spread is screaming at me to use them for something else.
The court card could represent you (or your querant) or a third party. Look at the cards next to them and they’ll tell you who it is.
But if you want to go a bit broader:
I think the court cards are tough for everyone starting out. Don’t sweat it. I’ve been doing this for years now, and they still make me pause sometimes.
I would stop trying to force just one interpretation. Sometimes they’re people, sometimes they’re energies you need to channel, sometimes they’re situations developing. The Queen of Swords showing up might be your analytical friend who gives harsh but needed advice, or it could be telling you to cut through emotional fog with logic. Some people think the Tower of Death cards are here to give tough love advice, but for me, I find the court cards can definitely do the job.
The element combos helped me tons. Each court has two elements - one from their rank, one from their suit.
Pages are Earth (as beginners)
Knights are Fire/Air depending on tradition (as action)
Queens are Water (as internal mastery)
Kings are Fire (as external authority).
So, for example, Queen of Cups is Water of Water - pure emotional flow and intuition.
One trick that’s helped me 
is connecting court cards to zodiac signs! Queens of Fire signs (Wands) = Aries/Leo/Sagittarius vibes, Water courts (Cups) = Cancer/Scorpio/Pisces energy. When I pull King of Pentacles, I instantly think :earth_sign: Capricorn boss energy 
Helps me remember them better than just thinking ‘mature earth person’
I like using a range of sources for meanings, so you don’t get the bias from using one.
Rachel Pollack’s stuff is good for the psychological side. But what really helps is seeing how different decks show the same card. Like the Page of Pentacles - in the Wild Unknown it’s about patience and laying groundwork. The Modern Witch Tarot shows more of a student vibe. The Crow Tarot makes it feel more methodical.
Each artist picks up on something different. I usually start with whatever the deck creator wrote in their guidebook since they designed the artwork with specific ideas in mind. Then I add in traditional meanings and see what fits the reading. Sometimes the Page of Pentacles is literally about a young person with a new job, sometimes it’s about approaching something as a beginner, and sometimes it means you need to focus on the basics. Context usually makes it clear which meaning applies.
The answer to your first question is: all of the above. They can be people, parts of you, or the energy of a situation. The Tarot doesn’t make it easy! 
The context of the spread is what helps you decide. If a card falls in a position like “people around you,” it’s likely a person. If it’s in a “your inner state” position, it’s an aspect of you. If it’s the outcome, it might be the energy you need to embody. I think as long as your deck knows how you read the cards before you pull them for a spread it can use this to use the court cards in position.
For a system without positions, try ranking their level of maturity (Page=student, Knight=action-taker, Queen=internal mastery, King=external leader). The Suit is their personality’s “flavor” (Wands=passionate, Cups=emotional, etc). Combining those two gives you a solid base to start from.
I almost always read court cards as timing indicators
Pages = days/messages coming,
Knights = weeks/fast movement,
Queens = months/gestation periods,
Kings = seasons/completion cycles.
An old carnival reader taught me that system years ago. Still use it.
Same here! Court cards have been confusing me since I started reading. I’ve been trying to focus on the general vibe each court brings instead of memorizing everything. Like Pages feel like beginners or messages, Knights are more about doing stuff and movement, Queens have that nurturing thing going on, and Kings are the boss types.
I really like the image guides, thank you @WildOne, I think I will print these out as a reference for a while. I made myself a cheat sheet that mixes the suit element with what the court card does. Like Queen of Wands = nurturing + fire = someone who gets others fired up and motivated but yours is clearer.
For the whole people vs aspects vs situations thing, I just go with whatever feels right based on the other cards. If I get the Knight of Cups next to The Lovers, it’s probably talking about a person. Next to the Eight of Pentacles? Maybe more about how someone’s approaching their work.
Still figuring them out though. Court cards are tricky.
No one’s mentioned reversals yet.
When court cards show up reversed, I read it as that vibe being blocked or coming out in a messy, immature way. A reversed King of Wands can be a leader using charm to push people around, and a reversed Page of Cups can be mixed signals or feelings getting scrambled.
Court cards are usually about people in a situation or personality traits. When I do readings at parties, they often represent either the person getting the reading or someone close to them.
Pages signify beginners. Like someone who just started learning guitar and is really into it, but still pretty bad. I see them come up a lot when people are starting new jobs or relationships. Knights take action with what they’ve learned, sometimes without thinking it through. Queens know their element well and help others develop in that area. Kings have it down and teach from experience, the opposite to the pages.
Last week I did a reading for a work thing and pulled the Queen of Swords. I spent a while trying to figure out if she was my boss or my own inner critic, so I feel you. What helped me was treating court cards as traits or energies to lean on in the moment. Each suit gives a different vibe.
For that Queen, I focused on clear thinking and direct communication for the project. Page of Pentacles often nudges me to start small and be practical. Knight of Wands pushes me to take action and keep momentum. That’s just how I handle the courts these days.
