The court cards
The court cards
Unlike a standard deck of playing cards, tarot cards have four court or ‘face’ cards: king, queen, knight and page. (In playing cards the knight and page were merged to create the jack.) Kings represent power and motivation, queens are associated with support, knights symbolise new opportunities or challenges, while pages signify new knowledge or information. In addition, each court card in each of the suits has its own particular traits:
King of Cups – a kind and generous family man who is wise and reliable and always puts others first, but can be a bit of a soft touch
Queen of Cups – this person is very motherly and loves to look after others, giving good advice and knowledgeable insight
Knight of Cups – a true romantic and a very passionate, loyal and loving person, who is often consumed by his emotions
Page of Cups – a daydreamer with a very sensitive disposition, always trying to help others
King of Swords – a professional person, full of high ideals and strong beliefs and assured of his own righteousness
Queen of Swords – sharp-witted and quick-thinking, this queen’s cold and somewhat aloof exterior belies her loneliness inside
Knight of Swords – someone who’s full of energy and action and gets bored easily, often changing direction but courageous for taking such risks
Page of Swords – an all-round intelligent person – bright, intuitive, sporting and creative, but with a restless spirit
King of Wands – a charismatic leader whom people love to follow, and who expects a great deal of loyalty and support in return
Queen of Wands – a warm, caring, graceful and popular character who epitomises balance and harmony
Knight of Wands – this man is a traveller, always on the go, and he’s fiercely loyal but can be impetuous and unreliable
Page of Wands – fun-loving and child-like, this person is restless by nature but is always a faithful friend
King of Coins – traditional, sensible and mature, this king is wise in money and business and represents safety and security
Queen of Coins – like the king, this woman is astute in business and wise with money, but is generous, honest and kind with it
Knight of Coins – this man is young, headstrong and hard-working and has a great deal of potential in his career, although he still has a lot to learn
Page of Coins – practical and dexterous, he loves to learn new ways of doing things and his passion for knowledge and ideas will take him far in business
