“And when I look in my window/So many different people to be”
– Donovan Leitch, from Season of the Witch

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Correct interpretation of the court cards is a recurring topic of debate in the online tarot community and a thorn in the side of novice readers, who don’t know whether to approach them as external entities with a stake in the querent’s personal affairs; as psychological properties reflecting the querent’s mental and emotional state; or as human qualities that can suggest an expedient posture to assume in the matter.

As I’ve said before, I generally embrace one of three options when encountering a court card in a spread: first and foremost, I will ask my sitter whether it represents another person who is currently (or could conceivably be) involved in the situation, which if true will quickly establish the main theme of the reading as one of interaction and potential cooperation or conflict. Secondly, if no such outside engagement is likely, I will explore the psychological dimensions of the matter to identify attitudes and behaviors the seeker should either adopt or avoid. Finally, if neither of these avenues of inquiry is productive, I will default to a more impersonal or universal application of the card’s meaning as “available energy” that might be summoned to the occasion.

In practice, the examination of psychological traits affords the broadest range of possibilities and is usually the most reliable way to proceed. While it’s true that most querents don’t need to be told who they are, they just want insights about what is going to happen, establishing these parameters of comportment will ideally prepare the individual to better cope with any eventuality.

One of the best ways to tackle this is according to the “level of maturity” – and consequently the degree of persistence and dedication – indicated by the four “royal” figures. The callow Pages (Princesses in the Golden Dawn and Thoth systems) embody a freshness but also an impulsiveness and lack of gravity that represent an underdeveloped state of readiness. The audacious Knights (Princes) are mainly about offhand responses or knee-jerk reactions that, while swift and sure, need to be staunchly wielded in order to make the most effective use of their vitality. The Queens are patient and contemplative, encouraging a more understated approach, while the Kings (Knights) enjoy absolute authority and are therefore able to be dispassionate in their handling of circumstances.

The seated (and undeniably deliberate) Kings and Queens can be viewed as imparting a formal decision-making climate (they think before they act), in sharp contrast to the impromptu air of the standing Pages and mounted Knights. Another way to break it down would be as “apprentice” (Page), “journeyman” (Knight), “mentor” (Queen) and “master” (King),” while a more imaginative notion is to apply the four tenets of ceremonial magic: To Know (I would restate this as “To Learn” in defining the Pages); To Will (Kings); To Dare (Knights) and To Keep Silent (Queens).

In Liber T, their tarot curriculum, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn proposed four expressions of “power” that might be applied to the court cards in this context, and these are worth adding to the above perspective.

The Pages/Princesses are described as portraying “Reception and Transmission” (in other words, they signify a “conduit for power” rather than an active agent in its service). This brings to mind the role of the youthful heralds in the romanticized Medieval court, who supposedly performed as “messengers,” and were thus marginally privy to the minds of the nobility. (Although many people consider the mounted Knights/Princes to be the bearers of incoming information, I think the above is closer to the original intent because the Knights – unless, like Lancelot, they were under the sway of the Queen – would rather have been out on a quest than in the castle working as “newsboys.”) In practical terms, these cards can show the incipient urge to make a move but not the actual “first step” in doing so because they are still weighing the risks and benefits of translating latent power into explicit activity. (They have much in common with the Fool and the Aces.)

The Knights/Princes depict “Power in Action,” a dynamic condition that doesn’t require much elaboration. The advice is to be prepared to react on short notice, and to stand ready for anything that comes along in line with their suit and element. There is abundant (and sometimes unruly) energy on display, which may have to be diligently focused on the subject or it could be frittered away in the wasteful pursuit of inconsequential side-ventures (similar to Don Quixote “tilting at windmills”). If not competently managed, the impetus could become one of “action for its own sake.” There is a restlessness that evokes the advice of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: “Try something, and if that doesn’t work, try something else. But above all try something.”

The Queens are identified as “Brooding Power,” which sounds ominous but I believe it’s only intended to convey the virtues of concentration and contemplation, which manifest as unsurpassed patience (although there can be a “spider-and-fly” or “cat-and-mouse” sense of feigned detachment to it). This forbearance is most visible in the suits of Cups and Pentacles; the Queen of Swords can be ruthless and the Queen of Wands is volatile in her demeanor; I wouldn’t look to either one for kindness that isn’t self-serving.

The Kings/Knights are equated with “Potential Power.” This one is harder to unpack, but I think it has to do with restraint in meting out justice. The all-powerful King has the luxury of “staying his hand” rather than striking imperiously when the consequences of such abruptness are not yet clear. A forceful overreaction can therefore be avoided until more is known about the situation. The power to act is always kept at the ready but its execution is held in abeyance at the behest of a more vigilant wisdom.

An interesting aside is that the Golden Dawn at one time considered the (in their system, “horse-mounted”) Kings to symbolize someone or something “coming or going” in the matter according to whether they were situated “facing upstream” (coming in) or “facing downstream” (going out) in the flow of the narrative, in the first case welcoming the influx and in the second one bidding it goodbye. In the present discussion I would simply interpret that feature as reflecting “energetic movement” unless we are convinced the card is showing us another person (if so, the implied entrance or exit will be of interest to the querent, particularly in a looking-for-love or unstable-relationship scenario).

One or more of these cards appearing in a spread will offer the opportunity to determine whether the seeker would be best served by emulating their respective personalities when dealing with the affairs of the moment. Would the ideal posture be spontaneous, passionate, serene or prudently measured? From there. a proposed course of action can be charted. I suggest that Aleister Crowley’s “thumbnail” sketches – he used the term “moral characteristics” but I value them as “proto-psychological” portraits – of the court cards in The Book of Thoth are some of the finest descriptions to consult in familiarizing oneself with the Golden Dawn’s approach.

*Just to make it clear, no artificial intelligence was abused in the writing of this essay. When it comes to the creative arts, AI falls into the same category as genetic modification in biology: just because we can do something doesn’t invariably mean that we should. I respect my muse too much to stoop to that.