Court Cards: Practical Pentacles

The Suit of Pentacles is associated with the element of earth. This suit is very grounded, practical and hardworking. Concerned with matters of the material world, this isn’t a very spiritual suit, but it does have a love for nature and abundance. Sometimes called the Suit of Coins, it is also associated with money and financial concerns.

Often associated with The Empress, pentacles is nurturing and fertile. Let’s see how these qualities play out in the Court cards.

Page of Pentacles: This Page works and studies hard. They want to explore the world around them and work with their hands. This card may represent someone undertaking an apprenticeship. They might have a lot of hobbies, particularly practical ones. The Page of Pentacles sees the value in investing time and resources into a particular goal so that they can reap the rewards later. They are adventurous and may enjoy travelling. They care for their community and like to help others.

Knight of Pentacles: The Knight of Pentacles doesn’t know how to give up. They are responsible and productive. They are the least impulsive of the Knights, but still may take things to extremes. They are very focused but may burn themself out very fast. Determined and committed, they may experience inertia due to being so grounded.

Queen of Pentacles: The Queen of Pentacles is an expert in nurturing others and creating abundance. Sensual and strong, they love the natural world and feel intrinsically part of it. They are generous and interested in the mundane matters of the world, rather than anything too abstract. This person has accomplished much in their life, and manages to keep an excellent work-life balance. They cradle a rabbit in their arms, able to comfort nervous and fragile beings. Stability is hugely important to this Queen.

King of Pentacles: Materialistic in both good and bad ways, this King is good at business and has a well-developed professional life. They are generous and wealthy. They love luxury and want to share that with others. They may have started out with little and created this life for themself, as pentacles values hard work and achieving things by yourself. This King is a kind leader, but may assume that everyone wants the same things as them and not be able to see things from other perspectives.

I have now explored all 78 cards in the tarot! I hope that you have enjoyed these lessons. Please get in touch if you have any feedback or questions, and I’ll be back soon to write about other topics relating to tarot and more specifically how I use it as an Autistic person. Please follow me if you haven’t already, and have a wonderful day!

Court Cards: Rational Swords

The Suit of Swords contains some of the most painful cards in the tarot. The sword can be used to cut through illusion, and it is used by heroes. But it also can cause pain and suffering. In tarot, the swords represent thoughts, communication, and the mind. Many of us harm ourselves with sharp and painful thoughts, and sometimes we hurt others with angry or hurtful words.

How will you use the Suit of Swords? Each of these characters uses the swords’ potential in different ways. If you are careful and have good intentions, you can use this suit to appreciate your intellectual side, rationality, and an ability to see through illusion. Being able to recognise fake news is a good quality of this suit. But if you have bad intentions, this suit can lead you down a dangerous path.

Page of Swords: This Page is a little detached from the real world, and loves to learn new information. Always asking ‘but why?’ they are endlessly curious. They are known for being smart, but are still very inexperienced, as all pages are. The Page of Swords is a student, and wants to know the truth. The Suit of Swords is associated with the card Justice, so this page may have a very black-and-white view of what is right and wrong. Their inexperience can prevent them from seeing nuance. They love reading books and learning facts, and have great potential in academia.

Knight of Swords: Like the page, the Knight of Swords may be dogmatic and think they know it all. They hate being wrong, or perhaps just can’t accept it. Like all knights, they are impulsive, so they might learn something and run with it, rather than looking for nuance. They might be a bit of a fanatic. On a positive note, swordsy people can make excellent activists due to their love for justice. They are well-intentioned and idealistic.

Queen of Swords: The Queen of Swords has been through a lot of pain in their life. They may have done a lot of difficult work related to personal growth to get to where they are. The Rider-Waite-Smith depiction of this card includes butterflies, which shows that the queen has gone through a metamorphosis. This queen is very wise and intelligent, and always knows how to give excellent advice. Deep down, they may feel a lot of sorrow, but they use that to inform how they deal with the world around them. Though they may not always be the most sympathetic person, they certainly have a lot of compassion. They wish for a fair world.

King of Swords: The King of Swords is a rational authority. They may be a little closed-minded, having had a lot of experience and studied for such a long time that they have lost their beginner’s mind. They may be arrogant and overly logical, denouncing the use of emotion in any decision-making process. They are perceptive and can see through you if you try to lie to them. They are honest and say things how they are even if it’s hurtful. They have excellent life skills, but maybe not so many people skills.

Court Cards: Overflowing Cups

The Cups Suit is associated with water, and represents emotions, love, relationships, intuition, and so on. It focuses on your inner experiences, and how you connect to the world around you. Although it can often be a harmonious suit, strong and uncontrollable emotions can cause us a lot of harm. We see how that plays out in cards such as the Five and Eight of Cups. Perhaps the character in the Eight of Cups is escaping an abusive relationship, a situation where emotions have been used against them.

This little Cups family are romantic, dreaming of a better world. How does that play out with each card?

Page of Cups: The Page of Cups is the kind of person who has an active imagination, daydreaming, very open. They might be a bit of a crybaby. They love falling in love and might be spiritual. Some people describe Pages as messengers, so if you pull this card, pay attention to new emotional developments in your life. This card may be asking you to trust you intuition and your creative process. In many depictions of this card, the Page is surprised at the fish popping out of their cup. Think about how you cope with surprises, whether you welcome or fear them, and how to improve your ability to deal with new developments.

Knight of Cups: The Knight of Cups is a hopeless romantic. A knight in shining armour, maybe a little dramatic. Slightly impractical, this knight loves fantasy and being the hero. They are learning to embrace and rein in their emotions, but they haven’t mastered that yet. They aren’t afraid of love, and maybe haven’t been hurt or betrayed before. If you pull this card and you see yourself as this knight, take some time to consider how you react to difficult situations. If you don’t see yourself as this character, maybe it’s time to bring a little romance and levity to your life. Getting in touch with your emotions might be a good opportunity for you.

Queen of Cups: This Queen is very intuitive and may be doing some kind of therapeutic work. They have mastered their emotions, perhaps practice mindfulness and gratitude a lot. In order to get to this point, they have had to go through some difficult times, so they are very compassionate towards other people. They are an excellent listener. They are stable and a comforting presence to others.

King of Cups: Kings are more external than Queens, so the King of Cups using emotions to their advantage. The water around them looks choppy, so they may have difficulty with strong emotions. As a leader, they must learn not to lash out at other people or become paranoid at others’ intentions. This King does care about others, but may be a little passive until they feel attacked in some way. Once they have improved their feelings of security, they are a very compassionate leader, but may struggle to show their own emotions for fear of losing control.

Court Cards: Fiery Wands

A lot of people struggle to connect with the Court (sometimes known as Face) cards. Maybe it’s difficult to relate to royalty (for some maybe not!) or maybe it’s because there isn’t as much of a story in the images. The Pages all just stand there, the Knights are always on a horse, and the King and Queen always sit on thrones.

Some decks have tried to make these cards more relatable by renaming them. For example, Child rather than Page, or Elder rather than King. This can work really well, but it can also be a little confusing. Other people might relate each card to someone they know whose personality fits it. Maybe your mother is a lot like the Queen of Cups, or your friend is like the Knight of Wands.

I mentioned in the posts The Empress and The Sun that in Root Lock Radio, Weston uses a form of psychotherapy called Internal Family Systems Therapy as part of his practice. In particular, he uses this approach with the Court cards. The Page could be your inner child, the Knight your inner teenager, the Queen your inner mother, grandmother or any other nurturing figure, and the King the parent/guardian who is a voice of reason. They don’t have to match the same gender, so a King can be female, a Queen could be non-binary. Adapt any of these methods and find what works best for you.

If you recall that each element represents different areas of your life, and then try to imagine each court as a family, that can help make these cards click. That’s why I’ve chosen to cover each court separately, rather than the pages of the four suits, then the knights and so on.

Page of Wands: The page is quite youthful, wide-eyes, ready for adventure. They’re like the Fool. They don’t know much, but they are comfortable with that. The Page of Wands could represent starting a new project, something you have no experience in. Some people say the court cards can represent someone else in your life, so think about if there’s anyone in your life with this kind of energy and how you can help each other meet goals. Pages are optimistic, creative and open. Look back at the concept of Beginner’s Mind if you pull this card.

Knight of Wands: Knights remind me of teenagers, impulsive and self-assured. When you’re a teenager, you think you know a lot more than you actually do, and you’re more likely to take risks. Riding in on their horses, knights are adventurous and determined to win. This is especially true in the wands suit, fiery and creative. If you pull this card, think of areas in your life where you need to just go go go, without overthinking the consequences too much. The Knight of Wands is ready to put themself out there without fear.

Queen of Wands: This is one of my favourite cards. I love that this Queen has a black cat. The Queen of Wands is confident and self-assured, but with more experience and better balance than the Knight. Perhaps they have seen what can go wrong if you are too impulsive. There are lions on this Queen’s throne, which evokes memories of the Strength card, and the sunflower reminds us of The Sun. Not caring what other people think, the Queen is passionate and independent, a true master of their element.

King of Wands: The King is a leader of their element, inspirational and dominant. The salamander represents the element of fire, reminding us of the passion of this suit. This King is willful, and perhaps unwilling to accept compromise. Remember as we learned with The Emperor, that it is important to be aware of the difference between a good leader, and a tyrant. The King may face many challenges and threats, but if they are fair and compassionate, they can get through anything.