The Court Cards — an elemental perspective

Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc

Now that we’re approaching the last of the court cards (Page, Knight, Queen and King) — which I will follow with an overview of the courts, what role they play in the tarot deck, and how we can work with them actively — I thought it might be a good idea to get a different perspective on them: that of an elemental overview.

The elements lie at the heart of the Tarot of the Spirit deck, co-created by this week’s guest contributor, Pamela Eakins. Here she puts forward a point of view that I hadn’t considered until I read her writing — but which resonates for me in terms of the readings I have done for various clients over the years.

Pamela’s exhortation, not only to understand the court cards in terms of their elemental qualities, but to seek to experience them ‘from the inside out’, feels valuable in its ability to take us deeper into their meaning — and, by extension, how we explore, discover, and apply meaning in our own lives.

— Sarah

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An ordinary pack of playing cards contains three face cards in each suit. They are traditionally referred to as Kings, Queens and Jacks.

Each suit of the tarot contains four face cards for a perspective which is, overall, more balanced. In different decks, these cards go by different names. They are sometimes called Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses, or Knights, Queens, Princes and Pages. One deck calls them Shamans, Priestesses, Sons and Daughters. In the Tarot of the Spirit, the face cards are called Fathers, Mothers, Brothers and Sisters. In all tarot decks, there are traditionally two parent-like cards and two offspring. If you wish to read an ordinary pack of cards, however, where there are only three face cards, you may wish to combine the attributes of both ‘children’ into one child, which would, of course, be represented by the Jack.

In the Tarot of the Spirit, the Father in the suit of Fire [Wands in the Rider-Waite Smith deck] is known as Fire Father. The Mother is Fire Mother. The Brother is Fire Brother and Sister, Fire Sister.

Just as all the 1s [Aces] have similar qualities, all of the Fathers have similar qualities. This holds true for Mothers, Brothers and Sisters as well. So, while we have 16 face [court] cards in the entire deck, and while each face card will be modified by the suit in which it appears, the face cards can be reduced to four major personality types.

All Fathers, for example, even though they are conditioned by the element of the suit in which they reside, are essentially related to the element of Fire. Thus they represent spirit — action, energy and movement. If the Father is residing in the suit of Water [i.e. the King of Cups], he will be modified, for example, by the spirit and energy level of Water. Since Water is by nature passive, the Water Father, who is really the Fire Father in Water, is likely to be passive. His high energy is subdued by Water’s heavy and calming influence. When the Father appears in his own element, in Fire, however [i.e. as the King of Wands], he becomes the very essence of his inner qualities. He is hot and flaming, all action, high energy and continuous movement.

Just as all the Fathers are related to Fire, all Mothers are related to the element Water. Regardless of the suit in which they appear, although they are conditioned or refined by the attributes of that suit, it can be said that all the Mothers personify the qualities of emotion and understanding. The Mothers — in their exalted state [embodying the full potential of the qualities of their suit — dependent on surrounding cards in a layout, or whether a card is interpreted in its upright or reverse aspect] — are receptive, loving and nurturing.

The Brothers represent the suit of Wind. They are intellectual, relying on reason, seeking understanding through the processes of thought. They seek to discover higher purpose through rationality. In the Tarot of the Spirit, the Brothers are the Spirit Warriors. In their exalted state, they are not afraid of creating and employing new information as they speed their causes along.

The Sisters represent Earth. They solidify, or ‘ground,’ all the energy generated along the path through the particular suit. In a certain way, they can be seen as the essence of the suit or the element of the suit as it is processed and applied — concretely — in the body, mind or spirit of the querist [another term for ‘querent’ — the person for whom we are doing a reading], or in the querist’s life. The Sisters represent the manifestation of the messages, mysteries or lessons of the particular suit. Thus, they are like the Priestesses of the element. They are capable of understanding the element thoroughly and putting its tools to work. …

[I]t is useful to think of the face cards as four essential types: Fire Father, Water Mother, Wind Brother and Earth Sister. Beyond that, we can conceptualize Fire Father in Water, imagining, for example, how the element of Water would affect his fiery nature. We can imagine Fire Father in Wind [the King of Swords] with the same empathetic stance, or Fire Father in Earth [the King of Pentacles].

In each suit, the Fathers and Mothers unite to produce their offspring. Thus it can be said that the Brothers and Sisters contain the characteristics and receive the guidance of both of their parents. Whether they attune to their parents or follow their directives is, of course, a personal matter. As the querist begins to understand this, the cards begin to come alive.

The querist, then, will understand that the Father and Mother do not necessarily contain the characteristics of their offspring. The Father and Mother are ‘pure’ in nature. The children, however, have the ability — if they so choose and if they exalt their own potential — to soar beyond the limits of their parents, “casting,” as it were, “the disk of Earth much further.” [Nikos Kazantzakis, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1958), p. 414]

To understand this, to understand any of the face cards of the tarot, we ought to put ourselves in any one of their shoes. Only then can we begin to perceive their meaning on a deep level. We can then begin to understand the theory of the tarot which takes us, in terms of internalized knowledge, far beyond the limits of rote memorization. The apprehension of these four personality types in theory, renders the whole of tarot easier to understand.

If you wish to understand the Earth Sister in Wind [the Page of Swords], for example, try to experience things from her perspective. How would you feel with an older Brother and two parents who were guided, for all practical purposes, by the challenge of the intellectual endeavor?

Learning to experience the tarot from the inside opens the doors to its minor and major mysteries.

Excerpt taken, with thanks, from “Tarot of The Spirit” by Pamela Eakins, Ph.D., companion to the tarot deck painted by Joyce Eakins.