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.