Court Cards Explained

Every suit in the Minor Arcana has four court cards — Page, Knight, Queen and King — and they’re often the trickiest cards for beginners, because they can represent either an actual person or a way of approaching a situation.

As people, court cards are frequently read by age, role or energy rather than literal gender: a Page often points to a younger person, a student, or a message or beginning stage; a Knight suggests someone in motion — pursuing, chasing, sometimes acting before thinking; a Queen usually represents a mature, inward mastery of that suit’s energy; a King represents that same mastery turned outward, into authority or action in the world.

As situations rather than people, the same logic applies: a Page of Cups might mean a new, tender feeling just starting to form; a King of Swords might describe a moment that calls for clear, decisive, unemotional thinking. When a court card turns up, it’s worth asking both questions — "does this describe someone in my life?" and "does this describe an energy I need right now?" — before settling on one reading.