Court Card Matching
I was perusing some of my old Tarot notes when I came across this court card exercise. Sadly, I did not include the source. I love this activity so much that I would still like to share it, but if you know the creator, please leave a comment so that I can give them proper credit.
The exercise is a simple matching game. Match each title to the court card you think it describes the best. Here is the list of titles:
The Mother
The Sibling
The Father
The Cousin
The Friend
The Caretaker
The Lover
The Enemy
The Teacher
The Cheater
The Spouse
The Child
The Employer
The Leader
The Sponsor
The Helper
In my experience different decks invite different matches. For example, a sinister King of Swords may be “the enemy” in one deck, and a Page of Cups depicted with a lust for melodrama could be “the enemy” in another deck. You can generate your own list of unique titles as well. I think that a list of occupations to match to court cards would prove very interesting.
Here are my matches for the Chrysalis Tarot:
The Mother – Queen of Spirals (Wands)
The Sibling – Page of Scrolls (Swords)
The Father – King of Stones (Coins)
The Cousin – King of Mirrors (Cups)
The Friend – Queen of Mirrors (Cups)
The Caretaker – Page of Mirrors (Cups)
The Lover – King of Scrolls (Swords)
The Enemy – Knight of Stones (Coins)
The Teacher – Queen of Stones (Coins)
The Cheater – Page of Spirals (Wands)
The Spouse – Knight of Mirrors (Cups)
The Child – Page of Stones (Coins)
The Employer – Queen of Scrolls (Swords)
The Leader – Knight of Spirals (Wands)
The Sponsor – Knight of Spirals (Wands)
The Helper – King of Spirals (Wands)
The unique titles on the Chrysalis Tarot court cards were influential in my matching choices. A cheater certainly knows how to keep a secret, so I figured the silent mime as the Page of Spirals/Wands would be a good choice. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to consider this possibility for the Page of Wands in general when the card is ill-dignified.
The Knight of Stones/Coins as the “Illusionist” in this deck made him seem like a formidable enemy even though he doesn’t appear malevolent (it’s part of the illusion!). A more standard depiction of the Knight of Coins would rarely strike me as subversive though. He seems more like helper or caretaker material most of the time.
I enjoy the King of Scrolls/Swords as a poet. It emphasizes the suit associations with words and writing in a positive way. The dreaminess of poetry made me think he should be “the lover” – a rare match for the King of Swords.
I found that matching a court card to some of the masculine titles that I associate with responsibility, such as the father, was difficult. I didn’t feel like there were very many grounded and responsible choices based on this deck’s imagery and titles.
Here are my matches for the Tarot of the Haunted House:
The Mother – Queen of Cups
The Sibling – Knight of Coins
The Father – King of Cups
The Cousin – Knight of Wands
The Friend – Page of Cups
The Caretaker – Page of Coins
The Lover – Knight of Swords
The Enemy – Page of Swords
The Teacher – Queen of Swords
The Cheater – Queen of Wands
The Spouse – Queen of Coins
The Child – Page of Wands
The Employer – King of Coins
The Leader – King of Swords
The Sponsor – King of Wands
The Helper – Knight of Cups
A few of these were challenging – mostly the ones representing family members. When the courts are more otherworldly it can be difficult to imagine them in familial roles. I do like thinking of the King of Wands as a sponsor. He’s sponsoring her transformation into a vampire! How generous. And who could argue with that Knight of Swords as a lover?
Did you notice how in the Chrysalis Tarot the Queen of Wands was “the mother,” and in the Haunted House deck she’s “the cheater?” I think this is a fantastic example of how different decks portray varying aspects of a court card’s personality.
This simple exercise can help you to familiarize yourself with the court of a deck and allow you to compare it with other Tarots. Give it a try – I think you will enjoy yourself.
Happy shuffling!
Decks used in this post:
Chrysalis Tarot
Tarot of the Haunted House
Purchasing these decks on Amazon via the links above supports me and my ability to provide information and resources on this website. Thank you!