Court Cards

Tarot

Definition

The 16 figure cards of the Minor Arcana — Page, Knight, Queen and King in each of the four suits — representing people, personality types, or aspects of the querent.

Origin

Court cards inherit their structure from the 14th-century Mamluk deck, which contained malik (king), na'ib malik (deputy king) and na'ib thani (second deputy). European packs feminised one of the figures, producing the King-Queen-Knight-Page (or Knave) hierarchy by the 15th century.

Development

Different traditions vary: the Thoth deck uses Knight-Queen-Prince-Princess, the Marseille keeps King-Queen-Knight-Page, and Spanish-suited decks use Rey-Caballo-Sota. Each tradition assigns slightly different elemental, age and gender correspondences.

In Practice

A court card can represent a literal person (matching the suit's typical age and personality), an aspect of the querent's own personality, or an energetic role being played. Skilled readers ask the querent for context before locking into one interpretation.

Deeper Reading

Modern non-binary readers question the gendered Queen/King split. Some redesigned decks use Mother/Father/Child/Sage or other quaternities to keep the four-fold structure while avoiding rigid gender roles.

See Also

  • face cards
  • figure cards
  • royals
  • cartas de la corte