Some Exercises To Break Down The Court Cards

From The Slow Holler Tarot

I recently put out an open call on social media asking what tarot learners were struggling with. The number one answer is, of course, The Court Cards. If you're SUPER new to tarot, the Court Cards are the cards labeled Pages, Knights, Queens, or Kings. They might be rewritten in your deck, but they most likely have a title and a suit (hence the Architect of Vessels above).

The Court Cards are very often taught or explained as people. Even a lot of otherwise really, really good tarot books can lead you astray here as you try to understand why your spread is giving you random, useless information about a dark haired man with bad intentions when that man is absolutely nowhere in your life. To add to the confusion, the Courts are often needlessly (and kind of hilariously) gendered, and can often equate material wealth with achievement & worth in a way I’m very, very uncomfortable with. 

From The Next World Tarot

All of that being said, I love the court cards. They encourage me to bust my butt or take a break--both messages I hate but frequently need. They don’t usually represent 16 different people most of the time. Instead, they represent 16 different energies or aspects of YOU. The court cards coming up are most likely the energies or aspects within yourself that you need to call on and bring into being right now. Pairing each card with a well-known celebrity may not help you crack the card, understand it, or remember it in the heat of the moment. Instead, I've got some suggestions outlined below for how to connect with these cards in a way that stays true to both the card and your own experiences and journey. 

• If you are Pagan and work with deities, try pairing each court card with a deity that you could call on to inspire you or work with you regarding the energy of the card.

• If you are Pagan and do not work with deities, pairing each court card with a mythological creature or spiritual entity (like a type of faery, a spirit or ghost you’ve worked with, or an animal guide) that you could call on now to inspire or aid that card’s energy allows for a similar clarity as the diety exercise.

• If you are not Pagan, or are but want an alternative exploration, think about times in your life when the energy of this card was easy for you to take on. So one card might be the version of you that started a business that failed, and a different court card might be the version of you that started a successful business. One card could be a version of you that cried over a “B” in high school, and one could be a version of you that cut that college class all the time to have sex with your suitemate. Lock in those actual, living versions of yourself as your "go to" for how to interpret this card.

If this blog post helped you unlock your understanding of the Court Cards, I've got a whole E-Zine for sale chock full of tips and tricks to help New Age Misfits learn tarot in a personalized but true-to-your-deck's-intentions way. You can grab a copy here for just $13.99.

If you're looking for free resources, Siobhan at Radical Tarot has some great thoughts about the Courts here.

Blessed be, y'all!

Hot Class Alert! Including a MUCH Requested Tarot 101!

Hello tarot lovers and other witches,

Today is basically a dumpster fire. I do have some good news for those looking to learn tarot or advance their own study though: I've got THREE marvelous classes coming to Eye of Horus in Minneapolis, MN over the next three months. They are:

Tarot 101 for Creatives walks you through how to learn and bond over a new deck via your understanding of the images, colors, and symbols decorating them. I'll give you a basic framework and then walk you through exercises to go deeper. October 21st at 1 PM. Nab your seats here. 

Queering the Tarot is coming back to the Eye of Horus and will happen on November 18th at 1 PM. This is my absolute favorite class to teach, so come learn about how to tell if your Queen likes other Queens, what the Hanged Man might really be doing there, and how the Hermit fits in. Purchase a seat in class right here, friends. 

Sex and Tarot is the sauciest of the three (obviously) and goes through all the bad, mixed up, sex-shaming messages we get from society and how we can use tarot to overcome it all and own our own sexuality again. We also talk about bondage and I'll teach a spread for more or better sex. That's on December 9th. Snag a seat! 

That's what I've got today, y'all! Come learn and chat with me. Can't wait. Blessed be.

Tarot Learning Tip: Which Way Do Your Faces Face?

Hello loves!

I'm back with another quick tip for learning and bonding with your tarot deck. Admittedly, today's trick is one that only works if some of your cards have faces—but any faces will apply (human, animal, robot).

As I teach and write about tarot, I always emphasize the importance of paying close attention and looking for details in the images in the cards. One such detail: in your cards that have figures who have faces, look for two things. 1) Which way is the face facing? & 2) Which way are the figure's eyes facing?

There's two facets to this. One is in finding the deepest, most detailed information about your tarot cards while you're still learning them. Spread your cards out in order. Most tarot decks that feature faces will have a ton of them in the Major Arcana, so that's our best best for a starting point and the one I'll use as an example, but I do recommend going through by suit and doing the same thing. So, now that they're laid out—which way are the faces and then eyes facing? What does this tell you personally about the cards and their intentions?

For example, in this take on The Fool from Barbara Moore's Book of Shadows As Above, The Summerlands shows someones looking away from the entire rest of the deck. What could that mean? Use your knowledge of The Fool (new ventures, new chapter, stepping into something different but also maybe a little naïve or, ahem, foolish). Is this figure stepping into the Summerlands, the afterlife, the next major karmic chapter in their life turning their back on the deck to keep the surprise alive? To avoid facing the realities coming their way? Or just to truly live and bask in that new vibe and energy? It's probably all three, but look at the eyes too—facing up towards the sky. This card looks up, not down, faces the magic they're creating but not the other stuff about to set in.

Another example is our very next card—the High Priestess is usually looking straight ahead, not towards or away from any of the other cards. This means this card is completely focused on the querent who pulls Her. She's trying to peer into your soul and dig at that deep access. She's completely unconcerned with what's going on around her, she just wants to see YOU, and as such this card is a firm reminder that you have the answers and have what you need, and that maybe you just need to dig deeper to find it. In the picture, we see a slightly different take on her too—the Sorceress from D.J. Conway's Shapeshifter Tarot. She's actually looking slightly to the majority of the rest of the cards. A sorceress is a take on, but is not a direct synonym for a High Priestess. So is this Sorceress casting a spell to make the rest of the Fool's Journey unfold? It sure seems that way.

A final example before we move on comes from later in the Major Arcana. The Star or Stars is a card of renewal and of hope and of faith--but I've also long looked at it as a card of knowing you have enough resources and are contributing resources back to the Universe too. It's a card of reciprocity and universal love and trust. So in the examples below, where are the women in the Star card looking? They're looking right at the water, the symbol of healing, the resource in question. Or perhaps the one from the Book of Shadows So Below is looking at her family and the fun scene they've created together. In short, she's looking at the world and life she's created but that she gets so much back from. Her eyes then too don't leave the scene. In Egypt Urnash's Tarot of the Silicon Dawn we don't see her eyes, per se. But they too are focused on what she's giving and pouring out.

Once you have a handle on how face & eye placement affects your cards overall, it's time to start mixing them into readings. I've moved on to using all of the cards, and let's take a look at the very strong statement made the face and eye placement in the Six and Eight of Wands when pulled together from Siolo Thompson's Linestrider Tarot. The Man or Statue depending on your interpretation in the Six of Wands is looking right at the slightly nervous deer in the Eight of Wands who is trying to look back without being noticed. This deer is trying to move straight along their path but is looking back to a safer or more easily victorious time. Looking further, if the Six of Wands is a card of victory and triumph and the Eight is a card of very excitable but fast, often intimidating energy then it stands to reason that we are seeking triumph and control over our schedules. We might not be comfortable with the fast pace we are moving in, or it could be an assurance that we are in control and the things we're wanting to be triumphant about are happening—just maybe a little quicker than we are comfortable with. In that case the advice might be to look back to another time when you were moving quickly, seemingly too quickly, but ending up conquering something you'd been working towards for a long time.

From the Prisma Visions Tarot pictured above, we have the Tower—a card of disaster, of everything we hold dear being torn down, of things being taken away from us. We also see the Seven of Wands, which can indicate a need to stand up for ourself and, from the image at hand, move forward no matter how rashly and confusingly we must do it. Yet sitting in the middle is the Four of Chalices. This is a card of discontentment and dissatisfaction, of excessive emotions or woolgathering. Yet in this spread, there's no surprise as to the “why!” This little child's face is pointed right at The Tower and all of the things they've lost. Their eyes look right at the building about to topple and refuse to acknowledge that maybe life goes on after, or maybe they should stand up for themselves, or maybe, just maybe, it'll feel more liberating to move about with fewer resources. What a powerful statement and reading, and look how much of it came just because of how the kid's face and eyes are pointed!

There are oodles (a very scientific number) of ways to maximize your time learning your tarot deck—this is just one, but can lead you to others. Thinking about face placement can lead you to think about body language. Thinking about body language can get you to look closer. Looking closer can tell all kinds of new stories with any tarot deck. So go forth, let they “eyes” have it (SORRY FOR THIS PUN. I AM THE WORST), and dig deeper with your tarot deck every chance you get.

Blessed be, y'all!

Tarot For Anyone! A Quick Learning Trick

While I've been reading tarot for over a decade (weeps about aging forever) I still employ this trick every time I pick up a new deck, before I even look at the book or anything. Most readers do this, but lately I've been talking to a few super new on or still just considering a tarot path who get super caught up in "how am I ever gonna memorize this book?" The short answer is it takes time, but you will. Just dilligently work on it nearly every day for awhile.

BUT the great news is you can still find a lot of use in your cards by just looking at the picture, and gleaning what there is to glean artistically from them. This is particularly true for advice questions. "What should I do" is quickly answered by seeing what the figure in the picture is doing. "What's my next step" can be answered by looking at the picture overall--again, likely what the figure is doing, but there can be some other giveaways too. If you know symbols really well, animals featured could be giving you a sign based on your interpretation of those animals. Colors, runes, various constellations, etc. etc. could all be doing the same thing. Questions of "Who" can also be answered by going directly off the traits, attitude, or energy of the figure on the card.

For example, in the photo above, it's fine if you have no clue what the (fabulous) book from this Book of Shadows: As Above deck says about this card. It's easy to assess that you have some crystals poking out of the corner, some bright purple flowers, a gnome relaxing in their element. The instrument might stand out to you if you're a creative or especially musical person, and that beam of sunlight across the card has always struck me.

So if I had asked "What should I do about my financial situation?" I would assess based on the relaxed gnome and all the Earthly things blooming around them that I should just relax, because I had already put myself in a good position and news was coming. Or if I saw the instrument first, I would think that utilizing my creative talents for money was my next strategy. If I had asked a more spiritual question such as "What is my soul needing", some time around music, in sunlight, or possible some crystal or plant healing would come to me as the answers.

Another example so you can see how cards work together, is based off the above. (In reality the odds of this pair showing up together in a well shuffled deck is a little slim, but hey.) A question I've been grappling with lately is "What keeps holding me back?" and "Where do I go from here?" If I needed some basic guidance to these questions and pulled these two cards from my Prisma Visions tarot I would see that Skull, the word Emperor, and the cacophony of color around it. I would discern based on the animal that my own stubbornness was killing me, and from the colors that my mind was too scattered to make much sense of the things going on. Meanwhile the "Where do I go from here?" card shows a woman embracing the light, elevating herself, almost above the solid ground she's built. She is bright against a dark background. While with a seeker other than myself I might have trouble putting it into words, I think the image does speak for itself--look towards the positive, the light. Look ahead. The gold and yellow give us a strong sense of newness and freshness, and this would be about embracing and accepting the new.

Tarot is so frequently seen as this big, scary huge 78-things-to-learn process, but you can utilize the art and the keywords to provide yourself the guidance you need as you work on memorizing in more traditional ways. I'd love to hear more beginner's tips and tricks, and will for sure have more unfold over the course of this blog.

Until next time,
Blessed Be