Welcome to the Court Cards, the most human part of the deck. This module is where tarot stops being about energy and starts being about people, including the many different versions of yourself you carry around depending on the day.

Imagine a circular wooden dining table in a quiet room. Four people are present and seated around the table. One sharp. One soft. One bold. One steady. They're not speaking yet. Just waiting. Walk into the room and take your seat. Notice the posture, clothing and expression of each figure. Take a mental note of who you noticed first. Did you avoid anyone? How did their energy feel? Did they respond to you? When you're ready, thank your Court for attending the session before opening your eyes.

The Court Cards are the most versatile and changeable cards in the tarot. With only sixteen cards, they appear less often than the Majors or Minors, yet they bring a unique kind of complexity. Because of this they are often the cards that create anxiety, tripping up many readers when they appear.

They've been linked to life phases, personality traits and social roles. They've also been at the centre of many oversimplified readings, such as the "tall, dark stranger" trope. In reality, the Courts are not fixed archetypes but lean more towards stereotypes.

Modern tarot practice typically reads the Courts as markers that point towards personalities, energies or roles that are active and influential at the time of the reading. Some readers also connect the sixteen Court Cards to the sixteen Myers-Briggs personality types, due to the similar structure of four key elements. This is something you can explore further later on to help flesh out your Court characters if you feel so called.

For now, it's important to understand the general roles and themes that make up the Courts. The Court Correspondence Chart shows the various correspondences and themes within the Courts. Although this may seem overwhelming at first, the correspondences overlap logically.

You will notice how the elements attributed to form (Earth and Water) correspond to the feminine, inward facing energies of the Pages and Queens, reflecting their receptive qualities. The elements attributed to force (Air and Fire) correspond to the outward facing energies of the Knights and Kings, aligning with their active qualities.

These correspondences combine with the elemental associations of each suit, meaning each Court Card carries both the element of its rank and the element of its suit. This is where your personal understanding of elemental interactions will help bring the Courts to life. After all, these are people, not just actions or experiences, and as such they hold nuance. Their shadows or weaknesses shape them just as much as their light and strengths.