Greetings to all my fellow Tarot Students and Tarot Enthusiasts around the World.

Welcome to the world of The Court Cards. These are the most famous actors of all time and for the next while we are going to be getting up close and personal with every single one of them. I promise reveal-all interviews and probing discussions about these iconic legends. For the first time, we are going to put each one of, The Pages, The Knights, The Queens and The Kings under the spotlight and through their paces. We will leave no stone unturned in our search for complete knowledge and understanding of their personalities and characters.  We want to know what makes them tick, what drives them, what they like, where they go, what they wear, how they live, which side they sleep on, who they are dating and who their best friends are.  We also want to know their weaknesses, their insecurities, what happens when things don’t go their way, who their enemies are, what their dirty little secrets are and of course, their shadow side. This should get rather interesting indeed.

To start the ball rolling, I am at long last thrilled to announce that I have now completed the re-working of The Four Pages of The Court Cards. The Page of Wands, Page of Cups, Page of Swords and Page of Pentacles. Traditionally The Page represented a child of either sex up to the age of 22 years (young adult), or a young unmarried woman.  Therefore The Four Pages are the youngest members of the Four Court Families. They find their world to be young, fresh, exciting, filled with opportunities and limitless potential.  Because of their youth and innocence, or sometimes naivety, they hold grand illusions of the future ahead of them and are eager to set out on their individual journeys.

As with all the other Cards, there is detailed information on the Card Imagery and Description along with Personality Profiling, Keywords and Meanings for both the Upright and Reversed versions.  They are also to be found in the sub-menu of Lesson 1, Part II, The Court Cards. Should you only require the Keywords and Meanings, then they can be found in the Section, The 78 Cards -Brief which is being created as I finish re-working each Card. There is still a great wealth of information available in this section and is probably most suited to those who just want to find out what their Cards mean rather than an in-depth study.

The Pages Introduction

Page of Wands    Page of Cups      Page of Swords    Page of Pentacles

Just Click on the Images to go straight to the Individual Pages. Don’t forget to read The Pages Introduction first.

Each Page carries their precious Elemental Gift deep within. Spirit presented these Elemental Gifts to the Pages in the Aces of their Suits. Their Gifts represent their Governing Element, which guarantees limitless potential and success, that is, if used wisely. They are like four young people who have just been given the keys of their first car. They may have little knowledge of how to drive them, or how to use the many functions on the dashboard, but this won’t stop them from wanting to hop right in and take them for a spin. One of The Pages, The Page of Wands appears confident, brags to the others of how simple it all is, and decides to showcase his, as he calls them, ‘natural driving skills. With a screech of tires and a smell of burning rubber he takes off and disappears around the corner. Horror of horrors, we discover he has never driven a car before. Another Page, The Page of Swords, is very impressed with his car, is impatient to try it out, but has hundreds of questions to ask about the engine size, catalytic converter, maximum speed and things the other Pages have never heard of.

The other two Pages look visibly shook by the reckless attitude of the first Page who departed leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.  They shake their heads in disapproval.  One of the remaining Pages, The Page of Cups, sits in his car and looks so happy as he plays around with the steering wheel and gear stick, pretending to be driving, and thinking of taking a date on a long romantic drive. He loves the colour of his new car too.  He is also thinking of all the lovely accessories he can buy to give his car a more personal and special look.  He will ask his big brother to show him how to drive but he feels a bit nervous about it all.

The other Page, The Page of Pentacles, runs his hand over the bodywork of his car to see how solid it is, and then kicks each wheel to check firmness . He gets into the car and checks out all the various buttons and gadgets.  He asks about insurance and car tax, and how economical it is on fuel consumption.  Then he pops open the bonnet of the car to have a good look at the engine. Two hours later, he is found under the car, inspecting its under-carriage.  He says that his father will get a reliable mechanic to look it over before he is allowed move it two inches from where it is. He will also be taking a course of driving lessons from a reputable school.  Then he takes off to organise a driving licence and to check out the most competitively priced insurance. He will definitely be looking for Fully Comprehensive, he does not want to take any risks.  His mother will make sure that the car has all it needs in the boot just in case of a breakdown; jump leads, torches, danger signs, first-aid kit, petrol container, maps and rugs. He will read the car’s manual from cover to cover later on.

As you see, they have all been given their bright shiny Element, regardless of colour shape or size. However, from their example stories above, you will soon begin to learn that each Page has a different approach when it comes to how they use their Elemental Gift. ‘Each to their own’ as the saying goes. The Four Pages are in the Learning Stage of their Element. They have a lot to learn and understand before they can become Masters of them. Some Pages understand this, but for others, it can be quite difficult to persuade them to slow down or to pace themselves. They think they know it all now, and can handle anything that comes their way. Why not, they are young and have the world at their feet?  They are ready to take on the world and show what they can do. They don’t really envisage any difficulties along the way for they are bound to be able to overcome them. Their parents, The Queens and Kings, just want the best for them, and know their young Pages will have to learn the lessons of life, with all its ups and downs, just as they did before them. It is impossible to put an old head on young shoulders, some shoulders more so than others, as certain Pages are too much in a rush to get up and at it, to listen to any words of advice or caution.

Filled with enthusiasm, self-confidence, self-belief and plans for a dazzling future ahead, they take off on their individual journeys. The Four Page’s Journeys represent the archetypal journeys we all have to take in life. However, ours generally are more balanced because we thankfully are born with a mix of Elemental Gifts, and not just the one The Pages are portrayed with.  This is what makes their journey and the way they think, act, feel and behave seem extreme at time.  Their job is to demonstrate to us how life would be with just one Element. Technically, this is not exactly true as each Court Character does have a minor influence from another Element, but for the moment we are concentrating on their main Element.  By studying each Element, so closely acted out through the characters in the Court Families, we can arrive at a deep understanding of human nature.  Once we become familiar with the individual Elemental influence, we can then begin to play around with mixing them to see how might they work when put together.

What sort of individual would they create, what would the personality of The Page of Wands be if his Element Fire was mixed with The Page of Swords Element of Air? Fire and Air as we all know, can be a very explosive combination, as they feed off each other. Rush, recklessness and impulsiveness can occur, but in balance Air will insist that Fire think about what it is doing before it rushes off and Fire will insist that Air takes some action instead of just thinking all the time.  If we throw in The Page of Cups with his Element of Water, his influence will make them all have to take into consideration the feelings of all involved, and how any of their actions will impact others. By then adding the grounding Element of Earth in The Page of Pentacles, we are guaranteed there will be a result. Anything started by Fire and Air, with the support of Water, will be attended to and finished.

Even though we generally have one Element that is quite dominant in our personality, which makes us identifiable for profiling purposes, we need the Four Elements in balanced proportion to create the perfect individual personality. This is what we all must aspire to, but is quite hard to achieve. Even if we do manage to, life does not remain static, and therefore neither will our Elemental Balance. Incidents and situations, upsets and anger, sometimes call on us to readjust our Elemental Make-up in order to cope. These however are just temporary adjustments, and once the incident has passed, the Elements usually find their balance once more.

Sometimes we need more Fire in us when the situation requires us to be more assertive or forceful. We may not feel comfortable stepping up to this task, but if we call in more Fire, it will give us the boost and stamina to do it.  Of course the sudden burst of Fire typically calms down later on, but it was there when we needed to stand up for ourself. When something upsetting happens or we experience trauma or loss, extra Water arrives and floods us with emotions.  Tears and sadness follow, but in time the increase in Water should subside allowing us to heal and our emotions settle, so that we can continue with life.  If we want to finally get the back yard cleared and sorted after months of talking about it, extra Earth needs to arrive so that the hard work we may have been putting off for some time, can begin in earnest.  With extra Earth on the scene we get stuck in, and can work hard from dawn to dusk to get the job done. Earth then slides back into balance when we spend the next day lying on the couch rewarding ourself for all our effort. The Healthy Personality should be able to call on extra back-up from any of the Elements as necessary without permanently altering the personality. Energy is in constant flux and flow. As humans we are made up of Energy too, so our Elemental Energy is constantly moving as it adjusts to its environment and those around us.

It is only when an incident  or stress remains, or if several more come on top of it, then adjustments of The Elements may become more fixed.  When that happens, there is a noticeable change in the personality.

The Court Card Characters are the actors in The Tarot. They are seen depicted or playing the roles of the individuals in the Four Suits, and sometimes make guest appearances in the Major. They appear in different guises at times but it is them. The individual Courts, The Pages, The Knights, The Queens, The Kings, are all loyal to their individual Suit and Element. This makes them rather type-cast. Regardless of what costume they put on for the individual scenes played out in the imagery of the Cards, their acting abilities are quite limited because they are not multi-faceted. They can only play themselves, according to what their Governing Element can allow or permit. Therefore, the Wands Courts are only able to act in a certain manner.  They will be great in the action-packed adventure movies, ducking bullets, jumping from roof to roof across skyscrapers, and bravely running into burning buildings to rescue hundreds of lives. They are rugged and fearless and jump out of planes to catch villains. However, they are not great when called on to play a role in a puppy love movie.  It’s just not them. This is The Cups territory for they are experts in the art of romantic acting. The Cups would swoon with fright if it was even remotely suggested that they play the Wand’s role of the fearless, daring, Hero. They might get hurt doing all those stunts or worse still, get killed. The Cups would instinctively do it if it was real life and their family or loved ones were in danger but only then, even so, they would need to call on the gutsiness of Fire to help them.

In real life, actors have to have the ability to change their characters so that they can be available to play many roles. However, even the real life actor can find him or herself type cast, and their work opportunities limited, should they stay playing the same type of roles for too long. This can happen in Soap World where actors often spend years playing the same character.  When they decide to leave to try some more challenging roles, we, the viewers can find it very difficult to shake off their old character.

So as you begin your journey through the Court Cards bear all this in mind. When we know they are type-cast it makes it easier for us to predict they way they are going to behave in a situation.  They are going to do what they have always done.  The Queen of Wands is not likely to start behaving as The Queen of Cups voluntarily, nor will The King of Pentacles suddenly decide he wants to be like The Page of Swords just for the sake of it.  Get to know these families, just like you know your own, so that you are in a position to comment on them as if they were your own. Feel sorry for The Page of Cups, if he is hurt in love, just as you would your younger sister or brother in the same situation. Make these Court Families real.

For most of The Pages I have created a fictional story around them so that you might find it easier to understand their personality. I have gone into quite great depth with them as they are the first of the Court Cards, and for many Tarot Students, the Court Cards are the bane of their life. The Pages contain a lot of information, but this is done so to set the stage for their older brother The Knight, their Mother, The Queen and their Father, The King.  In the individual Suits, they are all cut from the same cloth, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  Know The Page well for he is the apple that fell from the tree, whose seed will grow in time to become a tree just like the one he fell from.  One day he will become just like his mother, The Queen or his father, The King. Once you know the Pages well, it will be much easier to learn the other members of their family.  That is how Tarot works with it cycle of birth, death and rebirth what goes around must come around. Everything is linked and inter-connected.

In real life our families are generally made up of a mix of Court Personalities. You may be the Knight of Wands, your little sister might be a young Page of Pentacles, while you mother might be The Queen of Cups and your Father the King of Swords. Having a family who are all the same would indeed be very intense, but that is the situation in The Court Cards. The only difference between them is age, maturity and the fact that they all have a slight influence of a different Element in them along with their own governing Element.

All the Pages have the influence of Air, regardless of their Suit. All the Knights have the influence of Fire along with their Element, The Queen’s have the influence of Water and The Kings, the influence of Earth.  This other Elemental Influence helps temper their strong Governing Element and is what gives them their subtle differences.    However,  a Pentacle Family for example, will still very strongly be a Pentacle family, and very identifiable from a Cups or Wands family. At times, the Influencing Guest Element can become quite dominant, and when it does, causes a very noticeable change of expected personality. They begin to act out of character. This is usually when The Court Personality Reverses.

Detailed information about The Court Cards and their Influencing Element will be found in Lesson 1 of Part II of this Course. 

It is with The Court Cards we begin to make connections with The Twelve Sun Signs of The Zodiac through The Four Suits. The Four Elements; Fire, Water, Air and Earth govern and influence The Zodiac. The Twelve Signs are allocated to The Four Elements and Court Suits in Groups of Three creating:

Astrological Symbols

The Fire Signs (Wands) – Aries, Leo and Sagittarius

The Water Signs (Cups) – Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces

The Air Signs (Swords) – Gemini, Libra and Aquarius

The Earth Signs (Pentacles) – Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn

The allocated Sun Signs in each grouping will reflect the nature and personality traits of its Court Card Suit.  Therefore, having knowledge of The personalities of The Wands Court Characters will go a long way in helping you to learn or understand the Sun Signs of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius for they are both Governed by Fire which makes them predisposed to have certain personalities. It is the Sun Sign interpretations of the Zodiac that fine tunes their personality, and makes them more identifiable when Reading, because it is then possible to become even more accurate with your descriptions.  The Court Rankings allow for generic personality traits, whereas the Zodiac Signs provide more specific traits. Combining Astrology with Tarot can be very powerful indeed. You do not have to be an expert to do this.

If you are just starting to learn about The Court Cards I suggest you read the Lesson content in Part II of this Course along with Astrology and The Elements in Part I, Lesson 3 first before moving on to the individual Court Cards as you will find a lot of information there that will help you understand these Tarot Families better.

For each of the Court Personalities I have provided a general overview of them along with their detailed profile and interpretations. You will find the Pages Introduction in Lesson 1 of Part II of this Course or by clicking here.

The Pages Introduction

Page of Wands    Page of Cups      Page of Swords    Page of Pentacles

Just Click on the Images to go straight to the Individual Pages. Don’t forget to read The Pages Introduction first.

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I do hope you enjoy your study of our Four Pages and the stories they have to tell.

Blessings,

Vivien (Your Tarot Teacher)

Pages Introduction Page of Wands    Page of Cups      Page of Swords    Page of Pentacles

Astrology and The Elements

The Fire Signs (Wands)   The Water Signs (Cups)  The Air Signs (Swords)  The Earth Signs (Pentacles)

Lesson 1 Part II 

Copyright © 2006-2013 Vivien Ní Dhuinn