For many readers, the court cards are the most difficult aspect of the Tarot to master. The Major Arcana receives a lot of attention, because they deal with major transformations and important choices – and the small seedswith their everyday insights, provide compelling storylines within their respective suits.
But the court cardswith their faces, elements and distinctly human personalities, can often feel out of reach, confusing or unsettling.
What to do with these sixteen cards, which seem to simultaneously address experience, insight, balance, discovery, resources, expansion, adventure, artistry, leadership, boundaries and so much more? How can we work with them and use their skills for our own purposes?
Sometimes it can be helpful to take your own deck and work with the cards alone, building personal insights that help you understand how to use that energy.
Let’s take a closer look Knights.
What are the knights in Tarot?
Knights can also be called adolescents, explorers, travelers, witches, apprentices, seekers, or speed, and are often seen as slightly more experienced than their younger counterparts, the Pages.
Not brand new, but not yet masters in their element. Knights are adventurous, enthusiastic and eager to prove themselves. They bring a searching energy to everything they do, ready to go out into the world and experience all it has to offer.
Every knight has a goal, something they want to achieve, but that idea may not be fully formed or fully thought out yet. There is joy in raw, expansive expression, and Knights are deeply present in every moment, finding joy and satisfaction in every step of the process.
Like pages, Knights are not necessarily concerned with doing something perfectly the first time. But the stakes may be higher when it comes to their choices.
With high risk comes the potential for high reward, and Knights often urge us to consider how we balance an element in our own lives. Too much of an element, and we may lose focus, but too little, and we may lack conviction. We sometimes see stubbornness and obsessive behavior in these figures, a tendency to put the whole self into an idea, ambition, emotion or dream without necessarily being open to other possibilities.
When we combine this energy with the four different ones to take or elements, we can delve deeper into how these energies overlap and intertwine.
The Knight of Wands
The Knight of Wands is charismatic, passionate and inspiring, often bringing other people along in their bold ideas and ready to show the world everything they can do – but they can easily get distracted by their many ideas and are sometimes better at starting than they are to see it through to the end.
The Knight of Swords
The Knight of Swords is smart, insightful, and extremely logical. He can see the wires that connect things and solve problems very quickly. But if they are too focused on one perspective, they may avoid all others and refuse to see them. outside their own views.
The Knight of Cups
The Knight of Cups is romantic, artistic and idealistic.
They wear their hearts on their sleeves and are eager to connect with others, but all that vulnerability can quickly turn into jealousy or hurtful feelings if the tenderness is not reciprocated.
The Knight of Pentacles
The Knight of Pentacles is responsible, patient, and committed to their cause, moving forward with consistency and determination—yet they can get stuck in their own way, missing the beauty of the path or ignoring opportunities for growth in their fixation on the ultimate goal.
Each of these figures brings courage, fortitude and passion to their element. When they appear in readings, Knights often ask us to take a chance, pay attention to what we’re working toward, and balance our sense of pride with long-term goals.
Grab your favorite Tarot deck and pull out all four knights to tap into your inner knight. Sit them down and spend time with them, as a group, and then individually. What do these cards activate and invite in you? How can they inspire, challenge, question, interrogate and discover? Where could they lead if you were willing to follow? What characteristics do these knights have in common, and how do they differ? If two of these knights were talking, what would they talk about?
Knights can be complex figures, and if you’ve been reading for a while, you may already have a knight you strongly identify with, a knight who encourages you to try something new, a knight who expresses caution, or a knight who trips you up when it comes up in measurements.
Pull all four knights from your deck and look at them side by side, considering what they have in common and where they diverge. Which ones feel comfortable to you and which ones challenge you? Do you recognize yourself in one of these figures? Do you recognize people you know? If you like, take a moment to journal about each of these cards or all four knights, and think about what aspects of each card stand out to you. How do you define these characters? What do they mean to you?
Keep the knights out of your deck as you draw cards for this spread. If you wish, you can place them at the top of your reading space as a reminder of tapping into a spirit of courage, strength, power, and caring.
A tarot spread for tackling adventure
Card one: Something to aspire to: What are you ready to explore? What challenges you, what beckons you, what attracts your attention? Where do you feel momentum is building and what are you going to do about it?
Card two: Something to remember: What have you learned from past experiences that you can apply to your current dreams and ambitions? How does your intuition sparkle? What wisdom comes from your heart and mind?
Card three: More of this: What needs to expand? Where can you put more inspiration, resources, insights or collaborative energy into?
Card four: Less of this: What is out of balance? What takes over? Where did you get carried away or distracted?
I highly recommend noting each of these clues with your spread. Where are you invited to grow, change and experience something different? How do you want to prove yourself? Which doors will open that you want to walk through? What is manifesting and how can you be present to the expression of a particular dream?
How have you traveled with the Knights in the past, and where might they encourage you to go next?
Related article: Six ‘scary’ tarot cards that are actually positive
