Need help with my tarot studies

[Boadicia]

I'm having some difficulty with my tarot cards. I use a pictoral deck, so I understand most of it, but I always have trouble when a court card pops up. I can't wrap my mind around how to interpret the court cards. Can anyone help me out with this?  

[TeaDidikai]

Boadicia

I'm having some difficulty with my tarot cards. I use a pictoral deck, so I understand most of it, but I always have trouble when a court card pops up. I can't wrap my mind around how to interpret the court cards. Can anyone help me out with this?

Which deck?

What style do you approch the rest of your decks symbology with? Kabalistic? Jungian? Fluff?  

[Boadicia]

I was given the Goddess Tarot as a gift, but I'm using the Rider-Waite until I develop a better understanding. I know very little about the Kabbalah and next to nothing about Jungian. I'm afraid to ask what the Fluff definitions are. I understand the basic elemental associations (though I was taught to place wands with air and swords with fire). For the most part I understand the Major Arcana and most of the Minor. The court cards are just a stumbling block for me.  

[TeaDidikai]

Boadicia

I was given the Goddess Tarot as a gift,

That deck isn't too bad. I feel sad that they didn't put effort in beyond the major arcana.

Jungian resonance is pretty much about the Hero's journey and "archetypes" as a result.

The Kabalistic renditions usually stem from the BOTA (I know they have a real name, but all I can remember is "the Brotherhood of Tarot Assholes" ) and the OTO's influence that stemmed from Crowley's works. For me, the removed and culturally influenced version of the Kabalistic patterns works the best- but that's because I tend to enjoy the numerological patterns.

Fluff- is pretty much make up as you go along. Most of the "Fluff" readings I have had usually involved a "Now I know this card looks bad, but really it means light and joy"- as I am staring at a spread with the Tower, the three of hearts, the five of pents and a few other cards that have me saying "I'm ******** even known some fluffies to remove "unpleasant" cards from their deck. ~spits~

Based on the fact that you are working towards using The Goddess Tarot, I’d bet that Jungian renditions are your best bet as the deck is so shallow when it comes to it’s application of the goddesses in question, it couldn’t be said to be treating them as anything other than archetypes. They have Gwynnifer for Christ’s sake!  

[Boadicia]

TeaDidikai

Boadicia

I was given the Goddess Tarot as a gift,

That deck isn't too bad. I feel sad that they didn't put effort in beyond the major arcana.

Jungian resonance is pretty much about the Hero's journey and "archetypes" as a result.

The Kabalistic renditions usually stem from the BOTA (I know they have a real name, but all I can remember is "the Brotherhood of Tarot Assholes" ) and the OTO's influence that stemmed from Crowley's works. For me, the removed and culturally influenced version of the Kabalistic patterns works the best- but that's because I tend to enjoy the numerological patterns.

Fluff- is pretty much make up as you go along. Most of the "Fluff" readings I have had usually involved a "Now I know this card looks bad, but really it means light and joy"- as I am staring at a spread with the Tower, the three of hearts, the five of pents and a few other cards that have me saying "I'm ******** even known some fluffies to remove "unpleasant" cards from their deck. ~spits~

Based on the fact that you are working towards using The Goddess Tarot, I’d bet that Jungian renditions are your best bet as the deck is so shallow when it comes to it’s application of the goddesses in question, it couldn’t be said to be treating them as anything other than archetypes. They have Gwynnifer for Christ’s sake!

Well, you don't have to worry about me removing cards. At least I don't freak out when the Death card pops up. Signs of difficult times ahead, such as the 3 of swords or 5 of pentacles, don't bother me as much now as before. I see them now as a warning for needed change or that I have to prepare for something. I once got a 3 of swords when I did a reading about my first boyfriend, but in hindsight our breakup was one of the best things that happened to me. He was that much of a jerk.

Now I gotta go do some research on Jung . . .  

[TeaDidikai]

Boadicia

Now I gotta go do some research on Jung . . .

Psychology is love. Might want to read commentaries on his work as well. Not everything he suggested is applicable after all.  

[Doctrix]

Some readings are done only with court cards. I suggest practicing by reading only with those cards until you're comfortable with them. Then they won't be such a surprise when you stumble upon them in regular readings.  

[Pelta]

TeaDidikai

"Now I know this card looks bad, but really it means light and joy"- as I am staring at a spread with the Tower, the three of hearts, the five of pents and a few other cards that have me saying "I'm ******** class="clear">

[TeaDidikai]

missmagpie

Eh... I did that to myself a while ago. sweatdrop I read for myself and came up with several of those cards. Oh the joys of putting a gloss on stuff...

It never works.

Heh... never done that when I read for myself.

Quote:

I was given a very useful piece of advice about court cards. They can also be read elementally. Thus kings are fire, queens water, knights air and pages earth. Thus the king of wands is fire of fire, the knight of wands is air of fire, the page of wands is earth of fire.

Thus sometimes it can indicate a person of a specific astrological sign or elemental personality, going by representations of what certain elements mean in one's personality. The queen of wands (water of fire) can then be read as someone energetic and driven yet deeply emotional, the queen of cups (water of water) being someone very secretive, spiritual and emotional, queen of pents (water of earth) someone nourishing and caring with emotional attachments... That sort of thing. It sometimes really helps with the reading to keep these in mind. Or then again I might just be completely confusing you.

I've seen this referenced in the Kabalistic assessment- something akin to Sephera X of Sephera Y.  

[TheDisreputableDog]

I sometimes get that the court cards are specific people, depending on what position they show up in. Of course, some non-court Minor Arcana are also people for me, so I don't know if that would help at all, or even if that has any standing beyond UPG and my own readings.  

[Pelta]

TeaDidikai

I've seen this referenced in the Kabalistic assessment- something akin to Sephera X of Sephera Y.

That's not surprising, considering I learned it from a Wiccan. wink

I found it useful in identifying who the court cards represent. They were always a tad trickier before I started thinking about it that way.

Unfortunately, for my course we use the Rider Waite so even the pips have people on them you can read as characters. It's not my most preferred deck, but it does the job.  

[Neko_Bast]

missmagpie

I was given a very useful piece of advice about court cards. They can also be read elementally. Thus kings are fire, queens water, knights air and pages earth. Thus the king of wands is fire of fire, the knight of wands is air of fire, the page of wands is earth of fire.

This is interesting.......When I was learning tarot it was; kings-earth, queens-air, knights-fire, and pages-water.  

[Pelta]

Neko_Bast

missmagpie

I was given a very useful piece of advice about court cards. They can also be read elementally. Thus kings are fire, queens water, knights air and pages earth. Thus the king of wands is fire of fire, the knight of wands is air of fire, the page of wands is earth of fire.

This is interesting.......When I was learning tarot it was; kings-earth, queens-air, knights-fire, and pages-water.

I also originally thought that wands were air and swords fire. I think there are specific Sephiric attributions that say otherwise when it comes to the court cards, but I could be completely wrong.

But as far as I know, these are only methods to reading something that was around well before the methods were attributed to it. They may be entirely arbitrary. In the end, whatever gets the job done...

I don't think I could read queens as air. That would totally ******** up my perception of the queen of pents. I also don't see how kings can be earth... I just can't see it like that. Eeek! Subjectivity error. Brain explode.  

[TeaDidikai]

missmagpie

This is interesting.......When I was learning tarot it was; kings-earth, queens-air, knights-fire, and pages-water.

That's just... strange.

Even if I was going to line up elements to the cards like that, Pages=Air, Knights = Fire, Queens = Water, Kings = Earth makes much more sense to me.  

[Pelta]

TeaDidikai

missmagpie

This is interesting.......When I was learning tarot it was; kings-earth, queens-air, knights-fire, and pages-water.

That's just... strange.

Even if I was going to line up elements to the cards like that, Pages=Air, Knights = Fire, Queens = Water, Kings = Earth makes much more sense to me.

Hey! I didn't say that! scream xp

I find that idea very confusing myself. I can't see Queens as Air no matter how hard I try. The Queen of cups has to be Water of Water to me. Whether or not there's any actual backing for it, I think Queens have to embody the feminine. Air just doesn't cut it for me. Then if Queens are water it just makes sense that the Kings should be Fire. But then I may just be talking out of my a**. The way I was taught just makes so much more sense to me.