HoroscopoDiario
- The Tarot Court Cards: Archetypal Patterns of Relationship in the Minor Arcana
- Written by: Kate Warwick-Smith
- Published by: Destiny Books (2003)
- RRP: $18.99 (US)
- ISBN: 978-0-89281-092-5
- Reviewed by: Alison Clayton-Smith
I often struggle with interpreting the court cards so I thought this book might be the perfect read. Its author is a Marriage and Family Therapist, and the book came out of her own questions about what the court cards mean, her client work, and her studies of spiritual traditions. Although 20 years old it reads like it could have been written today, though perhaps some of the things she presents as new would now seem commonplace to those engaged in tarot study. Her key premise is that the court cards represent forms of support (negative as well as positive) from relationships with others and from within ourselves, and she uses Qabalistic principles as the framework for this. As a result this book would really lend itself to a fairly new beginner in tarot – someone with an understanding of the basics of the cards who wants to deepen their knowledge and skill. The book is also ideal for those of us who are more experienced and want to form a deeper relationship with the court cards.
The introduction sets out how the author came to the ideas in the book and an overview of its contents. The author includes some notes on the use of gender – a common question with court cards – saying she sees them as pointing to an area of focus and not actual gender. She encourages readers to find their own alternatives to the terminology she uses if they wish, and makes clear that what she is presenting tends to look dualistic, as in positive/negative, but that there is actually a continuum from which we can interpret.
The first three chapters look at the structure, symbolism and history of court cards. The fourth chapter is about what she calls the ‘Qabalistic Equation’. Here she introduces the idea that each court card can be interpreted by combining the energy of its suit with the level of royalty as defined by the four worlds of the Qabalah. One thing I love about this book is that lots of handy tables bring in information from all sorts of sources; for example a table in this chapter includes Direction, Body Part, Qabalistic world, and other correspondences for each card.
She then provides a summary of each card and how it can be interpreted based on this idea of support, the energy of the suit, and the Qabalistic world it sits within. She then goes on to show that Supporters have a negative side – Detractors, those that throw obstacles in our way; however, in a sense are still supportive as they are ‘asking’ us to step up. For the idea of internal support, she has Resources and Challenges, those things within ourselves that we can draw upon to help or that challenge us. For example, the Page of Cups, operating in the realm of Love, as a Supporter could be an idol you look up to, as a Detractor a narcissist, as a Resource harmony and as a Challenge jealousy. Thus we have four possible ways to interpret each court card. At the end of this chapter the author includes an exercise to identify your own Supporters and Detractors, which helps to reinforce understanding of these aspects.
The following four chapters go into each card in detail, including images from different decks – including Marseille, RWS, Thoth and more modern decks – which I think is a nice way of helping the reader think about common themes. Along with more detail on the four ways of seeing a card, she includes questions the reader can ask when the card shows up, and a ‘meditation’ like a visualisation that the reader can use to deepen their understanding.
The final four chapters include spreads, suggestions on ways to study the cards, thoughts on reversals, an example of how to keep a record of readings for further learning, and suggestions on working with the shadow side using another court card as a balancer. Finally, there are chapters on using meditation and pathworking.
I found the book very well written and easy to read – clear writing, well laid out, glossary at the end and good use of tables and space to aid memory and concentration. There is even a pull-out card with the key words for the four different aspects of each card, which is a handy tool and shows the author has really thought about how readers will implement what they learn. I appreciated the exercises and questions, and in particular the tables at the end of each suit that set out other correspondences as well as the ones already identified for each card, like what historical figure or I Ching hexagram would be associated with a card. The tables include so much that the interested reader could explore further in their own study.
My only criticism is that the focus on the Qabalistic Equation sometimes feels a little narrow. On the other hand, it provides a clear framework for the learner to start from and there are plenty of references to other ways to interpret the court cards that the reader could follow up if they wished. I certainly will use this book a lot in my work with the court cards, and the court card focused spreads the author includes will be a useful way of developing my own relationship with the cards.
