CIRCLING BACK TO CHAPTER 1 AND THE MINOR ARCANA

Having completed our deep dive into the meanings of the 22 Major Arcana cards, it’s time to circle back to the Minor Arcana and expand on what we learned in Chapter 1. 

In that opening chapter, we learned that Tarot’s map of the human journey comes in two parts. The Major Arcana gives us the meaning-and-purpose dimension of the journey. But meaning and purpose require an everyday stage upon which to unfold. They require embodiment—incarnation into time, space, relationship, and circumstance.

This equally critical dimension of the human journey is the Minor Arcana’s to tell. 

Its 56 cards map the ordinary motions of lived life: the patterns of love, labor, longing, struggle, loss, and renewal that shape our days. Its four suits—Pentacles, Wands, Cups, and Swords—teach us that the human condition is not a chaos of random experiences, but methodical in the way it confronts us with four universal predicaments:

• We are creatures of physical need who rely on finite resources to meet them (Pentacles).
• We are beings of aspiration who must bring forth what is within (Wands).
• We are incomplete selves who require people and resources beyond ourselves to find focus and meaning (Cups).
• We are vulnerable lives who can be harmed, yet also heal (Swords).

Chapter 1 also emphasized another essential truth: to be human is to live in community. These communities include the people we encounter in the outer world, but also the inner communities we carry within us—self-talk voices, emotional parts, roles that take turns stepping forward. To be human is to encounter multiplicity without and within.

This is where the Court cards come in. 

WHY THE COURT CARDS MATTER

The Court cards describe who is showing up to life’s situations.

Each of the 16 Court cards combines two dimensions. Each carries a suit, which describes a primary motivation or life concern, and each carries a rank—Page, Knight, King, or Queen—which describes a level of development.

Earlier, we explored these dimensions separately for clarity. Now it’s time to see what happens when motivation and development are fully integrated into lived personalities.

In my framework, King represents mature competency—adult responsibility exercised in real time—while Queen represents elder integration: wisdom shaped by memory, perspective, and long-view discernment. This distinction restores a stage of human development modern culture often forgets: elderhood as something other than mere adulthood extended.

Before moving forward, it’s important to address a question experienced Tarot readers may already be asking.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PIP CARDS?

Traditionally, Tarot books introduce the numbered Minor Arcana cards—the so-called “Pip cards”—before the Courts. So why linger here?

The main reason is this: I believe the Court cards must come before the Pips. Pip cards show the situation. Court cards show the participant. The same “what” becomes a different experience depending on the “who.”

As the saying goes, “Wherever you go, there you are.” No one arrives at a life situation neutrally. We always bring a particular combination of priorities, wounds, abilities, loyalties, fears, and values with us. That is what makes our experiences uniquely ours.

Each Pip card—from Ace through Ten—portrays an archetypal life situation with a characteristic dynamic. But that dynamic is profoundly shaped by how a person shows up to it. No one enters a Pip-card scene as a generic human being. They enter as a Page, Knight, King, or Queen of a particular suit.

Honoring this truth changes how we read the cards. Consider the Four of Cups, which depicts a person seated beneath a tree, arms crossed, gaze turned away. A mysterious hand emerges from a cloud offering a Cup, but the offer is not received. The person’s entire demeanor suggests an unwillingness to do so. Their focus is exclusively on the three other Cups resting on the ground nearby. The suggestion is that this person’s emotional space is already full—there’s no room for anything else.

Something promising pleasure, intimacy, or meaning is offered, but it is refused. 

Why? 

The answer changes depending on who is showing up to the Four of Cups moment.

If the person entering this scene is the Knight of Pentacles, the refusal may come from devotion to work, discipline, and responsibility. Pleasure or intimacy may feel distracting or even irresponsible. The Cup threatens momentum.

If the person entering the same scene is the King of Cups, the refusal may come from a very different place. The Cup may represent an entanglement that would undermine emotional steadiness or relational trust. Refusal, here, is an act of mature care.

In both cases, the Cup is refused. Same card. Same action. Different motive. Different lesson.

Since there are 16 Court cards in all, there are 16 distinct ways of entering the Four of Cups archetypal situation. If Tarot is telling you that you’re facing a Four of Cups moment, that is significant information. But the full picture comes into focus only when Tarot also reveals how you are showing up to it.

This is why we are extending our stay with the Court cards. Besides expanding our understanding of them, we will also be introduced to the concept of the “Significator”—a card-reading practice in which a Court card is designated to symbolize the querent and how they are showing up to their reading.

By the time we turn to the Pips, we will no longer be asking only, “What is happening?” but also, “Who am I being while it happens?”

THE 16 COURT CARDS 

PENTACLES 

Human Condition and Skillful Response

Human condition: embodiment, material systems, and finite resources

Skillful response: stewardship of material resources and replenishment

Page of Pentacles: The Learning Body

• Motivation: Physical well-being, resources, stability
• Developmental stance: Childlike learning and discovery

The Page of Pentacles is beginning to understand how the material world works. They are curious about effort, cause and effect, money, tools, routines, and responsibility—but without mastery yet. This Page learns by doing: planting seeds, earning small rewards, discovering that care produces results. Their gift is attentiveness to the tangible world; their challenge is impatience or distraction before skills mature.

Knight of Pentacles: The Builder

• Motivation: Sustaining life through effort and reliability
• Developmental stance: Identity formed through perseverance

The Knight of Pentacles commits to steady work over time. They define themselves through reliability, endurance, and follow-through. Progress matters more than excitement. This Knight understands that resources must be earned and maintained again and again. Their strength is dependability; their risk is rigidity, overwork, or confusing duty with worth.

King of Pentacles: The Steward

• Motivation: Security, provision, and long-term stability
• Developmental stance: Adult responsibility and leadership

The King of Pentacles has mastered the material realm enough to provide for others. They manage resources wisely, build sustainable structures, and create environments where people can thrive. Their leadership is practical and grounded. Their shadow appears when security becomes control, or when success hardens into complacency.

Queen of Pentacles: The Earth Elder

• Motivation: Wise care for life’s ongoing needs
• Developmental stance: Integrated elder wisdom

The Queen of Pentacles embodies mature stewardship without obsession. She understands the rhythms of depletion and renewal and responds with compassion, patience, and discernment. She nurtures without over-functioning and releases without neglect. Her gift is grounded presence; her challenge is remembering to receive care as well as give it.

WANDS

Human Condition and Skillful Response

Human condition: latent potential
Skillful response: will, initiative, curiosity, creative actualization

Page of Wands: The Spark

• Motivation: Discovery of inner fire and possibility
• Developmental stance: Curious exploration

The Page of Wands feels the first stirrings of purpose and excitement. They are energized by ideas, impulses, and the promise of “something more.” This Page experiments freely, without knowing where it will lead. Their strength is enthusiasm; their vulnerability is scattering energy or abandoning efforts too soon.

Knight of Wands: The Adventurer

• Motivation: Expressing potential through bold action
• Developmental stance: Identity forged through risk

The Knight of Wands throws themselves into becoming. They pursue passion, challenge limits, and chase visions with urgency. This Knight learns by leaping—and sometimes by burning out. Their gift is courage and momentum; their shadow is recklessness or fleeing boredom before depth develops.

King of Wands: The Visionary Leader

• Motivation: Channeling creative fire into purpose
• Developmental stance: Responsible leadership

The King of Wands has learned to sustain inspiration and guide others. They hold vision steadily and inspire confidence through clarity and presence. Their authority comes from lived passion, not ego. Their challenge arises when vision becomes domination, or when charisma substitutes for listening.

Queen of Wands: The Fire Keeper

• Motivation: Integrated self-expression and vitality
• Developmental stance: Elder confidence and magnetism

The Queen of Wands embodies creative power without striving. She is comfortable in her energy, knows when to act and when to wait, and encourages others to shine. Her warmth invites participation rather than competition. Her shadow appears when confidence slips into self-centeredness or withdrawal.

CUPS

Human Condition and Skillful Response

Human condition: incompleteness
Skillful response: connection and resonance

Page of Cups: The Open Heart

• Motivation: Emotional discovery and bonding
• Developmental stance: Learning through feeling

The Page of Cups is discovering the emotional world. They are sensitive, imaginative, and open to affection and meaning. This Page learns who they are by how they feel and how others respond. Their gift is receptivity; their risk is naivety or emotional overwhelm.

Knight of Cups: The Romantic Seeker

• Motivation: Pursuit of emotional and spiritual meaning
• Developmental stance: Identity shaped by longing

The Knight of Cups seeks connection that feels true and inspiring. They follow ideals of love, beauty, and purpose, sometimes at the expense of practicality. Their strength is devotion; their shadow is projection, avoidance, or chasing feeling rather than building relationship.

King of Cups: The Emotional Anchor

• Motivation: Stability, care, and emotional leadership
• Developmental stance: Mature responsibility

The King of Cups has learned to feel deeply without being ruled by feeling. They provide emotional steadiness, empathy, and wise presence for others. Their leadership reassures and contains. Their challenge is emotional withdrawal or over-managing others’ feelings.

Queen of Cups: The Heart Elder

• Motivation: Compassionate integration of feeling and wisdom
• Developmental stance: Elder emotional discernment

The Queen of Cups embodies deep empathy with clear boundaries. She knows when to hold space and when to step back. Her intuition is seasoned by experience. Her gift is healing presence; her shadow emerges when compassion turns into self-erasure.

SWORDS

Human Condition and Skillful Response

Human condition: exposure to harm
Skillful response: clarity and resilience

Page of Swords: The Watchful Mind

• Motivation: Understanding danger and truth
• Developmental stance: Cognitive discovery

The Page of Swords is learning how the world works through observation and language. They ask questions, notice inconsistencies, and begin to name what feels unsafe or unfair. Their strength is curiosity and alertness; their risk is anxiety or overthinking.

Knight of Swords: The Challenger

• Motivation: Defending truth and identity
• Developmental stance: Self-definition through conflict

The Knight of Swords confronts injustice and falsehood head-on. They act quickly, speak boldly, and test ideas through argument. Their courage is real, but so is their impatience. Growth comes when they learn that clarity also requires listening.

King of Swords: The Arbiter

• Motivation: Justice, discernment, and ethical order
• Developmental stance: Responsible authority

The King of Swords has earned the capacity to judge fairly. They think clearly under pressure, set boundaries, and uphold principles even when it is costly. Their authority rests on integrity. Their shadow appears when intellect hardens into detachment or rigidity.

Queen of Swords: The Truth Elder

• Motivation: Integrated clarity shaped by lived loss
• Developmental stance: Elder wisdom and perspective

The Queen of Swords speaks truth with compassion and precision. She has suffered, learned, and distilled experience into wisdom. She cuts away illusion without cruelty. Her gift is honest clarity; her challenge is guarding against bitterness or isolation.

THE COURTS IN ACTION

Definitions alone remain abstract. To really understand the Courts, we need to watch them move.

What follows are imaginative scenarios that place each rank together in a shared situation. First, you will see the Courts operating at their healthiest and most integrated. Then you will see them under strain, where gifts become rigid and capacities turn imbalanced.

Following the scenarios are how I see typical interactions among the Courts. Each life stage has characteristic attractions, irritations, alliances, and learning channels. This too helps to flesh out an understanding of the 16 personalities. 

AT THEIR HEALTHIEST

The Pages: Learning the World Together

Four children are brought to a large, unfamiliar garden for the first time. 

• The Page of Pentacles kneels immediately, fingers in the soil. They ask practical questions: What grows here? What needs water? How long before we see results? They want to understand how effort turns into nourishment and stability.
• The Page of Wands runs ahead, eyes wide, imagining what could happen here. They picture games, adventures, future projects. What could this place become? What might I try? Their energy sparks excitement in the others.
• The Page of Cups lingers near a small pond, watching reflections ripple across the surface. They wonder how the garden feels, who else has been here, and whether it is a safe place to belong. Who will share this with me? What meaning does this place hold?
• The Page of Swords stands back at first, observing patterns—paths, fences, shadows. They ask questions about rules and risks: Where are the boundaries? What’s allowed? What should we watch out for? They help the group stay alert and curious rather than careless.

Together, the garden becomes a classroom. Each Page learns something different, yet each learning enriches the others.

The Knights: Becoming Someone Through Action

Four young adults set out together on a challenging journey to deliver something important to a distant community.

• The Knight of Pentacles plans the route carefully, packs supplies, and sets a sustainable pace. They focus on endurance: If we keep going steadily, we will arrive. Others rely on them when fatigue sets in.
• The Knight of Wands charges ahead with enthusiasm, scouting new paths and rallying morale. When spirits dip, they remind everyone why the journey matters. This is worth doing. Let’s go. Their courage keeps momentum alive.
• The Knight of Cups carries the deeper motivation for the journey. They remember who the delivery is for and why it matters emotionally and spiritually. When tensions rise, they appeal to shared purpose and values.
• The Knight of Swords watches for danger, challenges faulty assumptions, and pushes for decisive action when hesitation threatens progress. They ask hard questions and cut through confusion so the group doesn’t drift.

Each Knight is becoming themselves through movement, risk, and commitment—and the journey succeeds because no single approach dominates.

The Kings: Responsibility in Action

Four leaders are tasked with guiding a community through a period of strain.

• The King of Pentacles secures resources, stabilizes systems, and ensures people’s basic needs are met. Roofs are repaired. Work is organized. Without stability, nothing else holds.
• The King of Wands holds the long view. They articulate a compelling vision of where the community is headed and why the effort is worth it. We are more than this moment. Their confidence restores hope.
• The King of Cups tends to the emotional climate. They listen, mediate conflicts, and ensure people feel seen and valued. Trust grows because leadership feels human.
• The King of Swords clarifies policies, boundaries, and ethical decisions. They name hard truths, make fair judgments, and prevent chaos disguised as kindness.

Each King governs a different domain, but together they create leadership that is stable, inspiring, compassionate, and just.

The Queens: Wisdom at the Threshold

Four elders sit together, asked to advise the next generation as it faces an uncertain future.

• The Queen of Pentacles speaks of rhythms—rest and work, giving and receiving, caring for the body and the land. Sustain what sustains you.
• The Queen of Wands reminds them not to lose vitality or joy. She encourages confidence, creative expression, and the courage to remain visible. Don’t let fear shrink your life.
• The Queen of Cups urges them to stay connected—to each other, to love, to meaning larger than themselves. She speaks gently of compassion with boundaries. Let your heart stay open, but not empty.
• The Queen of Swords offers hard-won clarity. She names illusions that must be released and truths that must be faced, even when painful. Wisdom begins when denial ends.

No one Queen claims authority over the others. Together, they offer guidance shaped by memory, discernment, and deep integration—wisdom not imposed, but offered.

AT THEIR UNHEALTHIEST

These are not “bad people.” These are good capacities gone rigid, distorted, or over-identified. Across all four scenes, notice the pattern:

• Pages lose curiosity and safety
• Knights lose coordination and self-reflection
• Kings lose balance and shared authority
• Queens lose openness and generosity

The Pages in Shadow: Overwhelm at the Threshold

The four Pages are again brought into an unfamiliar place—but this time, no one has prepared them well.

• The Page of Pentacles fixates on scarcity. They clutch supplies, worry about doing something wrong, and refuse to try anything unless instructions are exact. Their learning shuts down into anxiety: What if I waste something? What if I fail?
• The Page of Wands bursts with restless energy but no focus. They dart from idea to idea, interrupting others, starting games they abandon minutes later. Excitement collapses into frustration when nothing immediately thrills them.
• The Page of Cups becomes flooded. They take every tone, glance, and silence personally. Hurt feelings accumulate quickly. Instead of curiosity, they retreat into longing and disappointment: No one understands me.
• The Page of Swords becomes hyper-vigilant. They question everything, assume hidden threats, and correct others sharply. Curiosity curdles into suspicion. Learning becomes defense.

No one feels safe enough to learn. The world feels either overwhelming, disappointing, or dangerous—because none of the Pages yet have the inner capacity to hold uncertainty.

The Knights in Shadow: Motion Without Integration

The four Knights set out together again—but this time, urgency replaces coordination.

• The Knight of Pentacles refuses to adapt. They cling to routine even when circumstances clearly demand flexibility. They resent anyone who moves faster or differently. Responsibility becomes stubbornness.
• The Knight of Wands charges ahead without regard for consequence. Promises are made and broken. Energy burns hot and fast, leaving others scrambling to manage fallout. Passion becomes chaos.
• The Knight of Cups pursues an idealized vision of meaning or connection, ignoring practical realities. They withdraw when the world fails to match their dream. Disappointment turns into quiet resentment.
• The Knight of Swords pushes relentlessly, arguing, interrupting, forcing conclusions. They mistake speed for clarity and dominance for truth. Conflict escalates because slowing down feels like defeat.

Everyone is moving, but no one is arriving. Identity is being forged—but through collision rather than coherence.

The Kings in Shadow: Power Without Wisdom

The four Kings again hold leadership roles—but now stress reveals imbalance.

• The King of Pentacles hoards control. Fear of loss drives micromanagement. Stability becomes suffocation. Innovation is discouraged because it threatens security.
• The King of Wands confuses vision with ego. They dominate attention, dismiss dissent, and demand loyalty to their inspiration. Inspiration turns into intimidation.
• The King of Cups avoids conflict in the name of harmony. Hard truths go unspoken. Emotional labor replaces leadership. Resentment simmers beneath the surface.
• The King of Swords rules by cold logic. Decisions are technically fair but emotionally alienating. People feel judged rather than guided. Justice becomes severity.

Each King believes they are protecting the whole. In reality, each is guarding their domain at the expense of the community.

The Queens in Shadow: Wisdom Turned Inward

The four Queens are still elders—but now their gifts have hardened.

• The Queen of Pentacles over-gives and over-manages. Care becomes control. She cannot rest, cannot trust others to provide for themselves, and quietly resents those she nurtures.
• The Queen of Wands withdraws her warmth when she feels unappreciated. Confidence collapses into defensiveness or performative superiority. Visibility becomes a demand rather than a gift.
• The Queen of Cups dissolves into others’ emotions. Boundaries disappear. Compassion turns into self-sacrifice, followed by exhaustion and quiet martyrdom.
• The Queen of Swords sharpens into bitterness. Truth is wielded without mercy. Past wounds harden into permanent conclusions about people and the world.

These Queens still see clearly—but without softness, generosity, or trust. Wisdom becomes isolation.

TYPICAL COURT CARD INTERACTIONS

Beyond individual behavior, the Courts form a developmental ecology.

Pages 

Pages tend to relate to one another with playful companionship—childhood best friends discovering the world side by side. 

Toward Knights, Pages often feel admiration and envy: Knights seem brave enough to “leave home,” test themselves, and become independent. Pages learn from Knights the beginnings of courage and experimentation. 

Toward Kings, Pages typically obey. Kings carry formal authority—titles, credentials, and the visible responsibility of building structure: parent, business owner, board member, CEO. Pages learn from Kings the basics of responsibility, boundaries, and how stability is created. 

Toward Queens, Pages seek comfort. Queen authority is tacit and moral, not necessarily attached to credentials. It comes from having been seasoned by time—someone whose presence communicates, “I’ve been through this, and you will be okay.” Pages learn from Queens how to self-soothe, trust their inner knowing, and discern what truly matters.

Knights

Knights often feel reactive impatience toward Pages, not because Pages are “bad,” but because Pages mirror a dependency the Knight is trying to outgrow. Knights may feel an urge to distance themselves from neediness—sometimes their own—by dismissing it in others. 

With other Knights, they bond passionately: a fellowship of becoming. They test their voice, distinguish self from family identity, make choices, endure consequences, and try to develop an inner authority. They may commiserate about how Kings feel overprotective, dictatorial, or simply “a drag.” 

Developmentally, Knights tend to rebel against Kings, because Kings want to assert external authority while Knights are trying to establish identity from within. 

Yet Knights often seek guidance from Queens, because Queens offer wisdom without domination: they can bless the quest, warn of pitfalls, and help Knights become free without becoming reckless.

Kings

Kings relate to Pages through guidance and clear direction—often “giving orders,” but ideally as an act of adult responsibility: creating an environment that is structured, stable, and supportive of a Page’s learning and wellbeing. 

Kings tend to contain Knights—setting limits, enforcing boundaries, and insisting on accountability. This can be emotionally complex: Kings who spent years nurturing the Page who is now a Knight may feel anxious, defensive, rejected, or even strangely sad as the young person pushes away. 

Kings often bond with other Kings in peer solidarity—professional colleagues, parent-couples, fellow leaders—forming safe space to name exhaustion, fears of incompetence, pressure to perform, and the loneliness of responsibility. 

And Kings can sometimes feel impatient with Queens. Kings are under immediate performance demands and “now” pressures; Queens have graduated into long-view perspective. Kings’ concerns focus on competence in the moment, while Queens emphasize integration, legacy, and loosening the grip of ego. Kings learn from Queens how to lead without over-identifying with productivity or control.

Queens

Queens nurture Pages, offering safety, attunement, and wise reassurance. 

Queens inspire Knights, blessing their becoming while helping them refine courage into character. 

Queens also seek to soften Kings—not undermining their responsibility, but helping them disentangle from performance anxiety, urgency addiction, and the belief that worth equals output. 

Queens hold council together in a spirit of collective memory: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In that council there may be frustration at being overlooked, yes—but also humor, tenderness, and deep faith in the long arc of growth. Queens remind the whole community: we are more than today’s pressures; we are shaped by time, and time can be a teacher.

THE SIGNIFICATOR 

Imagine you are at a party. A child hands you their favorite Dr. Seuss book. An attractive college-aged person flirts with you. The host asks for help because the ice is running low. An elder sits nearby reminiscing about the past.

How do you respond to each? 

The answers will depend upon who you are–which identity you’re leading with. Without knowing this, the questions must remain open and unsolved. 

This is the heart of the Significator. The Significator is the Court card that represents how a querent is showing up to a situation—externally in their relationships, or internally among their own parts. It names a posture, not a whole personality. It describes identity-in-action.

When we fail to identify the Significator, Tarot questions remain vague and unresolved. When we name it, the reading suddenly becomes precise.

Historically, the English-language occult tradition often credits Arthur Edward Waite with popularizing the use of a Significator through The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910–11). Whether or not he invented the practice, he helped normalize it.

There are two effective ways to work with a Significator–both take place before the reading the spread: 

1. Remove the 16 Court cards, have the querent shuffle and select one, then return the remaining cards to the deck.
2. Use a second deck to provide a separate Court-card pile, allowing the spread to reveal encounters between equals if there are any. 

Either way, the first question of any reading becomes clear: Who is showing up to this situation? It may be very different from how the querent imagines themselves–and therefore very informative!

CONCLUSION: PREPARING FOR THE PIP CARDS

By now, the logic of the Minor Arcana should feel different. The Pip cards do not describe personality. They describe situations—recurring life scenarios involving work, desire, loss, conflict, connection, and change.

But situations are never encountered in the abstract. They are always encountered by someone.

In the next chapter, we will turn fully to the 40 numbered Minor Arcana cards. Each will be treated as an archetypal life situation—recognizable, repeatable, and deeply human. But as you move into those cards, carry this chapter with you.

When a Pip card appears, do not ask only, What is happening? Also ask: Who is meeting this moment? From what level of development? With what motivation?

Only then does Tarot become what it was always meant to be: not a list of meanings, but a map of lived experience.

The stage is now set.