The other day I wrote about identifying with a Major Arcana card. Today I’m writing about Court cards and picking a significator from those 16 cards. Nothing I write is a set in stone rule, simply guidelines I’ve read other places that seem to be consistent. I want to share my own troubles picking a significator.
There are two main ways of figuring out which card to use as your significator if you’re going with a Court card. One is by birth date, gender, and age. The other is physical description.
Method 1:
Page: young child or female under 18
Knight: young man up to age 25 or so
Queen: female over 18 or married
King: older man
Wands: Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)
Pentacles: Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
Swords: Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
Cups: Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)
Method 2:
Wands: light or red hair, dark or light eyes, fair or freckled complexion
Cups: light hair, light eyes, fair-medium complexion
Swords: dark hair, light eyes, olive complexion
Pentacles: dark hair, dark eyes, dark complexion
By the first method I would be the Queen of Cups or Queen of Swords (born on the cusp of Gemini and Cancer, I’d pick the sign I felt most accurately represented me). By the second, I’d be the Queen of Wands (can’t argue with the impossible to cover red hair and freckles). That leaves me with only one Queen that doesn’t describe me. Not very helpful.
When I was first starting to study the tarot I gravitated toward the Page of Cups. I was an emotional young woman who thought she was in touch with her intuition. Pages are young female energy and Cups is the suit of emotions. I’ve grown and matured since then and I’m not so sure I was actually the Page of Cups.
Now I’m over 18 and married, so I should be moving on to being a Queen, but I’m not convinced I’m the Queen of Cups. I’m still emotional, but I’ve come to the realization that I’m not particularly intuitive. When I think about the Queen of Cups, I see her as someone who feels things deeply, but keeps her emotions in check, and I’m still overwhelmed by my emotions at times.
If I’m honest, I want to be the Queen of Pentacles. I want to be fertile, and grounded, and wealthy (not just financially, but in all matters). I see the Queen of Pentacles as being similar to The Empress and I’ve already expressed my desire to be The Empress. I know, though, that I’m not practical like the Queen of Pentacles.
If you’re new to tarot, I don’t want to scare you off the Queen of Swords, but she’s always terrified me a little. There’s nothing wrong with identifying as the Queen of Swords, it’s simply that she’s so different from the way I see myself and I suppose like many people I’m afraid of what’s foreign to me. The Queen of Swords seems to be an intellectual, but austere. I like to think of myself as warm, I just see her as cold. Maybe I’m seeing facets of myself I don’t want to admit to in her.
Then there’s the Queen of Wands. I think as I’ve studied tarot, I’ve learned the most about the suit of Wands. I was naturally drawn to the suit of Cups for the emotions depicted, attracted by the suit of Pentacles’s opulence and mastery, and shied away from the suit of Swords. Wands never really registered for me. They were a suit, the fourth suit to make up the rest of the deck. I know better now. I really think I could be the Queen of Wands. She’s passionate, and fiery, and even though I’m not a Fire sign, she resonates with me.
There are no rules you have to follow when picking a significator. It doesn’t even have to be a Court card. Let your feelings guide you.
Peace and balance,
Erin
EsotericErin 