The Holding Court Challenge
Getting to know your place in the tarot court
Court cards hold such challenges for even seasoned tarot readers, so I love helping people get to know them personally. (It’s why I created Awaken the Court Cards.) The court cards represent people (or personas within each of us), so the only way to get to know them is to spend time with them personally, as you would with real people. And once you get to know them in the cards, it makes them that much easier to explore in your own life.
In this challenge, you get to see the court cards from all kinds of angles, starting with where you’re most comfortable and getting increasingly abstract. It’s timed to occur during the month of January, but you can take as much time or as little as makes sense for you.
Throughout the challenge, you may pull cards or reflect or journal after “pathworking.” When I say to “pathwork” with a card, I mean that you should do this:
Look at the card intently for a minute, describing it to yourself. Then close your eyes and reconstruct the world of the card in your mind. Experience the world and energy of that persona firsthand through the visuals, feelings, scents, or other sensations you experience.
As a last note, I’m using the term “PentaCoins” to represent the earthy suit of Pentacles, Coins, and Disks.
Week 1: Court of Appeal
Starting with your likes and dislikes to understand the cards
For Days 1–3, use the court card that you like most.
1. What wisdom does this persona have to offer me this month? (Pull a card.)
2. Pathwork* with this card. What do you learn about them?
3. Select the major arcanum that feels most like your chosen court card. Place them side by side. What interesting conversations would they have?
For Days 4–6, use the court card that you like least.
4. What wisdom does this court card have to offer me this month? (Pull a card.)
5. Pathwork* with this card. What do you learn about them?
6. Select the major arcanum that feels most like your chosen court card. Place them side by side. What interesting conversations would they have?
7. Rest & reflection
Week 2: In Your Court
Seeing yourself in the cards and letting that guide structure
8. Select the court card that best represents you as you see yourself. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Use that court card’s rank (from Day 8) to explore the human characteristics of the different suits in Days 9–12. For example, if you chose the Queen of Cups as your card, Days 9–12 would be about the Queens of the four suits.
9. What are the things that set the {rank} of Wands’s soul ablaze? Pull from the Wands cards for inspiration, if needed.
10. How does the {rank} of Cups act in relationships? Pull from the Cups cards for inspiration, if needed.
11. How does the {rank} of Swords communicate, at their best and at their worst? Pull from the Swords cards for inspiration, if needed.
12. What is the modern-day occupation of the {rank} of PentaCoins? Pull from the PentaCoins cards for inspiration, if needed.
13. Select the court card that best represents you as others see you. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
14. Rest & reflection
Week 3: Order in the Court
Uncovering what the title ranks mean to you
For Days 15 and 16, choose the court card that best matches your level of maturity + gender or standard mode and sun sign element in my simplistic overview. (See chart.)
15. What wisdom does this court card have to offer me this month? (Pull a card.)
16. Pathwork* with this card. What do you learn about them?
For Days 17–20, you will get to know each of the members of your sun sign’s elemental court and retitle them. For example, if you are an Aries (a fire sun sign), you will get to know the members of the Wands court (the fire suit).
17. Imagine chatting with the Page/Princess of {suit}. Get to know them and their role within the realm of {suit}. What descriptor fits the Page/Princess’s role within that realm (other than Page or Princess)?
18. Imagine chatting with the Knight of {suit}. What descriptor fits the Knight’s role within that realm (other than Knight)?
19. Imagine chatting with the Queen of {suit}. What descriptor fits the Queen’s role within that realm (other than Queen)?
20. Imagine chatting with the King/Prince of {suit}. What descriptor fits the King/Prince’s role within that realm (other than King/Prince)?
21. Rest & reflection
Week 4: Night Court
Bringing in the mysteries and wonder of astrology
For Days 22–23, use the court card associated with the decan of your birthday, the 10º arc of your sun sign. (See Chart 1.)
22. What wisdom does this court card have to offer me this month? (Pull a card.)
23. Pathwork* with this card. What do you learn about them?
For Days 24–26, use the three minor arcana associated with that court card, per the Order of the Golden Dawn structure. (See Chart 2.)
24. What story do you read in those cards? What does that highlight for you about the court card?
25. What challenges are represented by the first card (what T. Susan Chang and M. M. Meleen call the “shadow decan”)? How can you work through those in your own life? (Pull a card.)
26. What strengths are represented by the second and third card? (Remember to find the positive if they are usually “bad” cards for you.) How can you use those strengths to your advantage? (Pull a card.)
For Day 27, we look at the Page/Princess associated with your birthday since they are not part of the 36-decan system of the Golden Dawn. (Refer to the chart in the graphic.) Consider the three signs of that Page/Princess as a story. The first sign is their history. The second sign is their present. And the third sign is their future.
27. What do you learn about that Page/Princess from this trajectory through the signs?
28. Rest & reflection
Final Days: Holding Court
Preparing for deeper learning
For Days 29–31, pick the court card persona that you most want to get to know.
29. What wisdom does this court card have to offer me this month? (Pull a card.)
30. Pathwork* with this card. What do you learn about them?
31. Choose an area of personal growth for you where that court card has expertise (e.g., developing empathy through the Queen of Cups, developing confidence through the King of Wands). Look up the crystal, plant, animal, or color correspondences for that area and choose one that feels right for your court card (e.g., dolphin for playfulness). Find a way to incorporate that correspondence (safely) into your everyday life. You could consider wearing the relevant color, putting on jewelry featuring that crystal or animal, or making a tea or snack using that plant as an ingredient (if nontoxic).
If you’ve found this helpful, you will really love my book, Awaken the Court Cards: A workbook for bringing the court cards to life. And if you’re a tarot reader who wants to read the court cards with even greater nuance and confidence, I highly recommend the related course, Awaken the Court Cards.