Leo in the court cards

King of Wands (trimmed):

© Universal Waite Tarot

Different traditions have different astrological correspondences when it comes to the Court Cards. For instance, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn chose to assign cardinal attributes (initiating things) to the Queens, fixed (maintaining order) to the Kings, and mutable (being able to adapt and transform) to the Knights.  Each court card is also linked to the elements, with Pages with Earth, Knights being associated with Fire, Queens with Water, and Kings with Air.  Following this system, we end up with Leo being associated with the King of Wands (Fire of Fire).  It’s actually more complicated than that, though, as each court card ruling from 20° in one sign to 20° in the next.  This means that Leo is associated with the Knight of Pentacles (Fire of Earth) as well – but I stick to the card on the cusp of Leo, the King of Wands.

In this image from the Universal Waite Tarot, we can see symbols of the lion on the wall behind the King of Wands’ throne.  

King of Wands (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

The Shadowscapes’ King of Wands contains lions too, representing the fierce pride of the king. He’s the alpha male, king of his pride, and not afraid to go after whatever he wants.  Confident, strong, bold – and graceful, too.

Prince of Wands (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

The Thoth deck follows the Golden Dawn convention, of course.  Instead of Kings, though, he chose to have Princes, just to confuse us – but we can see the power of the Sun, as Leo’s ruler, coming through in this image, not to mention the lion pulling the chariot. The Sun King rides!  Like the child, or children, in the Sun card, this figure is naked, symbolizing freedom and openness.  He feels no need for protection.  He holds a phoenix-headed staff in one hand, the phoenix being the bird that burns and rises from the ashes – another symbol of renewal, much like the child in the Sun card. Here we have the master of creativity – nothing standing in his way.  There’s strength here too – a combination of Strength and the Sun, if you like.

Queen of Wands (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli
Beginners Guide to the Tarot

Other decks follow a different convention. They keep the Knights as carriers of mutable qualities, but have the Queens taking on the ‘fixed’ attributes and the Kings the ‘cardinal’ ones.  This gives us the Queen of Wands as the Leo card.  That combination of fire and fixed-ness suggests a mix of fiery enthusiasm and optimism, but there are some boundaries this Queen won’t cross. She’s not going to take risks – not in the way that the roving, changeable Knight or the dynamic, ‘go-getter’ King might.  But she’s quite likely to be able to look after a number of things at the same time – she can compartmentalize very successfully, and can make herself available to whoever needs her.  And given all the mythology (see my previous post, ‘Leo in the Major Arcana’) linking women with lions, it feels appropriate that it should be the Queen, rather than one of the other Wands court cards, with the link to the sign of Leo!

Queen of Wands (trimmed):

© Druid Craft Tarot

In this image from Juliet Sharman-Burke's Beginners Guide to the Tarot, we can see lions decorating her throne, as well as a lion-coloured cat at her feet! 

Even in the Druid Craft tarot, which tends to follow a more druidic wheel of the year, the Queen of Wands has a rather lion-like cat under her throne... and although the Universal Waite’s Queen’s cat is black, those lions adorn her throne too.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Druid Craft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Universal Waite Tarot created by Mary Hanson-Roberts & Pamela Colman-Smith, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Taurus in the court cards

King of Pentacles (trimmed):
© Universal Rider-Waite Tarot

Our final foray into Taurus in the tarot – Taurus in the court cards. Again, we have the question – which court card?  Many decks follow the Golden Dawn system, where the fixed signs are assigned to the Kings.  This gives us the King of Pentacles – with the bull being represented quite clearly on the throne in the Universal Rider-Waite deck, for example. This King looks comfortable – he’s achieved what he’s set out to do and is surrounded by what he’s achieved.  Very down-to-earth, practical achievements, as befits a Taurean King – accomplished through hard work, determination, and tenacity.

Prince of Disks (trimmed):
© Thoth Tarot

 The Thoth deck follows this convention, although there are no Kings in this deck, just to confuse things.  In the Thoth hierarchy, the Prince is at the top of the heap, so it’s the Prince of Disks who’s linked to Taurus.  The bull pulls the chariot in this image, steady, reliable, head down – nothing will stop him in his determination to reach his destination or goal.  Perseverance and patience. The Prince’s nakedness here also represents that straightforwardness, as well as openness and honesty.Behind the chariot we see flowers, while the chariot itself is full of fruit; both represent the abundance of the Earth. Perhaps even the blossoms of spring, in the northern hemisphere at least!

Queen of Pentacles (trimmed):
  © Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

Juliet Sharman-Burke, in her Beginner's Guide to the Tarot, assigns the Queens to the fixed signs, on the principle that Kings order things, Queens maintain, and Knights disseminate. So for Taurus, we have the Queen of Pentacles. Again, we see bulls’ heads on her throne.  Venus, the ruler of Taurus, is represented by the roses – symbols of love, youth and beauty. Taurus is often said to be the sign of the farmer and the gardener; well, we see plenty of evidence of nature’s abundance and the labour that’s gone into growing and nurturing it here.  The Queen of Pentacles in this deck is very connected to the earthy reality of Taurus – she’s maintaining what’s been started by the cardinal energy of Aries, and enjoying the fruits of her labour as only Taurus can!

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Universal Waite Tarot created by Mary Hanson-Roberts & Pamela Colman-Smith, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.