"King" cards in the tarot deck

[muileag]

I'm not sure if I have a question as much as an observation/musing:
Today, one of the cards in my reading was the King of Pentacles. I always "cringe" a bit when I draw a king card because I just don't feel/intuit/relate...I don't understand...what I'm being shown with a king card...I don't know how to apply the insight to my life. It's like I just can't relate to the king cards and I don't know why.

So, I'm just wondering if you have any insights as to why, or if any of you have particular cards that you just can't relate to.

[Albalida]

I tend to read court cards in two ways: first, as people who will affect whatever the spread is about. So, who in your life matches the personality of a King (masculine, mature) or Pentacles (earthy, traditional)?

When I don't get a "person" vibe from the cards, then I do this: paiges are messages, knights are journeys, and the passive rulers (queen of wands, queen of swords, king of cups, king of pentacles) represent the elements of the situation that keep everything the way it is. The active rulers (king of wands, king of swords, queen of cups, queen of pentacles) represent the elements of the situation that can change the situation.

It can also be your "stop" card. Whenever I draw the eight of wands, I get the sense that it means I am asking about something that I am not given to see. So, I had better not ask right now, or I had better stop the reading.

I hope this helps!

[muileag]

Thank you, Albalida...it does help. I'm going to write down your suggestions

[norseman]

There is a different twist on the Kings using the Sacred Circle tarot. It assigns each of the kings as Lord of Power of an element and a compass direction. It goes like this :-

Discs - element : earth, rock. Direction : North. Characteristics : patience, endurance, stability, prosperity.

Swords - element : air. Direction : East. Characteritics : wisdom, intellect, perception, inspiration.

Wands - element : fire. Direction : South. Characteristics : passion, strength, energy, will power.

Cups - element : water. Direction : West. Characteristics : emotion, pleasure, fertility, receptivity.

These four Lords of the Powers of Elements feature in the pagan ritual of Calling the Quarters.

Originally Posted by muileag

I'm not sure if I have a question as much as an observation/musing:
Today, one of the cards in my reading was the King of Pentacles. I always "cringe" a bit when I draw a king card because I just don't feel/intuit/relate...I don't understand...what I'm being shown with a king card...I don't know how to apply the insight to my life. It's like I just can't relate to the king cards and I don't know why.

So, I'm just wondering if you have any insights as to why, or if any of you have particular cards that you just can't relate to.

This is what my grandmother told me 45 years ago. There is so much more then this, but I when felling confused I go back to this.

When I think of kings I remind myself that queens rule from the heart and kings rule from logic. Pentacles is of earth, material. Either you will have this kind of person enter your life, or you will have a situation that deals with the material world that will need your logical attention, you will have to be in charge, leave your emotions at the door. For me in readings this king represents a boss like figure. Those who have the money make the rules. Change the suit like to Swords, then it has to do with communications/intelligent. Take the emotion and intuition out, it is about logic and rules. Kings want answers and solutions, not excuses.

[muileag]

Thank you, Norseman and Pamuya -- new insights to take into consideration. I especially appreciate the elements and directions information; I've never heard of that before.

[tealily]

To me, it runs a bit like this:

Pages: Things you're thinking about/planning

Knights: Opportunities that are being offered to you, or the first stage of the journey (actions/behaviours)

Queens: How you feel about yourself, actions (eg so many of the reversed queens relate to varying aspects of poor self esteem for me)

Kings: How you behave and feel about others, actions

eg - King of Cups (emotional maturity, compassion whilst still being strong), reversed King of Cups (emotional immaturity, emotionally closed, weakness behind facade of strength/charm), King of Pentacles (likes to grow tangible things from the ground up, long-term progress), reversed King of Pentacles (similar deal but epic lack of faith in starting projects, therefore tends to spend more time complaining about how he 'doesn't see it' despite not investing in it) etc.