Father in the Court Cards

Father is the family term for the older male court cards, known as the King or Knight. Father relates to the Yod of YHVH or the Fire element.

Names of the Father in the Court Cards

  • Book of Thoth – Knight
  • Rider-Waite – Knight
  • Paul Foster-Case – Knight
  • Golden Dawn King
Knight of Wands – Rider-Waite

Knight of Wands – Rider-Waite

Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence. Additional meaning: A bad card; according to some readings, alienation.

King of Swords – Golden Dawn

King of Swords – Golden Dawn

He is active, clever, subtle, fierce, delicate, courageous, skilful, bit inclined to domineer. Also to overvalue small things, unless well-dignified.

Knight of Swords – Rider-Waite

Knight of Swords – Rider-Waite

Skill, bravery, capacity, defence, address, enmity, wrath, war, destruction, opposition, resistance, ruin. There is therefore a sense in which the card signifies death, but it carries this meaning only in its proximity to other cards of fatality.