In the Thoth Tarot’s suit of Disks, the four Court Cards are visual portraits of these very states of the material world. The suit of Disks corresponds to the element of earth, representing matter, body, health, finance, and the ability to manifest. The Court Cards reveal different levels of mastery in the material realm — from the Princess who gives birth to new forms, to the Knight who reaps the harvest, to the Queen who rebuilds the body through diet, and finally to the Prince who builds new worlds through exercise and design. Together, these four cards form a complete map of growth in the material world.
The Princess: Mastery of Creative Power and the Birthing of New Life
The Princess of Disks is the master of creative power. She is a woman “who has been over the volcano and through the briar patch.” She bears new life that has been gestating and incubating within her for some time. She is fertile and abundant — whether with a new identity, a new lifestyle, a creative project, or a human being.
Her pioneering nature is represented by her Aries crown (the horns she wears on her head). The snake on her shoulder, which transforms into an ermine cloak, represents her earthy and ancient passion to create.
The Princess of Disks desires to give birth to new forms that are in alignment with who she is (the lighted crystal wand). She is determined to manifest harvest (the pedestal of tied grains upon which she leans) in a balanced and organic way (the lotus blossom with the yin/yang center). She approaches motherhood issues or issues surrounding her own mother in creative ways.
The Princess of Disks represents the capacity to give birth to new forms or resolve motherhood issues from the month of Aries (March 21 – April 21) to Scorpio (October 21 – November 21) . This symbol indicates a desire to creatively resolve or restructure relationships with Aries and Scorpio people in your life.
When you are drawn toward this card, it can represent a desire to assist a younger woman in giving birth to new forms in her life, or in helping her resolve motherhood issues.
For men, this symbol can represent the creative part of your anima that desires to give birth to the new life that has been gestating within your nature for some time; or this symbol can represent the part of your nature that wants to resolve motherhood issues, or issues involving Aries and Scorpio people in your life.
The Knight: Mastery of Manifesting Skills and the Harvest
The Knight of Disks demonstrates the capacity to manifest skills in the outer world in practical, observable ways. He is the harvester who, with his threshing tool in hand, is prepared to harvest that which he has cultivated. He is determined to achieve harvest in the areas of health and finances.
The Knight of Disks represents the doctor or healer in the deck, as well as the financier or investor. In the area of health, he monitors his diet like the horse eating the grains; in the area of finances, he creates and protects that which is financially necessary with his large coin shield. The Knight of Disks is the diagnostician, with his antlered helmet, who determines what is necessary in order to manifest abundance. He is the manifestor. His work is not abstract. This is harvest that is the result of one’s creative and diagnostic abilities combined.
The creative aspects of manifesting harvest are represented by the lion’s head (Leo) which appears on the Knight’s coin shield.
If you are drawn to this card, it may represent that from now until Leo (July 21 – August 21) would be an excellent time to use creative and diagnostic abilities to manifest harvest in your life. The Knight of Disks can also represent harvest in areas of health and finances in the month of Leo through opportunities provided either by Leo people or by significant older men, who could be any sign of the Zodiac, and who may be connected with the medical professions or healing arts, or who are actively involved in finances and investments.
For women, the Knight of Disks can represent the dynamic assertive part of themselves — the inner animus — that wants to sustain abundant health and financial well-being.
Disks, as a suit, also represent the earth sign months of Capricorn (December 21 – January 21), Virgo (August 21 – September 21), and Taurus (April 21 – May 21). During these months, you could experience more well-being and harvest in your life.
The Queen: Mastery of Rebuilding the Body Through Diet and Nurturing New Worlds
The Queen of Disks represents mastery in building new worlds that are nutritious and fulfilling. Among the Disk Court Cards, the Queen of Disks rebuilds the body through diet.
During the months from Aries (March 21 – April 21) to Capricorn (December 21 – January 21) , you can address the need for new diets in all areas of your life; or, important people who are Aries or Capricorn can present new opportunities that can inspire new focus on diet and enhance nurturing aspects in other areas of your life.
The Queen of Disks represents the magnetic, organizing parts of yourself — the inner anima — which desires to be nurtured in all areas of your life.
This symbol can also indicate that you may want to re-direct your relationships with Capricorn and Aries people in your life so that these relationships may be more nurturing.
The Queen of Disks can also represent deep appreciation for desert areas and tropical environments; or a desire to visit such environments from Aries to Capricorn of the current year.
The Queen of Disks is the aspect of yourself that pioneers (Aries) new ways that are nurturing and stabilizing (Capricorn) — represented by the crown she wears. This symbol indicates the ability to manifest beauty, health, and fulfillment in specific and practical ways in those areas of your life where it is needed and necessary.
The Prince: Mastery of Building New Worlds Through Exercise and Design
The Prince of Disks is the architect, the designer, and the builder of new forms. With steel-like determination (the chariot), he builds new worlds that are beautiful and abundant (flowers and fruits in the golden tapestry) and worlds that are less obstructive and difficult (the many little boulders on the back of the chariot).
He is the sportsman who, through exercise, has mastered the capacity to build and recreate structures — including reforming the body through exercise. The Queen of Disks reforms the body through diet. The Prince of Disks reforms the body through exercise.
The Prince of Disks forges ahead like Taurus, the Bull, to implement structures and forms that are solid, abundant, and beautiful. He holds the double helix as a reminder of his capacity to build new worlds that can be implemented consciously (the winged-bull helmet) in concrete, aesthetic ways.
The Prince of Disks represents mastery of the body, especially through sports and exercise. When you are drawn to this card, it indicates ability concerning physical activity, architecture, design, building, and sports.
During the month of Taurus (April 21 – May 21) or with Taurus people in your life, you have the capacity to move in new directions where new fruitful forms can be built. The Prince of Disks can also indicate a desire to travel or relocate either in the month of Taurus or from now until Taurus. It can also mean meeting new people who inspire you to move in new directions as a result of taking a trip or relocating to a new environment.
The Prince of Disks can represent a younger man or Taurus person whom you are inspiring to be more active in exercise, or you may be motivating him to move in new directions that are more fruitful for him. Also, a younger man in your life, or a Taurus person of any age, might be a motivating force in your life at this time.
For women, this symbol represents the dynamic, youthful part of yourself that loves activity. This is the inner animus of your nature that is determined to build solid and abundant structures.
The Four Levels of Growth in the Material World
These four Disk Court Cards together depict a complete path of growth in the material world.
Beginning with the Princess, we learn to nurture and give birth to new forms — whether a new identity, lifestyle, creative project, or an actual new life. She is the symbol of abundance after having crossed the volcano and the briar patch.
Moving into the Knight, we master the ability to manifest and harvest — combining creative and diagnostic abilities to reap abundance in health and finance, becoming the doctor and financier of our own lives.
Reaching the Queen, we attain the wisdom of rebuilding the body through diet and nourishment — pioneering new ways of nurturing, creating structures of care in every area of life.
Finally, in the Prince, we master the ability to build new worlds through exercise, design, and architecture — with steel-like determination, bringing beauty, abundance, and solid form into the material world.
These four cards are not a linear destination to be reached once and for all. Rather, they are states that each of us experiences repeatedly in different stages and different areas of life. Sometimes we need the Princess’s power of gestation and birth, sometimes the Knight’s ability to harvest and manifest, sometimes the Queen’s capacity for nourishment and rebuilding, sometimes the Prince’s skill in design and construction.
The material world is not a prison to be transcended, but a canvas that can be continuously transformed and elevated through our creativity, diagnostic ability, nurturing power, and capacity to build.
References
Arrien, A. (1997). The Tarot handbook: Practical applications of ancient visual symbols. Tarcher.
