Practitioner · 14 min
The Knights: action and its four speeds
The four Knights as the court's rank of action: the pace each one rides at, how a Knight reads in a spread, and how the Knight of Wands differs from The Chariot.
In this lesson you will
- Describe each Knight's pace and pursuit from its rank and suit.
- Read a Knight as the action a situation needs, or as its excess.
- Tell the Knight of Wands from The Chariot in a reading about moving forward.
A friend wants to quit their job tomorrow and start a business; you would rather plan for a year first. Both of you are ready to act, just at different speeds. That difference is what the four Knights teach.
What a Knight adds
The Knight is the court's rank of action. A Knight has learned enough to set out, and now rides toward something: a goal, a person, an idea. Knights bring movement into a reading, and with it the typical Knight problem of going too far, too fast, or in only one direction.
The suit sets each Knight's pace and what it pursues. The Knights of Swords and Wands rush, the Knight of Cups rides quietly, and the Knight of Pentacles barely seems to move. Picture them as four speeds of the same pursuit.
| Card | Pace | Pursues | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knight of Wands | A sudden dash | Adventure, a new venture | Haste, unfinished starts |
| Knight of Swords | Full charge | A goal, the truth, an argument | Rash words |
| Knight of Cups | A quiet walk | A feeling, an ideal, an invitation | Dreaming instead of doing |
| Knight of Pentacles | Slow and steady | A reliable result | Getting stuck in routine |
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- Knight of Wands
- Knight of Cups
- Knight of Swords
- Knight of Pentacles
- In two positions
- Commonly confused: the Knight of Wands and The Chariot
- Your turn
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.