Certain spreads include a card known as a significator. This card is chosen to denote the person who is asking the question or who is the subject of the question. For some spreads the significator is selected and positioned before the balance of the deck is shuffled; in other spreads the significator is determined after the spread has been laid out on the table, and may be repositioned or may be left as it falls according to the reader's preferred method of interpreting that spread.

The significator is the central character within the story that the cards are depicting, and it is up to the reader to interpret the story surrounding or pertaining to that character. Some readers will choose a court card as the significator in a spread according to very rigid guidelines, other readers will use loose guidelines, and some readers will draw the significator purely by chance either from the separated pack of court cards, from the entire deck, or from a combined pack of court cards and Major Arcana.

Use of a court card as the significator is the most popular choice, and selection of the appropriate court card may be according to some "traditional" rules, or by one's own set of rules. A very rigid traditional set of rules is the choice of the significator according to the preceding table under the heading "Court Families." In this method, the significator is removed from the deck prior to shuffling, and is chosen strictly in accordance with the subject's physical appearance.

Another rigid set of rules is the choice of significator according to the subject's natal Sun Sign, as set out in the "Astrological Correspondences" table. In using this system, one may or may not choose to use Pages as significators for children, according to the Element of the child's Sun Sign.

Somewhat less rigid is the choice made according to the "Characteristics of Court Cards" table. Indeed, this is the most popular method. This can be made even more flexible if one ignores the sex of the subject, and chooses the card only according to the subject's acquired qualities; i.e. King of Swords could represent a person of either sex who is active in the practice of law; a nurturing, family oriented man could be represented by the Queen of Pentacles, etc.

Random selection of a significator card may be less satisfactory, and frequently requires the reader to apply in-depth intuitive skills. When the significator is randomly chosen, it may at first appearance be difficult to reconcile the image on the card with the subject. The reader must assess the apparent inconsistency, and determine why it has occured. Possibly the subject has questions concerning the aspect of his/her nature most typically represented by that card, or possibly the question is more closely related to someone in the questioner's environment (represented by the significator by proxy) rather than to the questioner hirself.

Exercise for the Court Cards

Separate the court cards from the deck, and lay them out in families, from Page through King in each suit. a) Study each row, and take note of similarities between the cards within each suit, such as colour, action/inaction, dress, background, etc. b) Study each column, and take note of similarities between the cards of the same rank. c) jot down a brief assessment of whether or not the artist has succeeded in using the images to convey the traditional qualities each of the court characters.