A Royal Who's Who: Cracking a Crowley Court Card Caper.

ava
Sep 20, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Sep 22, 2025

The 78 cards created by Lady Frieda Harris (Frieda, Lady Harris, if you want to be pedantic) and the Master Therion are arguably the most beautiful and artfully- as well as hermetically- crafted tarot deck in existence.

Layers of rich astrological, elemental, qabalistic and mythological symbolism that unravel into a mandala of psychic triggers and weave tales of ancient architypes, painted in an almost hypnotizing blend of futurism, art deco and projected geometry.

This deck is undoubtedly a powerhouse for any formative reader; I would not say, however, that it is the deck one typically begins their tarot journey with. (although it was my first deck)

So, when one has started their tarot journey with a Waite deck, or any deck with similar art and structure, one will naturally have a few questions when they take their first stroll down Thoth Tarot Lane. (Or vice versa)

Not least of which comes when one gets to the court cards and may find themselves thinking...

"Knight, Queen, Prince and Princess, who's in charge around here?!"

the easy answer is that the equivalents are:

Waite King = Thoth Prince = Fixed Signs = Air of their respective suit

Waite Queen = Thoth Queen = Cardinal Signs = Water of their respective suit

Waite Knight = Thoth Knight = Mutable Signs = Fire of their respective suit

Waite Page = Thoth Princess = Earth of their respective suit

This is reflected in emblems, postures of the characters, symbolism as well as astrological correspondences, but most importantly- in the divinatory, oracular function of the cards.

Equating the personality type and energetic correspondences of a Waite King to a Thoth Knight will most certainly throw a wrench in your readings.

"you've got the wrong guy! it was him!!!" screams the Prince as he's hauled in for crimes the Knight has committed...

The true differentiation from the basic Waite Court and The Thoth court is the hierarchy allotment. This system stays in alignment with that of the Golden Dawn, where The Beast began his magickal career before he branched off with his own magickal order, colloquially known by most as the OTO or Thelema, but I digress:

Crowley places the Knight at the top of the hierarchical chain, (although he doesn't stay there for long)

The Knight then couples with the Queen (who is the daughter of the previous King, a regular Elizabeth II) to create the Prince and Princess.

The Prince will eventually seize power alongside the Princess and start the cycle anew.

Surely this bit of information may muddy the waters a bit... If the Knight is with the Queen isn't he... the King?

It's more of a Duke of Edinburgh situation, really.

For that matter, the Prince will soon outrank him much like Prince Charles out ranked Prince Phillip. This system is mostly to create a sense of movement and keep things dynamic.

You're free to think into this little metaphorical piece of the Golden Dawn/Crowley philosophy as much or as little as you want. In the book of Thoth Crowley himself says in regard to this court card system, "if it's a little confusing and contradictory then, hey, you've got the idea!" (or something along those lines)

Just keep in mind the essential conversions (listed above) in regard to the type of person and or energy being presented by the court card at hand, and you'll be just fine!

I hope in this short investigation we have cleared up some of the mystery and misunderstandings surrounding this decades old case of mistaken identity(s).

I have included images of the Thoth/Waite equivalents with the astrological correspondences below. All court cards (excluding pages aka princesses) are associated with the last 10 degrees of one sign and 20 degrees of the next, but they are considered to mainly correspond with the sign they predominate.