The Royal Reading
Select the Supplicant (Card 0) - The Supplicant is chosen by the querent, not drawn. Ask the querent (or yourself): “Which card best represents you or your situation right now?”
Allow them to intuitively choose a card from the deck. This becomes the focal point of the reading and is placed in position 0
Shuffle the Deck and lay out the cards 1 through 8
0 Supplicant- The Querent or the Situation Itself
Chosen, not drawn.
This is the card the querent identifies with or selects as a symbol of their current state or question.
Represents: The central self, the core concern, or the driving energy of the reading. Think of it as the person petitioning the court for guidance.
Symbolic Layer: The one who kneels before the throne, seeking wisdom, justice, or transformation.
1 The Ruler- The Answer or Central Guiding Force
Represents: The overarching resolution, energy, or truth of the matter. It is the outcome or the divine will if the querent does nothing or follows their current path.
Role in the Court: The monarch makes decisions, sets laws, and embodies the realm's fate.
Questions to Ask: What truth is governing the situation? What decision must be made? What is the higher wisdom?
2 The Consort- Emotional Support / Inner Mirror
Represents: Emotional relationships, support systems, or the querent’s own emotional world. It can reveal who or what offers love, empathy, or reflection.
Role in the Court: The partner to the Ruler, often quieter in power but deeply influential in personal and relational matters.
Questions to Ask: What emotions need tending? What relationships offer support or challenge? How do I nurture myself or others?
Shadow Side: Emotional dependency or false intimacy.
3 The Heir- The Future Based on the Querent’s Actions
Represents: Potential outcomes, seeds of future development, or legacies created by current choices.
Role in the Court: The one who inherits what the querent is giving birth to, knowingly or unknowingly.
Questions to Ask: What future am I creating? What will I pass on or become? What is the natural evolution of this path?
Shadow Side: Unrealized potential, misguided ambition.
4 The Champion- Material Tools / Tangible Help
Represents: Physical actions, allies, tools, resources, and what the querent can do or use in the real world.
Role in the Court: The protector and doer the one who takes the battle to the world.
Questions to Ask: What tools are at hand? Who or what is actively working on my behalf? What action should I take?
Shadow Side: Burnout, reliance on brute force, or fighting the wrong battle.
5 The Councilor- Advice, Strategy, and Warnings
Represents: Wisdom, mentorship, internal counsel, and intellectual clarity. This card provides perspective and strategy.
Role in the Court: The adviser who whispers to the throne, offering caution, insight, and planning.
Questions to Ask: What should I know? What patterns are repeating? What wisdom do I already possess?
Shadow Side: Overthinking, analysis paralysis, advice from untrustworthy sources.
6 The Schemer- Fears, Hidden Influences, and Sabotage
Represents: Hidden enemies (within or without), self-sabotage, unconscious fears, or unseen manipulations.
Role in the Court: The power behind the throne but one who may undermine or betray. Not always evil sometimes a shadow that must be faced.
Questions to Ask: What am I not seeing? What fears are influencing me? What undermines me or my goals?
Shadow Side: Paranoia, projection, giving in to fear or conspiracy thinking.
7 The Herald- Messages, Signs, and the Voice of the Outside World
Represents: Omens, synchronicities, literal news, or external influences that may affect the querent’s path.
Role in the Court: The messenger, the deliverer of divine or diplomatic messages what the world or spirits are trying to tell you.
Questions to Ask: What signs am I receiving? What external forces are entering my life? What should I listen for?
Shadow Side: Miscommunication, ignoring signs, or heeding false prophets.
8 The Steward- Duty, Discipline, and Internal Resources
Represents: The querent’s inner strengths, responsibilities, routines, and self-discipline. What keeps the inner kingdom running.
Role in the Court: The one who handles the day-to-day while the Ruler governs and the Champion fights. Often unsung but indispensable.
Questions to Ask: What do I need to maintain? What must be honored or protected? What strength do I underestimate?
Shadow Side: Burden, over-responsibility, or ignoring the "small things" that keep life whole.
Example Reading:
Supplicant
- Queen Regnant Spirit
The
Queen Regnant is also the wise oracle within. Commune with your
intuition, what spiritual guidance arises from your inner depths? A
mentor, mystical experience, or profound insight will deepen your
sovereignty and spiritual authority. She encourages you to trust your
inner voice as you lead, integrating mystery and wisdom into your
rulership. Ignore the whispers of spirit, and your crown may feel
heavy indeed.
1 champion of earth -
Root into your values, what unshakable
truth anchors your stand?
A call will rise from your community,
inviting you to become a guardian of what matters most. Devotion
becomes action.
2 king regent of fire reversed
Insecurity about your temporary authority may lead to rashness, burnout, or a need to "prove" yourself. The fire of perseverance flickers into frustration. Impatience tempts bold but ill-advised moves. Instead of forging trust through steadiness, you may try to seize power too quickly, undermining your path. Endurance, not conquest, is what’s truly required.
3
prince consort Air
Shape
your speech with thoughtful care, do your words uplift the union or
create unseen divides? A timely insight or gentle redirection from
you will open unseen pathways. True partnership is often whispered,
not proclaimed.
4
fool of Fire
(Reversed)
The
fire of rebellion may be misused to seek attention or escape
accountability. Reckless choices dressed as “authenticity” can
harm you and others. Are you acting from joy, or from the need to be
seen? The Fool becomes the fraud when passion lacks purpose.
5
Princess
Heir Presumptive
Water
Float
in the waters of uncertainty, can you remain emotionally buoyant when
tides change? A deep emotional bond or encounter may alter the course
of what you hoped to become. Flexibility, not fixation, becomes your
strength. Let intuition be your current; flow with feeling, not
against it.
6
Cleric Water
Offer
your heart to the divine flow, what prayers, dreams, or songs cleanse
your spirit? A visionary dream or wave of sacred emotion brings
release, renewal, and profound communion. Surrender becomes
sanctification.
7 king emeritus Earth (Reversed)
Your foundations are crumbling or clung to too tightly. Instead of drawing strength from past achievements, you may be hiding behind them, resisting necessary change. What once supported you now holds you back, are your traditions keeping you safe, or stagnant? Beware the illusion of stability in outdated routines or structures. There may be a refusal to build anything new, relying instead on decaying monuments of former glory.
8 Blank (there is no one in this position)
Supplicant- Queen Regnant Spirit
You stand as the Queen Regnant of Spirit a sovereign who rules by inner wisdom, divine communion, and deep mystical insight. This indicates your query is rooted in spiritual leadership, self-authority, and intuitive sovereignty. You are being asked to integrate mystery with maturity to trust your inner oracle not just to know, but to lead. This is not a passive spiritual calling it is an active queenship of the soul. You may be confronting the weight of spiritual responsibility and the tension between personal sovereignty and sacred duty.
1 The Ruler- Champion of Earth
This is the “answer,” or core truth: Action rooted in values. You’re called to protect what matters most in the material world not through abstract ideals, but grounded, community-based stewardship. You are asked to embody devotion in physical ways how you spend time, how you serve, what you protect. Your rulership must be anchored in lived values. This card suggests that spiritual sovereignty (Queen Regnant) must translate into earthly guardianship perhaps a sacred calling to defend land, community, or ethical principles. Be a champion not in words, but in deeds. Service is sacred. Your leadership must be tangible, not just transcendent.
2 The Consort- King Regent of Fire (Reversed)
Emotionally, you're struggling with insecurity about your leadership role, possibly feeling unworthy or rushed to prove something. Burnout, volatility, or imposter syndrome may be coloring your emotional world. This reversed King lacks self-trust, leading to hasty or performative expressions of power.
Endurance, not fireworks, builds true loyalty. Emotionally, practice steady warmth rather than explosive passion. Heal the fire of frustration by reconnecting with the why behind your actions.
As the Queen Regnant, you don't need to prove your crown. You must wear it from within.
3 The Heir- Prince Consort of Air
The path ahead, if you walk it with conscious intention, leads to partnership through clarity and communication. There’s potential for an intellectual alliance, co-creation, or emotional healing through attuned speech. Your future may hinge on how you use your words gently, wisely, in alignment with your inner sovereignty. You birth the future with your voice. Speak with integrity and partnership in mind. Small insights will open great doors.
4 The Champion- Fool of Fire (Reversed)
Your tools and material-world actions may be chaotic or misdirected right now. There’s a temptation to act out of ego, to take bold, reckless steps under the guise of freedom. The fire of rebellion is present but misaligned with purpose. Passion without grounding leads to burnout or alienation. Check your impulse to “prove” yourself through fire. Root your actions (remember the Champion of Earth above!) in devotion, not defiance. Seek joy, but not at the cost of responsibility.
5 The Councillor- Princess Heir Presumptive of Water
Your advice is to allow emotional transformation. The tides are shifting, and what you thought you were becoming may change through a deep emotional experience or relationship. This card offers emotional guidance, urging flexibility and intuitive openness. Don’t cling to a fixed outcome. Let your emotional intuition guide you into new identity. Be ready to become someone new, shaped by love, grief, or beauty.
6 The Schemer- Cleric of Water
In an unusual twist, your source of sabotage is also sacred. The Schemer is usually a threat but here, it’s the mystic heart, the yearning for spiritual rapture that may be pulling you off balance. You may be over-identifying with emotional or spiritual highs, escaping the grounded work of leadership for the intoxicating pull of vision, prayer, or dreamy spiritualism. Sacred surrender is powerful but do not drown in it. Watch for emotional overindulgence, spiritual bypassing, or escaping responsibility under the guise of divine flow.
7 The Herald- King Emeritus of Earth (Reversed)
The world is sending you a warning about stagnation. You may be clinging to old achievements, titles, or roles that no longer serve you. The external message is: release the past. Your foundation needs to evolve, not be entombed. Stop hiding behind “what worked before.” The world is showing you where your traditions or structures are outdated. Will you build anew, or rest in ruins?
8 The Steward- Blank Card
The absence of a Steward is deeply symbolic. There is no one currently tending to your inner temple no grounded caretaker managing your energy, time, body, or health. This absence speaks to a spiritual burnout, or a lack of routine and ritual. You are sovereign, but not yet sustained. Without stewardship, even a Queen falters. Your sacred tools lie dormant. Who tends the hearth of your temple? Begin here.
This is a court in crisis but not without hope. You stand poised to rule, but your kingdom needs tending. Release the crumbling towers, and root your fire in sacred earth. Bring your devotion down from the heavens and into your bones. Begin a new era not by conquering, but by stewarding your own sovereignty.
