How-to Guides · 4 min · 2026-07-18
Riders are people of decisive action, intensely focused on one goal. Understanding their motivations helps you turn them into strong advocates or avoid negative impacts.
In court cards, Knights are often understood as important people involved in the situation you ask about. They are proactive characters, with clear goals and decisive actions to achieve what they want.
The Knight of Sticks is someone who acts driven by his own will. He has specific goals he wants to accomplish, really wants to do it his way, and is willing to pay any price to achieve them.
He feels deeply passionate about something, and can be unintentionally tough on anyone who gets in his way. If his will is aligned with yours, he will exert a positive influence. Otherwise, you may get "crushed" in the process.
This intensity usually does not last long. If you can't harness this energy in time, you may have to endure that burst and wait for it to burn itself out.
The Knight of the Grail is a man whose actions are motivated by emotion. His heart is focused on something—a vision, a quest, a creation, or a relationship.
He follows his heart completely, ignoring everything else—good or bad. At this moment, he was not thinking about anything. What matters in his heart is only love, reconciliation, poetry, art, or dreams. His life became captivated.
It was difficult to divert the Grail Rider's attention from his current search. When several cards repeat a theme, treat the pattern as emphasis rather than certainty.
The Knight of the Sword is one whose actions are driven by a commitment to a certain idea or way of thinking. He firmly believes that his thoughts, decisions, or belief system are correct.
He will use his language and communication skills to push his ideals as far as possible. His weapons are logic, rational arguments and evidence. He is ready to use them to destroy any opposition.
Without a larger plan, strategy, or goal, he could find himself in a dangerous situation. However, if you can get his attention and focus him on something, he will prove to be invaluable. For a cleaner reading, translate the symbol into one observable choice or behavior. If the card feels abstract, ask what it changes in the next small decision.
The Horseman of Money is someone whose actions are motivated by resources, finances, or the material world. Whatever he does, it is to move further towards this goal.
In this industry, timing is everything, so he only focuses on the right opportunity. He knows that it's not just what you have and how you use it, but also when you use it.
He has long endurance and patience. Although he sometimes looks passive or even weak, he is not like that. He is quick and intelligent, understanding the value of active observation. When the time is ripe, he will act, rarely making a mistake.
Of all the Knights, the Knights of the Coin are the most reliable in long-term projects.
Read deeper
Reference source: zhihu.com — interpretation Tarot practice, Knight series
Reading note: Check these meanings against the cards beside them before settling on one keyword.
Source: Zhihu
14 min
RWS tarot uses the Western classical quad (Fire · Air · Water · Earth) via Hot/Cold and Dry/Wet — not Wu Xing cycles. Why Melaap treats question–answer element mismatch as more important than a 'positive card'.
4 min
Ngu Dao represents people who dare to break all social limits to live their own way. This card symbolizes absolute freedom, infinite possibilities and unplanned steps on the path of life.
5 min
A complete tarot deck contains 78 cards organized into three groups: 22 Major Arcana cards representing abstract concepts and life's turning points, 16 Court cards embodying personality archetypes, and 40 numbered cards illustrating patterns of development. Here we explore the first seven cards of the Rider-Waite-Smith system—from the Fool to the Lovers—and the fundamental ideas they carry.