Revisiting MBTI & the Tarot Court Cards: A Reflection and Revision (2019 & 2025)

Six years ago, I attempted to map the 16 Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) to the 16 Tarot court cards using a symbolic wheel and a mixture of structure, intuition, and trial-and-error. At the time, I included David Kiersey’s temperament groupings in my calculations and tried to distribute the four pairs of traits evenly among the Tarot ranks (Page, Knight, Queen, King) and suits (Pentacles, Swords, Cups, Wands).

I’ve returned to this project with a simpler approach. While I still believe that Tarot and MBTI are not systems meant for one-to-one correspondence, I’ve found surprising results in aligning them through trait-to-symbol associations.

This post compares the Kiersey-MBTI version from 2019 with an MBTI-centered version, both of which explore how these two systems may echo each other.

The 2019 Version (Kiersey Modification of MBTI):

I assigned the suits to the MBTI cognitive functions:

Sensing (S) → Pentacles
iNtuiting (N) → Wands
Thinking (T) → Swords
Feeling (F) → Cups

The Attitudes (E/I) and Lifestyles (J/P) could fall into any rank, but I made sure each MBTI temperament group (SJ, NJ, SP, NP) and each Kiersey group (NF and NT) included one card of each rank. (Follow this link to see how that looked.)

The 2025 Version (MBTI-Centered Mapping of the Tarot Court Cards):

I align the four MBTI pairs with all the characteristics of the court cards:

Extraversion (E) → Knight / Introversion (I) → Queen
Judging (J) → King / Perceiving (P) → Page
Sensing (S) → Pentacles / iNtuiting (N) → Wands
Thinking (T) → Swords / Feeling (F) → Cups

Each personality type is assigned one Tarot court card, matching both suit and rank constraints. Here's how they line up:

SJs – Grounded, Loyal, Responsible
ESFJ ... King of Cups - Nurturing, emotionally steady leader
ISFJ ... Queen of Pentacles - Devoted, grounded caretaker <-- me
ESTJ ... King of Pentacles - Practical and authoritative
ISTJ ... Queen of Swords - Cool-headed, dutiful, principled

NJs – Visionary, Intuitive
ENFJ ... King of Wands - Bold, motivational, future-focused
INFJ ... Queen of Cups - Gentle, empathic, inwardly deep
ENTJ ... King of Swords - Commanding strategist with clear logic
INTJ ... Queen of Wands - Confident, inwardly fiery, visionary

SPs – Observant, Action-Oriented
ESFP ... Knight of Cups - Emotionally expressive, spontaneous
ISFP ... Page of Cups - Gentle, artistic, emotionally sensitive
ESTP ... Page of Pentacles - Practical, curious, hands-on learner
ISTP ... Page of Swords - Cool, alert, quick-thinking

NPs – Inventive, Idealistic
ENFP ... Knight of Wands - Energetic, expressive, visionary
INFP ... Page of Wands - Dreamy, imaginative, hopeful
ENTP ... Knight of Swords - Fast, sharp, idea-driven
INTP ... Knight of Pentacles - Steady, cerebral, dedicated

The earlier system was an ambitious attempt to align the tarot court with both MBTI and Kiersey’s modifications. The results were inconsistent. Many court cards felt misaligned with the emotional tone or functional energy of their paired type.

In contrast, the current system is cleaner, more internally consistent, and symbolically richer. It’s based directly on MBTI’s four dichotomies and maps onto the Tarot suits and ranks surprisingly well. Neither version is “correct,” of course. But this newer approach feels more like a conversation between systems, rather than a forced equivalency.

If you’ve worked with Tarot or MBTI, or both, I’d love to hear what resonated for you. What court card do you see in yourself?

The Page of Wands

I am continuing my examination of the correspondences between the MBTI and the tarot Pages that I began a couple months ago.

I saved the Wands for last because this fiery suit is the one I am least comfortable with. And yes, in English, it is both possible and correct to end sentence with a preposition. (Gosh! Can you see how much I want to get sidetracked away from the subject of the Wands?)

When I first became interested in tarot, it took months to find a deck. Eventually, I asked in a toy store, and was surprised when the store owner retrieved his only copy from behind the counter. It was the Aquarian Tarot by David Palladini. Here is the Page from that deck and from the Rider Waite Smith:

At the time, the only book I could find was A.E. Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot. Palladini's deck and Waite's book aren't a great match for beginning tarot students, and it's no wonder that it took me so many years to learn the cards.

This is all A.E. Waite gives us to understand the Page of Wands:

In a scene similar to the former, a young man stands in the act of proclamation. He is unknown but faithful, and his tidings are strange. Divinatory Meanings: Dark young man, faithful, a lover, an envoy, a postman. Beside a man, he will bear favourable testimony concerning him. A dangerous rival, if followed by the Page of Cups. Has the chief qualities of his suit. He may signify family intelligence. Reversed: Anecdotes, announcements, evil news. Also indecision and the instability which accompanies it.

The "former scene" refers to the desert and pyramids in the Knight of Wands. The "chief qualities of his suit" are never clearly defined. I'm still uncertain whether "family intelligence" means genetic inheritance or news about a family. None of Waite's description seemed to fit the Aquarian Tarot's Page of Wands or the Robin Wood tarot that I now rely on.

The Wands in the Rider Waite Smith deck are calmer and less intimidating than those of the Robin Wood deck. I would feel comfortable sauntering up to the RWS Page of Wands and asking “Whatcha lookin’ at?” But although I have questions for Robin Wood’s Page of Wands, I would prefer to bite my tongue and pass by her quietly and unnoticed.

Since my primary deck is the Robin Wood deck, I have to wrestle with these four intimidating personages. 

Like the RWS image, Robin Wood’s Page of Wands also stands on a sand dune, gazing at the wand she holds. However, her wand glows brighter than the ruthless, desert sun. She is less contemplative and more enthusiastic than her counterpart from the RWS deck. Her clothes are bright shades of red, orange, and yellow. Even her long, beautiful hair is fiery. And her wand glows brighter than the desert sun.

The first thing I usually notice about this card is its energy. The Page radiates so much energy that it takes a moment for me to see and recall that she's standing still, both feet sinking into the sand, as she focuses on the crystal at the top of her wand. She is grasping the gift of intuition or inspiration, but not letting it lead her on her path.

If I dared speak with her, I’d ask what she sees, what she thinks, and, most urgently, what she is going to do. It could be a stimulating conversation, but I'm afraid to begin it.

Sometimes, I feel she is going to gaze at the wand forever and I want to beg her to act on her intuition. Other times, it seems that she is eager to follow where inspiration leads.

Very occasionally, I see the Page of Wands as a trusting Fool, following what Rachel Pollack calls "the path of delight and fascination."

The wand she holds is much too big for her, but she grasps it almost victoriously, as if she believes she has earned it. All the pages are inexperienced and immature, so her confidence is unearned, but her fiery core and passion for life may help her succeed. Robin Wood’s Page of Wands is optimistic and eager; she has joie de vivre.

If the wand is the gift of inspiration, she has a firm grasp on it. Sometimes it looks as if the Page of Wands is studying her intuition rather than following it. Raised in a culture of logic, a person might become hesitant to act on her intuition and, over time, become unable even to hear her own intuition.

Wands can represent artistic inspiration and mystical insights. Wands are also phallic symbols and the figure in this card may be uncertain how to respond to her adolescent sexuality. The wand could also be seen as a channel, a “hollow bone.” The page may be channeling inspiration and transforming that energy into material form.

Fire represents energy, and this card, like the Knight of Wands, may be a warning to conserve energy and to avoid rushing into something without preparation and attention to detail.

Traditionally, pages were seen as messengers. Of all the pages, this one looks most like a messenger. Robin Wood intended that the rings at the top of the wand would chime when the wand was shaken. The sound as well as the sight of this wand announces the messenger. Robin Wood considers this card a "wake up call from the universe," a call to consider potential consequences of one's actions or a call to jump at an opportunity.

Five or six years after I'd acquired my tarot deck, I finally found a useful book. In Exploring the Patterns of The Tarot, Norma Cowie, writes, "The Page of Wands will show that the querent is too absorbed in his own ideas, and is not letting in other alternatives. Therefore it should be suggested that he widen his field of vision." So why is she caught up in her thoughts rather than acting on her inner fire?

Oddly, this card seems to harken back to the pages of the other three suits. There is spirituality in this image, but it’s different than the comfortable spirituality of the Page of Pentacles. The mental energy of this card is distinct from the finely honed intellect of the Page of Swords. And this page’s intuition is very different than the visionary nature of the Page of Cups. The Page of Wands seems to have a more complete and balanced character, sharing traits with the other suits.

Fire is her predominant trait. Learning to control fire was an important step for civilization, but fire can also annihilate. It is unpredictable, dangerous, and yet essential. Many parents seek to extinguish the fire of young girls. (Watch American parents; they let their boys run around screaming, spilling and breaking things, but if their girl even stands up, both shout in unison, "Sit down!")

I love the hints that Robin Wood included in her Pages; she intended them remind herself of the card's meaning. In this case, firecrackers are suspended from the girl's belt. She's a firecracker: clever and independent, speaking her mind. Her fire has not been extinguished. She is always prepared. Robin Wood commented, "I gave her long sleeves to remind me that this character frequently has something up them!"

In an earlier post, I wrote that the Page of Swords in the PTSD card. All the Wand courts trigger a PTSD response in me. I become very anxious when I see Wands in a reading. Who are these people and where will they direct their fire? Are they a danger to themselves or to others?

There may be a warning in the fact that the page's wand is larger than she is. She hasn't grown into her stick as The Fool and The Hermit have. If this page is about to journey, this walking stick, and perhaps the journey itself, is too big for her.

In my chart of MBTI and tarot court card correspondences, the Page of Wands is aligned with ENTP. Wikipedia describes this type as "inventive, enthusiastic, strategic, enterprising, inquisitive, versatile" and asserts that they "enjoy new ideas and challenges" and "value inspiration."

Nothing about the description of the ENTP personality contradicts my understanding of the Page of Wands, but can we really call this association a win?

I don't think this system of correspondences is meaningful to me; it doesn't do anything to improve my readings or provide more information for my clients. Tarot is one system and MBTI is another one-- and one I don't know well. These two systems were developed with different goals in mind and I do a disservice to one or both by trying to meld them together.

The Page of Cups

Several weeks ago, I created a diagram linking the sixteen court cards to the sixteen personalities of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I am now comparing what I know about each of the Pages to the Myers-Briggs types I've assigned to them.

The Page of Cups wears a painter's pallet hanging from her belt. She is dressed in a white tunic that is trimmed with a pattern of water lilies reminding me of eastern meditation. Like all the pages, her hair is long and luxuriant; this page wears a tiara of pearls. Her sandals are sturdy. In her right hand is a glowing, golden cup that has a silver mermaid on it. (There ought to be a word for metal-on-metal work. Perhaps there is?) A flying fish appears half out of the cup. The page's left hand is on her hip and she stands casually while watching the fish.

Sometimes this figure seems to be the same person as the figure on The Fool card of the Major Arcana.

The Page of Cups standing on a boardwalk above the ocean, and the sky behind her, according to artist Robin Wood, is upside down. "The gradient suggests the evening sky, but in reverse... it's far more ordinary for the pink to be at the bottom. So this person may stand your expectations on end."

Pages represent innocence and Cups represent joyful emotions. Receiving this card may indicate that a young person (or person who is young at heart) will enter the seeker's like, and that her trusting, sunny personality will renew the seeker's love of life. The person represented by this page is very different than anyone else and offers mental or spiritual stimulation that may lead others to express themselves artistically.

Robin Wood gave this page a crown of pearls "to show her affinity with the ocean." The ocean symbolizes so much: life itself, change, turbulence and calm, emotions, obstacles, the subconscious, depths, the unknown, the power and mystery of nature, something primal that existed before creation, and the feminine divine.  

Water represents intuition. Intuition is an essential characteristic for human beings, it helps us make good decisions, protects us from danger, and if cultivated, can make us supremely expressive artists. This adolescent is listening to her heart's intuition, allowing her inner voice to develop. 

Water symbolizes emotions. Remember, pages are young inexperienced; this card can represent emotional immaturity or being too absorbed in an emotional situation, caught up in it and loosing herself. It may also represent someone who is unable to express or even understand her emotions.

In the book, Tarot Wisdom, Rachel Pollack refers to the expression "still waters run deep,' in connection with the Page of Cups, but in most decks, the page is looking into a cup, not a great depth. When this card appears in romantic readings, I sometimes remind the Seeker that there are other sharks in the sea.

Water also symbolizes the subconscious. Rachel Pollack's meaning for the reversed Page of Pentacles is "troubled by things that come from the imagination or the subconscious."

The intuitive abilities of Wand court cards may be expressed in mysticism, while the intuitive abilities of the Cup court cards, may lead them to become psychics.

This card may represent a spiritual quest or an attempt to make things right, as in the period of introspection before the High Holy Days. Robin Wood gave the page a white tunic "to show her purity." The lilies at the hem of the tunic make me think of Hindu philosophies and meditation.

When this card represents a person, it may be a spiritual person, someone with "beginner's mind." I wish I remembered who taught me the following insightful interpretation of this card: the Page of Cups is not surprised or horrified by the fish in her cup; she is open to all new experiences because she has not expectation of what ought to be. 

The suit of cups often suggests that someone is being unrealistic or, more seriously, that someone is out of touch with reality. While the Page of Cups does seem dreamy, I don't feel she's as far gone into illusion or delusion as the Queen of Cups sometimes seems to be.

Occasionally, I get the impression that the page is studying her emotions intently. In some situation and with a wise therapist or guide, analyzing emotions might sometimes be a necessary exercise. However, generally, emotions should be felt and expressed in some way. Joanna Powell Colbert writes of this card, "She needs to embrace her emotions, dreams, and imagination, and let her heart be filled."

Water and cups can represent the womb. The development of a single embryo, parallels the evolution of its species. We were once sea creatures. So perhaps this card indicates the early stages of a pregnancy, a literal or a metaphorical fertilization.

There is a spectrum of meanings in each card; Sometime her cup will be Josef's cup of vision, and at other times, it may represent alcoholism. This card indicates absorption of some kind; the fish in her cup is her entire world at this moment. The Gaian image is sunnier; the child's gentle eyes gaze into the future and in her eyes, we can almost see the wise old woman she may become. 

In my chart of MBTI and tarot court card correspondences, the Page of Cups is aligned with ENFJ. Wikipedia describes this type as "caring, enthusiastic, idealistic, organized, diplomatic, responsible" and asserts that they are "skilled communicators who value connection with people."

Could this tarot image reflect the ENFJ type? Perhaps this child could grow into a skilled communicator, but I think this correspondence is a fail.

Page of Swords

I am continuing to compare the court cards, specifically the Pages, to the Myers-Briggs types. In this post, I will consider whether the Page of Swords is truly aligned with the ISTJ personality.

Robin Wood Tarot

Pages are a link between the Major Arcana and the Minor. They are portrayed as recipients of the divine gifts represented by the ace their suit. The Page of Swords already has a firm grasp of these gifts, intellect and communication.

In the Robin Wood deck, the Page of Swords runs into the wind, moving forward gracefully, almost soaring over the ground. Her shadow falls behind her, indicating that she is looking into the sun. She holds her sword aloft in both hands, as if to deliver it rather than wield it. Her long hair, loosely bound with yellow ribbons and white feathers, flows behind her. Her tunic is like that of the goddess Artemis, short enough not to impede her movements. The tunic is light blue with white clouds near the hem and yellow strip above the elbows. She wears blue slippers that reach to her ankles; their white cuffs suggest the wings of the god Mercury. Wind bends the grass beneath her, a slight smile dimples her cheek, and a telescope hangs from her white belt.

Traditionally, pages represent messengers. The wings of Mercury at her ankles and the way she carries the sword, as if delivering it to someone, reflect that interpretation. This page may also represent a spy; scouting out the land with her telescope.

The telescope hanging from her white belt may also indicate her vision, the ability to see great distances, into the future, or into the truth of a matter. Since, at the moment she is running into the sun her vision is hampered. Of all the pages, she seems most in need of a mentor. The right guide will recognize her gift of vision and help her develop it for positive ends.

Swords symbolize communication. Quite often the Page of Swords indicates someone who uses words to wound. Words can be a tool for good and they can be a weapon in a just cause, but this young Fool may enjoy using words to hurt others; his or her intellect is engaged in observing which words cut most deeply and where people are most vulnerable. The Page of Swords, as a spy, may also engage in spreading disinformation.

There may be unacknowledged anger in this figure. The Page of Swords does not have the emotional awareness of Cups or the grounding of Pentacles. A mentor could be an example to her that truly intelligent people are kind; their hearts and minds work together.

In this case, the communication aspect of the suit may suggest that this Page is "full of hot air." This adolescent is posing, trying on a persona. Despite the movement so clearly depicted in the image, I have the impressions that this figure is posing and I wonder how long she can maintain that pose.

In addition to intellect and communication, Swords can also represent idealism and justice. Will this page grow into the knight in shining armor represented by the Knight of Swords? This very bright page needs a guide and mentor to help her consider her thoughts and beliefs and to develop her potential into intellectual honesty and clarity.

Swords also symbolize clarity of thought. Robin Wood writes, “The sky all around is full of clouds, except for the area around the sword. This shows that the knowledge gained is clearing up the clouds of confusion, misdirection, and uncertainty… all the secrets are being revealed.”

The day is blustery, with clouds scudding across the sky and the dry grasses bending in the wind. This card may indicate a rush of mental activity without concrete achievement. The Page of Swords is reckless and impatient. Robin Wood’s title for this card has always stuck in my head: “Don’t run with scissors!” So this card may advise caution. Don't rush into action without learning more about the situation.

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

Although movement is vividly depicted in this card, I often find myself asking the figure, “How long can you hold this pose?” Pages are immature; they are an archetype of adolescence. Teenagers often try on different personas. This figure seems competent and full of confidence, but does this reflect reality? Real confidence comes from experience and, as yet, this young person has none. She doesn't have enough training or experience to use the sword responsibly, she hasn’t considered what causes are worth fighting for, she isn't aware of how much more she has to learn. She has chosen a persona before she knows who she is. She needs the intuition of the Wands and the self-reflection of the Cups. This page has selected a persona without first understanding who she really is.

I find it helpful to keep certain images from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck in mind when I read. In that deck, the image of the Page of Swords shows someone whose fears have grown into unnatural proportions and who is constantly looking over his shoulder. This card often appears for people who suffer from PTSD or other anxiety disorders.

In my chart of MBTI and tarot court card correspondences, the Page of Swords is aligned with ISTJ. Wikipedia describes this type as "responsible, sincere, analytical, reserved, realistic, systematic" and asserts that they are "hardworking and trustworthy with sound practical judgment."

Unfortunately, I have to call this correspondence a fail. The Page of Swords represents an adolescent who needs some qualities of the other three elements before she can use her intellect to good purpose and be trustworthy or practical.

The Page of Pentacles

Several weeks ago, I created a diagram linking the sixteen court cards to the sixteen personalities of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It's time to now compare what I know about the court cards to the Myers-Briggs types that I've assigned to them.

I'll begin, in this post, with my favorite court card, the Page of Pentacles.

Traditionally, the Pages are considered messengers, bringing news associated with their suit. So, for example, the Page of Cups might indicate a love letter, while the Page of Pentacles might suggest correspondence from your stock broker.

I view the pages as being like children or adolescents. Their lack of life experience may be expressed with optimism and openness or as immaturity and foolishness. The world is new to them and they are eager to explore it. The Pages are students or apprentices, who do not yet understand other people or themselves. They are learning how the world works because they are excited about the possibilities before them. (An older person who receives this card, may have begun trying to understand himself or herself.)

In the Robin Wood deck, the young page is standing under a tree in a verdant, hilly countryside; some areas have been cultivated, but most are wild. The Page's black hair is plaited into three, long braids. She wears a brown and green tunic, trimmed in many colors, and a wide belt. From the belt hangs a small, ornate book. She is dappled with shade and sunshine. She gently holds a glowing pentacle before herself and gazes at it with a smile.

The Page of Pentacles is gentle and kind hearted. She sees the wonder of the material world and treats it as a gift from the divine. She is in love with life. She may represent someone who counts her blessings and makes her blessings count. As a student, the Page of Pentacles is capable of concentrating for long periods of time. As a student of life, she is a quiet extrovert, who tries to truly get to know other people. The Page of Pentacles watches hoping to learn how the world works, she pays attention (in Hebrew, היא שמה לב, "she places her heart" on what she studies) and she reflects on her experiences. She is thoughtful-- meaning both that she is a thinker and that she is considerate of other people. If she is allowed to trust her instincts and insights, she will grown into a wise, spiritual person who creates a good life for herself and one that is of service or benefit to those around her.

There is a danger that the Page of Pentacles may forget the spiritual core of life, the pentacle in the coin, and become focused on physical objects and pleasures without awareness of the miracle of creation and its deeper meaning. If this happens, she may also become distant from other people, unwilling to connect and interact in meaningful ways.

This card occasionally appears for people who have low self-esteem and have not learned to value themselves. These are people who, from an early age, were bullied and squashed by caregivers and prevented from embracing life. People may take advantage of their diligence and reliability. To increase their self esteem and to learn to look out for themselves, these people should try to view the world around them as if seeing it for the first time, to connect to it through appreciation, and then begin to care for themselves with the same gentleness and awareness with which they've begun to approach the outer world.

The creator of the Robin Wood Tarot used colors and symbols in this card that she thought reflected the earth, the feminine divine, and the archetypes of Maiden-Mother-Crone. She writes that the Page of Pentacles "has learned to delay her gratification; to work to get the things she wants or knows she needs."

The Page of Pentacles is earthy. Because both pages and pentacles are associated with earth in occult thought, a name for this card is "Secret Place of Growth." I've never been certain what that phrase means, but it seems a suitable title for the Gaian Tarot's version of the Page of Pentacles.

The Gaian's Child of Earth, is a little spooky. The card shows a child not yet grown into normal human proportions, standing in the mist near a cultivated orchard and a wild forest, while examining with strange intensity an apple in his hands. Next to him is an unusually large rabbit (from Wonderland, perhaps) who gazes at us with a very human expression of openness and curiosity.

The deck's creator, Joanna Powell Colbert, shares this affirmation for the card:

I find my center when I connect to 

my body and the natural world. 

Despite the magical scene, Joanna describes the card's significance in pragmatic terms. "The Child of Earth is fascinated by the natural world... Perhaps he's decided to grow his own food. He may be concerned with health issues and is starting a new way of eating or a new exercise program. Or he may be learning how to take care of his... resources responsibly."

In my chart of MBTI-Court correspondences, the Page of Pentacles is aligned with ESTP. Wikipedia describes this type as "outgoing, realistic, action oriented, curious, versatile, spontaneous" and asserts that they are "pragmatic problem solvers and skillful negotiators."

That's a description of an adult, but I think the Page of Pentacles has the seeds of those traits and could develop them. So, with some surprise, I will call the first of these sixteen correspondences successful!

Myers-Briggs Type Indicators and the Court Cards

Tarot court cards, sometimes known as "people cards," can represent situations, current attitudes, attitudes one should develop, or actions to take. They can also point to actual people, revealing a particular aspect of a person's character. 

In this series, I am focusing the court cards as representations of actual people. I want to emphasize that I don't believe in "typecasting." You cannot truly know someone without giving time and attention to get to know them. The MBTI can help us understand some ways we approach life and interact with others and tarot cards can point to certain characteristics or talents. However, we must be truly be present to one another. As my revered spiritual teacher says, "When we look into each other's eyes, let us remember that we are looking into the eyes of God."

To better understand the personalities of the court cards, I turned to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Like the tarot court cards, the MBTI categories do not describe a person entirely, but outline "differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions."

I have a fondness for tidy, organized systems that purport to explain things comprehensively. This inclination of many tarot students explains why Kabbalah, astrology, runes, and other systems have been grafted onto tarot, with varying degrees of practical success.

Similarly, I turned to the MBTI, a system in which I'm not fully conversant with and noticed a superficial similarity to the tarot court: there are 16 Myers-Briggs personality types and 16 court cards.

However, the vast difference between the two systems quickly became apparent. Despite this, I persevered and came up with a set of correspondences for testing.

The first difficulty was that tarot court cards have two characteristics (rank and suit), while the Myers-Briggs personality types have four pairs of characteristics. The MBTI pairs of characteristics are:

Attitudes: Extraversion (E) / Introversion (I)
Information-gathering functions: Sensing (S) / iNtuiting (N)
Decision-making functions: Thinking (T) / Feeling (F)
Lifestyles: Judging (J) / Perceiving (P)

(Judging relies mostly on the info gathering function, S or N, and Perceiving relies mostly on the decision making function T or F.)

The permutations of those 4 sets of characteristics results in sixteen psychological types, each designated by four letters.

One organized method of arranging all sixteen types is shown in the image below. The SJs are in the top left quadrant. Moving clockwise around the circle, the NJs are next, then the SPs and the NPs.

(Note: David Kiersey divided the sixteen pairs  differently than Isabel Briggs Myers had. In Kiersey's system, two sets are SJs and SPs, based on the second and fourth letters, and the other two sets are NFs and NTs, based on the second and third letters).

In attempting to assign court cards to the sixteen types, I decided to rely on the information-gathering function and the decision-making function to narrow down the possible suits associated with each type.

Here's how I assigned the tarot suits to the MBTI functions:

Sensing = Pentacles
iNtuiting = Wands
Thinking = Swords
Feeling = Cups

Thus, a type that includes both Sensing and Feeling could be represented by a Pentacle or by a Cup. While a type that includes both Sensing and Thinking could be represented by a Pentacle or a Sword. 

Attitudes (E/I) and Lifestyles (J/P) can correspond to any suit or rank, as shown in the chart below. Dividing the sixteen types into four categories, I assigned one card of each rank to that categoryand ensured that each group includes three of the four suits.

Although I did not understand why Kiersey divided the sixteen types as he did, I decided to keep his system in mind, and made sure that each of his four categories also contain one card of each rank. (As a result, his NF and NT categories contain only two suits each.)

Sensing-Judging Cards: 

ESFJ, ISFJ, ESTJ, ISTJ

E S F J (Caregiver) King of Cups 
I S F J (Nurturer) Queen of Pentacles 
E S T J (Guardian) Knight of Pentacles  
I S T J (Duty-fulfiller) Page of Swords 

Kiersey labelled the SJs melancholic or depressive. 

iNtuitive-Judging Cards:

ENFJ, INFJ, ENTJ, INTJ

E N F J (Giver) Page of Cups  
I N F J (Protector) King of Wands
E N T J (Executive) Knight of Wands  
I N T J (Scientist) Queen of Swords

In occult literature, kings are associated with the element of fire and thus to intuition. In my system of correspondences, only the King of Wands is aligned with an iNtuitive function.

The first two types in this group belong to Keirsey's NT category, which he labelled insensitive. The second two belong to his NF category, which he labelled over-sensitive. Taking his system into consideration affected which cards I assigned to the NJ and the NP cards.

Sensing-Perceiving Cards:

ESFP, ISFP, ESTP, ISTP

E S F P (Performer) Queen of Cups 
I S F P (Artist) King of Pentacles  
E S T P (Doer) Page of Pentacles  
I S T P (Mechanic) Knight of Swords

Occult literature associates Pages with the element of earth (sensing), Knights with the element of air (thinking), and Queens with the element of water (feeling). In my system, only the Page of Pentacles, the Knight of Swords, and the Queen of Cups are aligned with their proper function.

Kiersey labelled the SPs hypomanic, excitable.
 
iNtuitive Perceiver Cards:

ENFP, INFP, ENTP, INTP

E N F P (Inspirer) Knight of Cups
I N F P (Idealist) Queen of Wands 
E N T P (Visionary) Page of Wands  
I N T P (Thinker) King of Swords  

The first two types belong to Keirey's NF category, which he labelled over-sensitive. The second two belong to his NT category, insensitive.

*       *       *       *

This method of analysis, connecting tarot with another system, may not be the most fruitful use of tarot, which is, most importantly, a visual tool for harnessing intuition and exploring experiences. However, this was a fun puzzle. I haven't achieved a reliable, scientific chart or even a set of poetic correspondences to stimulate my imagination, but it was an enjoyable mental exercise.

There were several cards that I hoped would align with particular personality types: Page of Pentacles with the ISFJ type, King of Wands with the Counsellor (INFJ), and a few others. Less than half the time, I got what I wanted.

 Fully exploring these assignments will require more time studying the Myers-Briggs categories with the court cards in mind. I wonder if studying the MBTI lead to new insights into the cards.

EDIT: You can read about my conclusions about using these two systems in tandem at the end of my Page of Wands post.