The Queens

Like so many Tarot beginners (and experts, I suppose), I *still* have trouble with the Court cards. Especially the Queens. I'm always stumped about how to interpret the Queens when they appear -- particularly the Q of Cups & the Q of Wands. How do people generally read/interpret these two?? What kinds of energy do these two Queens bring when they show up in your readings?

Ditto on this. I have a hard time with queens. I explained in the thread about hating knight cards how I view the court cards as steps I a process but I'll be interested and grateful to hear what folks have to say here.

I hate courts so much sometimes, one day I can get there meaning straight away, then other days I can just stare and stare and get nothing.

With the Queens I find them easier than reading kings.

With the Queen of Cups I see her as the healing energy and self love vibration, she comes when we need some compassion and tender loving care, she's the nurse, healer and friend who shows compassion.
When Rx she's the energy of being to self serving to others putting others before her own needs, being too emotionally involved to see the real truth.

With the Queen of Wands I see her as being feisty and energetic (my best friend embodies the Queen of Wands energy, she's hyper and can talk the hind legs of a donkey and fierce when she's angry)
When RX Queen of Wands comes up I see the energy as needing to put some passion and action into what the reading is about, a time for action.
When Rx she's the vengeful type, talks behind your back, would steal you man just because she can, depending on the question it can be a need be more pro active and passionate.

With the Queen of Swords (which is my personality/signifier card) she's distant emotionally but has a softer side that only those close to her see, she can be strict and hard sometimes, her energy is a battle fought and won through lessons learned through life.
When Rx the energy is one of her being too cutting to the point of being hurtful without even realising it and being too unconnected to her own emotions to the point of blocking emotions that need to be work through to be able to achieve a healthy emotional balance in life.

With the Queen of pentacles she's the practical one, she has the energy of common sense and connecting to mother nature, she's the friend who will tell you that it's not a good idea to take out that loan with sky high interest and try to help find a more practical solution to any financial problems, she's the one who goes the long haul with you and guides you to look at your more sensible side of yourself.
With Rx Queen of pentacles the energy can be that your being to nutring to others and forgetting to engage in the more passionate and spiritual side to you nature.

With all the Queens we need to have a little bit of each Queen energy in us so we can be emotional, passionate, intellectual and nurturing to ourselves and the people close to us.

So this is my basically my own version of how I see and view Queens energies.

Thank you for posting your thoughts; very helpful! The way you described the Q of Pentacles reaffirmed to me that she is my signifier, haha. The Q of Cups is so hard to read because I always zoom in on her intense gaze and how she's holding that cup... in her gaze she seems to embody the energy of someone who is extremely focused and razor-sharp maybe even a bit stern (at least to me). But traditionally she's supposed to be highly sensitive and very in touch with her emotions and kind of a nurturer, so I have trouble putting together her traditional meaning with what the card's image conjures up for me.
How do you guys read the symbolism in the card (RWS)? (I'm thinking maybe this is one of those times where looking at the same card across decks would be helpful, to get a sense of how the Q of Cups is represented by other artists.)

oceana15 said:

Thank you for posting your thoughts; very helpful! The way you described the Q of Pentacles reaffirmed to me that she is my signifier, haha. The Q of Cups is so hard to read because I always zoom in on her intense gaze and how she's holding that cup... in her gaze she seems to embody the energy of someone who is extremely focused and razor-sharp maybe even a bit stern (at least to me). But traditionally she's supposed to be highly sensitive and very in touch with her emotions and kind of a nurturer, so I have trouble putting together her traditional meaning with what the card's image conjures up for me.
How do you guys read the symbolism in the card (RWS)? (I'm thinking maybe this is one of those times where looking at the same card across decks would be helpful, to get a sense of how the Q of Cups is represented by other artists.)

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If your intuition tells you something different than the traditional meaning then go with your intuition, the meanings of cards are a basis for us to understand them then through time we pick our own associations for them, doing comparative reading is a great learning tool it can help a great deal on getting a different perspective on your card, the RWS deck I have is the original Rider Waite which is so different from the RWS image that I have in my tarot Bible book.

With my crystal Visions Queen of Cups and shadowscapes Queen if Cups she isn't holding any cup so they might be good cards to have a look at, I haven't updated my subscription so I can't post any images of the Queens, but you can look them up online if you don't have the decks.

Queens make things happen

When it comes to the courts, it sometimes helps to think of a real court. King = the person who comes up with the ideas, and gives orders "Let's do this." The director of the movie, the motivator, as it were. Knights spread the King's commands far and wide. They are his voice, ready to argue/battle for their kingdom. Pages, trusted only with carrying quick messages, are students, learning all there is to know about their suit.

Can you see who's missing? That key part? Where is the person who takes the King's ideas and makes them real? The one to hire the architect and get the materials to build the palace the King is envisioning; the person who arranges for a set, film, actors and food services so the director can make his movie? Behold, the Queen. Mom to the King's dad if you like. "You want us to go camping, dear? What a grand idea...we'll need a tent, food, insect repellant..."

Putting it another way, if the King is the captain of the ship saying "We go here," the Queen is the one steering the ship. Once a Queen knows where the ship is going, she'll know, intuitively, how to get there. And, like water heading from mountain top to the ocean, she won't stop till she get's her ship there.

Thirteen said:

Can you see who's missing? That key part? Where is the person who takes the King's ideas and makes them real? The one to hire the architect and get the materials to build the palace the King is envisioning; the person who arranges for a set, film, actors and food services so the director can make his movie? Behold, the Queen. Mom to the King's dad if you like. "You want us to go camping, dear? What a grand idea...we'll need a tent, food, insect repellant..."

Putting it another way, if the King is the captain of the ship saying "We go here," the Queen is the one steering the ship. Once a Queen knows where the ship is going, she'll know, intuitively, how to get there. And, like water heading from mountain top to the ocean, she won't stop till she get's her ship there.

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Ah, yes, I really like this! What a great, concrete way of putting it. But does this mean Queens have no ideas of their own? Or can they also envision/create, in addition to being facilitators for the Court "family"?

If she could envision/create, what need would there be for a King?

oceana15 said:

Ah, yes, I really like this! What a great, concrete way of putting it. But does this mean Queens have no ideas of their own? Or can they also envision/create, in addition to being facilitators for the Court "family"?

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You have to be careful not to take tarot cards too personally. We often see a card we like and when we hear what it's about, we think, "But I do this and this and this, also! Can't this card I identify with stand for all that too?" Well, no, it can't, because the card isn't a person. The card is an aspect of a person. After all, if you give a Queen card both the power to envision and create, what need is there for a King card?

This is especially true of Court Cards. That King/Queen/Knight/Page stand for who you are (or who the person you are reading for is) at that time/in that situation. Not forever and for always. Of course, some people *are* idea people; great at having ideas but terrible at figuring out ways to realize them. And some people *are* great at making ideas real, but no good at having ideas. Most of us, however, are sometimes one, or sometimes the other, depending on the day or the situation. I know that there are times when I'm full of ideas. And other times when I can't think of one. And there are situations where I'm great at getting things done (make dinner? in a pinch!). And there are others where I can't imagine how to do it (sew together a dress? Um...).

Though we might pick a single court card as a signifier--making it easy to identify ourselves when it pops up in a spread--we are not a single court card. We are many court cards. And any court card given the time of day or the situation. Kings, Queens, Knights and Pages. They're there to tell us what we are at that moment. Not all we all.

I see the Kings as people in a position of authority. A boss, a counselor, a teacher. Knights are messengers bringing messages, Pages are students--asking questions or sending messages. And Queens are your peers. Friends, relatives, etc. People like yourself.

Queen of cups then is someone, maybe a friend talking to you about love perhaps or issues of emotions. Queen of Wands may talk of business or be a co-worker giving you advice.

I see it as Queen=peer and wands=business or cups=love and emotions so
Queen of cups=friends advising you or talking about love and relationships.

Barb

Thirteen said:

You have to be careful not to take tarot cards too personally. We often see a card we like and when we hear what it's about, we think, "But I do this and this and this, also! Can't this card I identify with stand for all that too?" Well, no, it can't, because the card isn't a person. The card is an aspect of a person. After all, if you give a Queen card both the power to envision and create, what need is there for a King card?

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Yeah, that's exactly what I was doing -- taking it personally! haha. I keep forgetting each Court card is meant to represent only a specific trait or aspect, rather than a whole person. Thanks for clarifying!