juliecucciawatts
Queen of Wands
Full moon in Virgo ( Real Sky Astrology full moon March 27, 2013)
The image of the Queen of Wands is Neferure meaning “The Beauty of Ra” daughter of two pharaohs Thutmoses II and Hatshepsut. She was given the highest female stations within the court her titles include Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mistress of the Lands, and God's Wife, this was the normal role of a royal princess to the pharaoh prior to Thutmosis IV. As her mother Hatshepsut acquired the role of pharaoh Neferure took on duties her mother had as queen in ceremonies and rites. Many wall carvings and paintings of Neferure in the Red Chapel at the Karnak Temple show her functioning in these roles. All of the religious and ceremonial duties illustrated on the walls of the Red Chapel that were performed by Neferure would be fulfilled by the royal queen in later generations. Hatshepsut played a strong role in the administration of Thutmosis I she also held these titles for her father while still a princess. Scholars today look back at this as if it seems unusual but perhaps it was not so unusual at the time and only seems unusual in hindsight because of misogynist changes within the Egyptian laws that were instated after their reign. This early 18th dynasty period seemed to be very egalitarian perhaps even showing higher favor toward royal born women. Since until the reign of Thutmoses III unless you were born of a royal queen or married a royal you were not allowed to be pharaoh.
We know that Neferure’s gender did not inhibit her from being given the best education of her day guided by Hatshepsut's most trusted viziers starting with Ahmose Pen-Nekhebet, who had served under several of the earlier pharaohs and was highly regarded, then by Senemut who was believed the architect of her mother’s mortuary temple and finally by an administrator named Senimen.
Neferure had a half brother; Thutmose III born to a secondary wife only a marriage between Neferure and her half-brother assured his place in the royal succession. In later generations after the changes in laws he would have unquestionably succeeded as the only male heir. It seems that something occurred during this generation that instituted a new gender bias.
No record has been found recording Neferure’s marriage to Thutmoses III, however, there are some authors who believe that Neferure was still alive in the first few years of Thutmose III's rule as pharaoh, and that his eldest son, Amenemhat, was her child. On two depictions the name, Satiah, is recorded as the wife of Thutmoses III, and seems to have replaced that of Neferure. Neferure is found in several places, among them in her mother's Mortuary Temple at Deir el-Bahri, on several statues with Senemut, on stelae in Karnak, and in the Sinai.
The cat found in most images of the Queen of Wands may be a reference to the goddess Bast (Bastet, Ubasti): Egyptian cat goddess of joy and dancing, of the home and of the domestic cat, twin sister of Horus. She sometimes took on the war-like aspect of a lioness as Sekhemet daughter of the sun god Re and was associated with the 'eye of Re', acting as the instrument of the sun god's vengeance. As Sekhemet she is the wife of Ptah (god of craftsman and the primordial mound) and mother of Nefertum (god of healing and beauty). As Bastet her cult was centered on her sanctuary at Bubastis in the delta region. She was depicted as a cat or in human form with the head of a cat, often holding the sacred rattle known as the sistrum.
Card meaning: The Queen of Wands shows us that all magic begins in the mind. Once you can imagine the way something will go it is easier to see it though. The Queen of Wands will show you where your hidden talents are as she is able to walk between the worlds of what is and what could be. She has the ability to start from scratch and create something beautiful with very little resources. She may hold the key to the hidden creative places in your mind. She is the keeper of lost secrets.
Full moon in Virgo ( Real Sky Astrology full moon March 27, 2013)
The image of the Queen of Wands is Neferure meaning “The Beauty of Ra” daughter of two pharaohs Thutmoses II and Hatshepsut. She was given the highest female stations within the court her titles include Lady of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mistress of the Lands, and God's Wife, this was the normal role of a royal princess to the pharaoh prior to Thutmosis IV. As her mother Hatshepsut acquired the role of pharaoh Neferure took on duties her mother had as queen in ceremonies and rites. Many wall carvings and paintings of Neferure in the Red Chapel at the Karnak Temple show her functioning in these roles. All of the religious and ceremonial duties illustrated on the walls of the Red Chapel that were performed by Neferure would be fulfilled by the royal queen in later generations. Hatshepsut played a strong role in the administration of Thutmosis I she also held these titles for her father while still a princess. Scholars today look back at this as if it seems unusual but perhaps it was not so unusual at the time and only seems unusual in hindsight because of misogynist changes within the Egyptian laws that were instated after their reign. This early 18th dynasty period seemed to be very egalitarian perhaps even showing higher favor toward royal born women. Since until the reign of Thutmoses III unless you were born of a royal queen or married a royal you were not allowed to be pharaoh.
We know that Neferure’s gender did not inhibit her from being given the best education of her day guided by Hatshepsut's most trusted viziers starting with Ahmose Pen-Nekhebet, who had served under several of the earlier pharaohs and was highly regarded, then by Senemut who was believed the architect of her mother’s mortuary temple and finally by an administrator named Senimen.
Neferure had a half brother; Thutmose III born to a secondary wife only a marriage between Neferure and her half-brother assured his place in the royal succession. In later generations after the changes in laws he would have unquestionably succeeded as the only male heir. It seems that something occurred during this generation that instituted a new gender bias.
No record has been found recording Neferure’s marriage to Thutmoses III, however, there are some authors who believe that Neferure was still alive in the first few years of Thutmose III's rule as pharaoh, and that his eldest son, Amenemhat, was her child. On two depictions the name, Satiah, is recorded as the wife of Thutmoses III, and seems to have replaced that of Neferure. Neferure is found in several places, among them in her mother's Mortuary Temple at Deir el-Bahri, on several statues with Senemut, on stelae in Karnak, and in the Sinai.
The cat found in most images of the Queen of Wands may be a reference to the goddess Bast (Bastet, Ubasti): Egyptian cat goddess of joy and dancing, of the home and of the domestic cat, twin sister of Horus. She sometimes took on the war-like aspect of a lioness as Sekhemet daughter of the sun god Re and was associated with the 'eye of Re', acting as the instrument of the sun god's vengeance. As Sekhemet she is the wife of Ptah (god of craftsman and the primordial mound) and mother of Nefertum (god of healing and beauty). As Bastet her cult was centered on her sanctuary at Bubastis in the delta region. She was depicted as a cat or in human form with the head of a cat, often holding the sacred rattle known as the sistrum.
Card meaning: The Queen of Wands shows us that all magic begins in the mind. Once you can imagine the way something will go it is easier to see it though. The Queen of Wands will show you where your hidden talents are as she is able to walk between the worlds of what is and what could be. She has the ability to start from scratch and create something beautiful with very little resources. She may hold the key to the hidden creative places in your mind. She is the keeper of lost secrets.
