Renaissance Tarot - Jones / Lyle - Queen of Wands

Sulis

Well I thought that I'd take a look at the last of the Wands Court cards then maybe do a thread comparing the 4.

The keywords I tend to use for Queens are 'understanding, reflective, nurturing and balanced'
I think that in all of the suits, the queen is the most balanced of the courts. She has a deep understanding of her element and uses that understanding and knowledge wisely for both herself and for others.

Here we have the Wand Queen.
As usual with the Wands suit, she's pictured against a burnt orange background (fiery and hot).
Behind her are sunflowers - again making me think of heat and summer. Sunflowers are also happy looking flowers which grow to a great height and so are strong and stand out from the crowd.

This lady holds her wand in her right (active) hand and her breast in her left hand.
She is looking closely at her want and I think that this reflects her ambitious and goal oriented nature.
I think that the hand cupping her breast is a very sexual gesture and makes me think that this is a lady who is confident and completely in tune with her sexual nature. She's a sexy woman and she knows it... Maybe this scares some men off - I'm sure it attracts plenty though.

She's pictured with a dragon who's tail turns into a flame.
Dragons are mythological creatures who are brave and daring and are closely associated with the fire element (due to them being able to breathe the stuff).
The little white book says this:
'Legends involving the slaying of dragons describe the triumph of the conscious mind over unconscious fears and behaviour patterns'
I like that and I think that it shows well the personality of this queen.
 

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Papageno

I don't get this card often but when it does pop up, it's an aspect of the Empress.

my gut reaction to this new thread screamed "Medea".....a woman who wielded the power of Sword and Cup with great agility.....but the driving force behind it all was that of Wands.
 

Enchanted

Sulis said:
Well I thought that I'd take a look at the last of the Wands Court cards then maybe do a thread comparing the 4.
Great idea! :) I've noticed if you lay them out King-Page and then Page-King they do appear to interact with one another quite differently. The whole body language from their postures changes things up quite interestingly!
Sulis said:
Behind her are sunflowers - again making me think of heat and summer. Sunflowers are also happy looking flowers which grow to a great height and so are strong and stand out from the crowd.
I like that, "strong and standing out from the crowd". I like sunflowers but only when there is a whole lot of them, otherwise they just look a bit out of place and standing alone.

From the hand on her breast, I didn't really get sexuality, although I can perfectly see how that would apply to this Queen. She is alluring! I feel a slight sense of disappointment that there is no cat, or member of the cat family, as this is for me is a definite link to her feminine wiles.

I have taken the hand on her breast, more as a "hand on your heart", it is her left breast she holds. I take this to stand for the steadfast loyalty of this Queen. She represents loyalty with such a fierceness that will protect those in her circle, until the end. A formidable friend, but also a formidable foe, if you betray her.

Whenever she has appeared to me in my own readings, she speaks of confidence, (or lack there of) an inner kind of assurance, an utmost faith in yourself and your abilities. She certainly possesses these qualities, but it comes from somewhere deep within, and not an outer sense of showiness that you might find from a King. Which is perhaps what makes her more formidable IMO, there is no outer showiness, she just oozes this from her pores.

Astrologically, I should relate to this Queen, but I don't. Which kind of disappointments me on the whole astrological associations and makes me question if they really fit. But for one day I'd like to feel that kind of confidence! I think it would be real nice! :)
 

Papageno

Enchanted said:
Great idea! :)
I like that, "strong and standing out from the crowd".

From the hand on her breast, I didn't really get sexuality, although I can perfectly see how that would apply to this Queen. She is alluring!

I have taken the hand on her breast, more as a "hand on your heart", it is her left breast she holds. I take this to stand for the steadfast loyalty of this Queen. She represents loyalty with such a fierceness that will protect those in her circle, until the end. A formidable friend, but also a formidable foe, if you betray her.

I don't see the clasped breast as overt sexuality per se, instead, I get the sense that she definitely understands her worth and will not offer the gift of pleasure and power to just anybody.

yes a formidable individual, a fiercely loyal friend and dangerous if betrayed.

this is Medea......she was the daughter of King Aeëtes, son of Helios the Sun God. When she learns of Jason's betrayal, she not only murders her own children (by him) but gifts a Golden robe (to Jason's intended bride) an heirloom of Helios, which she has poisoned.
When the bride dons the robes she is consumed by the power of flame and reduced to ashes....whereupon, Medea flees in the chariot of Helios drawn by dragons.

This is a snippet taken from the play illustrating the pain of betrayal she has suffered which leads to the murder of her children:

"In vain, my children, have I brought you up,
Borne all the cares and pangs of motherhood,
And the sharp pains of childbirth undergone.
In you, alas, was treasured many a hope
Of loving sustentation in my age,
Of tender laying out when I was dead,
Such as all men might envy."


when she reveals all to Jason her parting words to him are:

"I do not leave my children's bodies with thee; I take them with me that I may bury them in Hera's precinct. And for thee, who didst me all that evil, I prophesy an evil doom."

the story of Medea is also in a sense, a subtext of the principles of universal Womanhood embodied in Hera/Empress.

Enchanted said:
Whenever she has appeared to me in my own readings, she speaks of confidence, (or lack there of) an inner kind of assurance, an utmost faith in yourself and your abilities. She certainly possesses these qualities, but it comes from somewhere deep within, and not an outer sense of showiness that you might find from a King. Which is perhaps what makes her more formidable IMO, there is no outer showiness, she just oozes this from her pores.

indeed, she is deep and resourceful and the comment about not being showy suggests another parallel to the Golden Fleece story in that I can see Jason as Knight/Cups aided by the Queen/Wands.......she being the power-behind-the-throne so to speak.....Jason, with her help, secures the Fleece but it is ultimately a hollow victory.
 

Sulis

I like your comments about her hand cupping her breast Enchanted and Papageno and I can really see what you mean when you say;
Papageno said:
yes a formidable individual, a fiercely loyal friend and dangerous if betrayed.

Enchanted I get this queen a lot when I need to be reminded to be confident and to have faith in my abilities... I see her as one very confident lady.
She's ambitious too (as are all the Wand courts) and is very goal oriented - she grows sunflowers in a desert (well no desert here but it sure does look hot:))... You have to be focused and sure that you can do it to be able to do that.

Papageno, I love the way you've connected her with Medea, that would make her a formidable sorceress.
I usually associate the Wand Queen with someone who is intuitive and in tune with her own powers, mainly because of the cat that usually appears with her.
I miss the cat too :)
 

Papageno

Sulis said:
I love the way you've connected her with Medea, that would make her a formidable sorceress.

:shhh:

now you worry me

(just don't get any strange ideas when planning your Fall wardrobe }))

don't want to have to follow you around with a fire extinguisher

LOL ;)
 

Enchanted

Perhaps of interest... the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and the quest for the Golden Fleece runs through the 'Mythic Tarot' suit of Wands. Although neither Jason or Medea appear in the courts.
Sulis said:
Papageno, I love the way you've connected her with Medea, that would make her a formidable sorceress.
I usually associate the Wand Queen with someone who is intuitive and in tune with her own powers, mainly because of the cat that usually appears with her.
In the 'Mythic' the Queen of Wands is Penelope, while not a sorceress. You can't help but think that she is very intuitive and had complete faith and belief that her husband Odysseus would one day return to her. And in that she also demonstates the loyalty and heart of this Queen.