Feet?

psychic sue said:

I have been pondering the queen of cups crossed legs. Maybe it is just to show that she has one foot in the water - which if you look closeley merges with her dress, signifiying that she has combined her intuition and sensitivity with the real world.

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I'm still thinking about this. Yes I can see what you mean about one foot in the water etc rather like the Star or Temperance.

But look at the opposite Queen, the Queen of Wands with her legs very wide apart. Even the Empresses' legs meet at the ankles.

I'm wondering if she's so cut off and inwardly looking at her emotions that she can forget the physical and is blocking it out in an almost defensive posture. It almost looks as though her ankles are bound, she could be a mermaid...there is a symbol at the base of her throne that looks like a fish - I wonder if this is relating her to the Atargatis myths and ichthys. Her hair looks like corn - relating her to maybe a corn goddess such as Atargatis or indeed, The Great Mother. Those pebbles surrounding her are like scales...

Hi C,

I loved the mermaid analogy, and I agree that her hair does indeed look like corn.

As to her stance, I always thought that the legs apart posture symbolises not only her sexual energy, but that fact that she is an open book, not hiding anything.

Howver, don't you think that when you are doing a reading, the cards messages change according to the question and the querant?

For example, in one reading it may be introspectiveness you pick up on, where in another reading it may be openness? I don't mean just the alternative meanings of the cards, I mean that sometimes a completely opposite meaning from the traditional one pops into your head? I find this all the time, and the querant usually confirms the accuracy of what I have said.

I dont think I explained that very clearly, but I hope you get the gist of what I mean. Has this ever happened to you?

psychic sue said:

Hi C,

I loved the mermaid analogy, and I agree that her hair does indeed look like corn.

As to her stance, I always thought that the legs apart posture symbolises not only her sexual energy, but that fact that she is an open book, not hiding anything.

Howver, don't you think that when you are doing a reading, the cards messages change according to the question and the querant?

For example, in one reading it may be introspectiveness you pick up on, where in another reading it may be openness? I don't mean just the alternative meanings of the cards, I mean that sometimes a completely opposite meaning from the traditional one pops into your head? I find this all the time, and the querant usually confirms the accuracy of what I have said.

I dont think I explained that very clearly, but I hope you get the gist of what I mean. Has this ever happened to you?

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No, you explained it clearly, I totally understand what you mean about her having different meanings or attributes according to the client. I was thinking that the Empresses legs form the symbol for water, relating her to this queen.

It could literally mean 'cross' couldn't it? A bit grumpy or temperamental. The crossed ankles I mean, also if you notice her arms they are almost touching at the wrists, emulating her legs. As though she is bound by her emotions...

caridwen said:

No, you explained it clearly, I totally understand what you mean about her having different meanings or attributes according to the client. I was thinking that the Empresses legs form the symbol for water, relating her to this queen.

It could literally mean 'cross' couldn't it? A bit grumpy or temperamental. The crossed ankles I mean, also if you notice her arms they are almost touching at the wrists, emulating her legs. As though she is bound by her emotions...

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Yes, I can see the connection to the Empress. Going back to your thoughts on the hair looking like corn, the Empress sits in a field of corn, symbolsing that she reigns over nature. Another connection to Queen of cups?

Grumpiness? Well, many artists are troubled souls aren't they?

As for being bound by emotions, I would consider this interpretation if the queen was reversed in a reading. Reversed Q of C usually means somone who's creative impulses are out of control and who acts with selfish motives and cannot be trusted - bound by her own obsessions? What do you think?

psychic sue said:

Yes, I can see the connection to the Empress. Going back to your thoughts on the hair looking like corn, the Empress sits in a field of corn, symbolsing that she reigns over nature. Another connection to Queen of cups?

Grumpiness? Well, many artists are troubled souls aren't they?

As for being bound by emotions, I would consider this interpretation if the queen was reversed in a reading. Reversed Q of C usually means somone who's creative impulses are out of control and who acts with selfish motives and cannot be trusted - bound by her own obsessions? What do you think?

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Yes! The Empress does have corn, harvesting, fertility, nature. Good one. I don't read reversals but interpret cards negatively depending on the other cards.

However, being a crabby cancerian as I am - one isn't necessarily selfish or untrustworthy if bound by their emotions...are they? (she squeaks)

caridwen said:

Yes! The Empress does have corn, harvesting, fertility, nature. Good one. I don't read reversals but interpret cards negatively depending on the other cards.

However, being a crabby cancerian as I am - one isn't necessarily selfish or untrustworthy if bound by their emotions...are they? (she squeaks)

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That was a bit of a sweeping statement that I made! I suppose I meant it as a symbol of self interest - turning ones emotions in on oneself.

By the way, I am a pisces with cancer rising, so I am doubly moody, unfortunately for those I live with!

Hey C,

I have just been reading another thread, and someone posted that you shouldn't cross your legs when giving a reading, as it blocks the flow of energy. So looks like you were thinking on the right lines.

I found an interesting observation on the corn in The Empress with the goddess Ceres.

Ceres was a Roman goddess she is also known as Demeter for the Greeks. She inhabits the transition between life and death because she represented a seasonal transformation in the agricultural cycle. She was the goddess of agriculture, grain, and the love a mother bears for her child. She was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, the sister of Jupiter, and the mother of Proserpine (as Demeter).

She was beloved for her service to mankind in giving them the gift of the harvest, the reward for cultivation of the soil. Ceres was the goddess of the harvest and was credited with teaching humans how to grow, preserve, and prepare grain and corn. She was thought to be responsible for the fertility of the land.

I'm wondering if the Queen of Cups, with her hair like corn, is somehow related to her.

Ceres (where the term cereal comes from) is very much The Empress rather than the Queen of Cups as you said.

The only think I can tell you about feet was hinted at earlier. The red shows (like in the 2 of Cups) is said to mean someone who gets around a little bit sexually. That sounds like a bad thing but all I mean is that they are passionate and perhaps the lady in the 2 of Cups in her white is hiding a more liberated past. I haven't looked at the other meanings though sorry.

I think there is a bit of Ceres in both cards.

As the Queen of Cups rules the emotions, then she must be linked to sex? (for a woman anway tee hee)