[CelticGirl]

I have had this card come up twice in some of my readings I have done for myself lately so I thought that I would start a thread on this card. And also because I have such hard times with court cards.

In this card I see so many aspects that we just brought up with the Devil card. The Queen has many butterflies on her dress and she is standing next to a rose bush. The sun is peaking out behind dark clouds that seem to be moving away revealing clear skies. Another part of her dress has clouds and birds on it with looks a lot like the sky around her. The wind seems to be blowing hard, which is probably due to the fact that the Swords are Air cards. Oh...which just made me realize that that is probably why she has the butterflies and clouds on her dress....because she is associated with Air. hah.

Looking at her face and her stance she seems to be a strong willed woman. She would probably run out to battle if need be. She seems like she is a caring person for those she loves, but if you tried to cross her, well, that would be a huge mistake.

[tarotbear]

Queen of Swords -

The word 'bitch' should come to mind - and I mean that is the most positive light possible.

The QS can be an excellent friend, and an excellent mother. She knows what to look for and what to avoid and has the unnerving abilty to make 100% split-second decisions about sizing up people. However - in her mindset of not wasting any time, she is as lethal with her tongue as with her sword.

She will always let you know that she is the Queen - and you are not. She is standing over you and has just given you permission to rise - what? You didn't bow to her when you entered? OFF WITH YOUR HEAD! By making her stand instead of sit, Robin Wood makes us aware of the dymanics of her personality.

Yes - all the Court cards in the Wood deck are decorated with symbols of their elemental designations. Look at the Queen and King robes....

[CelticGirl]

Hi tarotbear, I was thinking along those same lines. Thanks for your post! While I was posting about the Queen of Swords I decided to pull out all the Queen cards and look at them all next to each other and you are absolutely correct about the corresponding outfits. Which I had noticed before, but since we just discussed the Death card, with the roses and butterflies in this card it was making me think new beginnings and blossoming... things along those lines.

[CandyApple]

To me you can just see the intellegence this woman has. The confedence. She is so sure of herself. She is wearing the sky. Like she knows no boundries and reaches for the heavens almost as a mater of course.

It is like she is holding out her hand and is expecting her reward. Not asking for it. Or she could be bestowing a benediction. Her favor on someone. Giving someone else a bit of her strength and insperation.

I LIKE this woman. This is the kind of woman I want to be.

[L'Etoile]

She always struck me as one of those women who are too strong to really be acceptable to society; hence the title 'bitch'.

I like her, though. Probably because she comes up in my significator quite often.

[annik]

What she wear seems to look like the sky. She seems to welcome somebody but she also ready to act if things turn ugly.

[spinningspider]

"The Queen of Swords" seems to me a bit gentler than her counterpart, the King. However, she denotes a similar sense of *no-nonsense,* as he does. This lovely queen is incredibly focused on whatever she's thinking or whatever she intends to do. I'm just hoping she won't be so caught up in her own thoughts and actions that she unintentionally slices some of her nose...with that sharp blade perched so close to her face! I got a kick out of how Robin described this as reminding her of keeping one's "nose to the grindstone." I'm personally reminded that sometimes one can be so intent on something, that the big picture gets lost...even to the detriment to one's health.

Like the King of Swords, this Queen is dressed in a cloak that shows the sky during daytime and night...with one being the flip-side of the other. In her book, Robin wrote, "Skies, of course, are symbolic of air. And this also suggests she can show both sides, light and air, which is life; and the darkness and quiet in the vacuum of space." This is a Lady who is fully and consciously aware of what she's doing and where she stands on something. Yet, she's also intuitive and taps into the depths of her subconscious goldmine. She uses all that she owns in order to make the best possible decisions.

While the Queen of Swords doesn't appear particularly violent, she IS holding a sword and I'm reminded that she surely knows how to use it. Since this suit represents knowledge (among other things), she seems to be a highly intelligent person, calculated and organized both in her thoughts and through her deeds. If she feels that someone needs to hear the sharp edge of her tongue or be shown the error of their ways, I'm guessing she wouldn't be afraid to let 'er rip. And being the person she is, she would have thought and planned ahead of time the results of such a verbal or physical onslaught...tho' since another person's energy are part of the equation, anything could happen in the end. This Queen may be smart, but she's not necessarily wise in all situations...queen or no queen. I'm reminded in my readings with this woman present, that I (or the querent) should think very carefully before speaking or acting, as no matter how hard one tries to envision the outcome, things can and often do go wrong and one might be left with more problems than when one started. 'course since the Queen is a court card, perhaps a person (be they male or female; young or old) with her qualities will figure heavily with regards to the question the querent asked.

[Fonda]

Maybe I am missing something here, but to me the QS doesn’t seem to be as positive of a person as everyone seems to be painting her in this deck. To me she seems like a bitch, yes, but not in the positive sense.

She seems two-faced. With one hand—her left—she seems poised to help someone, and yet with her right hand—which for most people is the dominant hand—she holds out her sword, ready to cut them down. Her robes are made of both day (The blue on the outside of her robe—her public front) and night. (Which we only glimpse from the inside of her sleeve—her inner self) Her headdress seems to be a strange combination of both courtly niceties (the netting holding her hair) and battlefield necessity. (The tightly-woven cap to which her crown is attached looks to be a form of helmet or chain-mail)

Indeed, it seems as if everything in this card is two-natured. The rose bush is beautiful to look at but if you get to close you will catch the thorns—perhaps without warning. In the same way the butterflies on her dress are the more showy counterparts to the caterpillars they once were. Even the sky is showing duality as the sun and the bright sky on the right are being overtaken by the dark storm clouds following the queen on the left.

Rather than being ready to act if things do turn ugly, I see the QS as ready to turn things ugly herself. She seems shrewd and calculating, and a dangerous person to have working against you—all the more so indeed because you may not know or realize that she is working against you.

[semprini]

When I first started reading tarot, I thought (and book definitions tended to back me up) that this Queen was more than a little scary. An older, more isolated woman who came off as calm and maybe even friendly, but ready to bestow a smackdown when needed.

Historically, I guess at one time I would've identified most with the Queen of Cups (ooey-gooey Pisces that I am). Time and experiences have had their effects, though, and these days I identify much more with this Queen. On the one hand, I mourn losing that vulnerability... but hey, life has dealt some serious blows here, and I'm way too obstreperous to turn the other damn cheek. So while it's not exactly a comfortable fit yet, I do look forward to easing more into this Queen's energy.

Two-faced or mean? Hm... I'd have to disagree there. Versatile and unwilling to put up with bullshit, perhaps. Be ethical and present when dealing with her, and really, you're golden.

[Kingski]

Originally Posted by tarotbear

Queen of Swords -

The word 'bitch' should come to mind - and I mean that is the most positive light possible.

The QS can be an excellent friend, and an excellent mother. She knows what to look for and what to avoid and has the unnerving abilty to make 100% split-second decisions about sizing up people. However - in her mindset of not wasting any time, she is as lethal with her tongue as with her sword.

She will always let you know that she is the Queen - and you are not. She is standing over you and has just given you permission to rise - what? You didn't bow to her when you entered? OFF WITH YOUR HEAD! By making her stand instead of sit, Robin Wood makes us aware of the dymanics of her personality.

Yes - all the Court cards in the Wood deck are decorated with symbols of their elemental designations. Look at the Queen and King robes....

I think tarotbear is spot on here. The Queen of Swords comes up for me as my ex Mother-in-law who was a total two faced *****, and whom I am so thrilled is no longer in my life. When we would visit and knock on her door, she would sit on her armchair throne and expect you to come to her, it was too much for her to answer the door to us mere mortals. She also has a misguided sense of being somewhat posher than she is. Anyway, I think this Queen portrays her perfectly, all pleasant on the outside, image is key to her, but she is quite happy to gossip about you and stab you in the back. She is hopeless at seeing things from another person's perspective. She cares about external appearances, and is cold and calculating yet cunning and intelligent. She is loyal to those she loves and she is a good mother-but sometimes a queen needs to learn when it's time to cut those apron strings. In my humble opinion, I think this queen has a lot to learn about empathy and compassion.