Queen of Swords

Tam recently posted about a fun evening she and Ed had doing an interpretive game incorporating the tarot deck and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - a Sally twofer; I'm envious.

Despite my obvious empirical bent, I've always had a soft spot for tarot. In high school, I had a boyfriend M who was a spiritual seeker and into all kinds of goofy new agey shit, and one time we were in one of those little shops with a name like The Crystal Unicorn Goddess of Light that sold tarot cards and somehow I ended up with one (the standard Rider-Waite deck). I also got a book that showed the classic 10 card, Celtic Cross spread. I let myself get sort of into it - as much as you can when you don't actually believe that it has any objective reality to it at all - and enjoy the experience of interpreting the symbols and telling myself (and others) stories from it. It basically scratched the same itch as dream interpretation, but was more systematic and self-contained and, you know, was explicitly like a game. I later bought an Alice in Wonderland tarot deck (they had me where I lived) and the infamous Dali deck, which was $99 that I really didn't have as a college freshman but that I absolutely could not resist - it was too beautiful and evocative and strange and basically fucked up. (For example, scroll down on the Dali link and click on The World - who would come up with this depiction of "Attainment. Completion. Perfection. The end result of all efforts. Success. Fulfillment. The path of liberation. Eternal life" and so forth?)

One sort of odd thing was the stunning regularity with which I would get the Queen of Swords in the position of the "Significator" - the card representing the person asking the question. (I followed the approach in which this card is laid out blind like the other cards, rather than choosing my own card from the deck to represent myself.) Even though I would make an effort to shuffle the deck in a different way, and I would get totally different cards in the other positions, that damn Queen kept reappearing. I did not embrace it, but eventually, I had to just accept that in the universe of tarot, I was the Queen of Swords.

How fitting was this symbol? Let's take a look at some various descriptions of the Reina de Espadas:

The Dali deck people say:

Representing the energy of a Queen, this feminine power was traditionally known as a widow, crone or divorcee. In modern times, she can be viewed as a model of self-sufficiency, independence and intelligence. She often has extremely high standards due to her subtle sensitivities, which can be perceived by those around her as being critical or hard to please. Her true motive is to refine the world, to upgrade peoples' understanding -- so that everyone can have the space they need to become fully themselves. She is not interested in conforming. She is too intelligent to be confined to the role of housewife or nursemaid, although she is perfectly competent in those areas. She chooses her associations (or her solitude), and is seldom caught up in dependent relationships -- at least not for long. Her intelligence is not always the most comfortable to be around, but she can be counted on to see through superficiality and point to the truth of a situation.

The Astral Gallery reports:

In a Tarot reading, this card indicates intelligence, complexity and perceptiveness, indicative of strength in communcation. It also suggests an aggressive, hard-working and capable character...one who is able to lead a different lifestyle without being threatened by others. Reversed, it indicates deceipt, cunning, narrow-mindedenss and intolerance. It suggests danger of insecurity, neurosis and even possible sexual dysfuncation. [Sally: I do not get this card reversed.] In classical mythology and lore, the Queen of Swords is associated with Atalanta, the gifted huntress and athletic heroine of Greek legend who went to great lengths in order to avoid marriage, challenging each potential suitor to outpace her in a foot race. Atalanta and her eventual victorious bridegroom were both turned into lions by Zeus on the night of their nuptials for consummating their union within a shrine sacred to the God.

Paranormality.com says:

A complex, courageous, intelligent woman, who may well have suffered some deep sorrow or loss. She is concerned with attention to accuracy and detail and can skillfully balance opposing factions to meet her own needs. She has attained inner wisdom and a sense of truth. The card is one for women who have overcome adversity especially at the hands of men, to obtain a state of grace. The ability of women.

My book says:

Sharp. Quick-witted. A keen person. Intensely perceptive. A subtle person. May signify a widow or woman of sadness. Mourning. Privation. Absence. Loneliness. Separation. One who has savoured great happiness but who presently knows the anxiety of misfortune and reversal.

The White Goddess says:

Honest, Astute, Forthright, Witty, Experienced

Not a bad fit, I think. Even the loneliness and sadness match up with my teenage depression years (though the "overcoming adversity especially at the hands of men" doesn't work in anything but the most ridiculously stretched interpretation). Of course, it's so easy for any description to sound like ourselves that it's useful to compare to something else. How about the Queen of Wands? My book says she is "A sympathetic and understanding person. Friendly. Loving. Honorable. Chaste. Practical. Full of feminine charm and grace..." Need I continue? How about the Queen of Cups? She is "A warm-hearted and fair person..." Nope. The Queen of Pentacles represents "Prosperity and well-being. Wealth. Abundance. Extreme Comfort. Security" and other irrelevancies.