Queen of Wands

The appearance of the Queen of Wands in a spread generally reports that in this situation, claims to leadership are relevant, and pride and ambition are at stake. This card always sensitively responds to ambitions, striving for independence and self-reliance, for success in career, in social life, to the energy of self-realization and personal growth. It may indicate that we have seriously inspired, become engrossed in something, and are fervently carrying out our plans.

The events described by neighboring cards have already begun – so to speak, the process has started. The concept is formed, if it's about an idea. If the King can mean the initiator (the motivating factor), then here we are dealing with the acquisition of form, with a process gaining strength. If it's about an ambitious project, a responsible performance, a matter inspiring the querent – success is quite likely. The Queen of Wands is a significator of career growth, business success, popularity, and fame. Her appearance in spreads concerning relevant questions (organizational development, product promotion, obtaining a position) is a good sign.

At best, the Queen of Wands can describe some attractive, open, and benevolently disposed personality, capable of being an inspirer, ally, and support in endeavors. At worst – a bright rival, proving an advantage over whom will be extremely difficult.

This card in any spread is practically self-sufficient: unlike other Minor Arcana, it depends very little on the meaning of the neighboring Major Arcanum. Subsequent cards describe a process that is in the culmination phase and has already become part of your current reality. Possibly, this process, this chain of events has already borne its fruits, which we are forced to relate to in one way or another.

Energy and self-confidence. The Queen of Wands is a card of bright charisma combining friendliness, sincerity, steadfastness, and striving for success. She is capable of exerting strong influence on others, motivating, inspiring, calling to something.

The Queen of Wands always symbolizes an established personality (be it a man or a woman) who knows perfectly well what to strive for and whose affairs usually unfold as she wishes. This is a generous, open soul, ready to share what she has. Like all Queens, she carries within her a certain aspect of healing. If the Queen of Pentacles heals the body, the Queen of Cups – heals the soul, and the Queen of Swords – sets the mind-reason right (and it's no wonder that in folk language this unpleasant business is described by the verb "to treat"), then the Queen of Wands restores the spirit directly. She inspires, encourages feats, she is capable of returning the will to life of one in whom this fire has weakened and begun to smoke. She does this without pitying, without lecturing, without sympathizing, but by imparting a direct volitional energetic impulse, similar to how one torch is lit from another (in this sense, the Queen of Wands patronizes the connection of individuality with individuality, personal interaction "one on one"). It is this ability to heal the spirit, returning its original fire, that best describes the combination of masculine "fire" and feminine "water" in the Queen of Wands.

In the most classical manifestation of the energies of this Arcanum – this is a woman who unshakably represents the qualities that fill her (and in their pure form, these qualities are quite rare). This is a frank, passionate, and spectacular woman who loves to rule and whom it is impossible to "tame," since she is driven by a purely masculine impulse (the fire element). She is freedom-loving, brave, and will not allow anyone to decide how she should live (and the purely intellectual element that helps the Queen of Swords recognize the rightness of another or the objective nature of a situation requiring temporary humility has practically no effect on the Queen of Wands). This is Zorro in a skirt, Spartacus in heels. Were she to fall into the hands of a sultan – a rebellion in the harem is guaranteed (and under her influence, not only the slaves there will believe they are people, but the eunuchs – that they are ace guys). This is an Amazon, not lost under any circumstances, only occasionally suffering from a lack of endurance in stressful situations. She is decisive and magnanimous, strong and noble, brave and cheerful, has firm convictions, and her personal human honesty and honor are important to her. This is a Personality with a capital P, with developed self-awareness and an integral and firm character, not accepting into itself distortions and murkiness where cunning, pettiness, and treachery find shelter (the fire element does not tolerate such distortions, for it weakens from them). She is characterized by chastity in the true sense of the word – absence of confusion and wavering in decision-making situations; she remains in agreement with her convictions. In traditional interpretations, the card is considered a significator of women of fire and sometimes air signs.

The Queen of Wands, with all her fire, is rarely foolhardy. She very well understands what she needs from life and, as a rule, does not do stupid things. She is, to a considerable extent, characterized by circumspection, practicality, and common sense. She is capable of desperate acts, but not those in which human weakness manifests, but those in which human strength manifests. This is a "woman with principles." Moreover, she herself establishes the principles of what is good and what is bad, what is possible and what is not, and it is practically impossible to prove otherwise to her. Feminine dignity and un-feminine pride governing her personality give her great inner strength but make her vulnerable to criticism and offensive remarks (however, as a truly noble and magnanimous nature, she is quick to forgive, and if she gets really angry, she would rather give a slap in the face right away than take petty revenge from around a corner a year later).

She is full of original, special charm, socially well adapted, knows how to conduct herself, though she can be somewhat cold. She is heartfelt but not sentimental. She is sincere in her feelings, but at the same time, without noticing it herself, views personal relationships as fair market ones (you give me, I give you). She knows how to keep her feelings under control, yet, when necessary, freely and without complexes expresses her emotions. She is ambitious, likes it very much when everyone loves her, and especially – respects her.

The Lady of Wands personifies the feminine side of the fire element. She symbolizes the joy of life and the thirst for happiness to such an extent that it can spill over into pure thirst for pleasures, into the most wasteful expenditure of soul forces. But in general, the feminine side of fire expresses the deepest trust in oneself, one's unique nature, one's inner strength. The Queen of Wands has mastered self-awareness to such a degree that it has led to the transformation of her being.

The Queen of Wands describes the most complete development in a woman of the masculine-in-impulse creative force. In no other Queen is manifested so much pure impulse of desire, individualism, independence, and self-realization, which at the same time rely on bright charisma. The scepter with a sunflower flower indicates a radiant nature, high energy level, and a desire to be in the center of attention, optimism, and cheerfulness. A flower in Tarot generally indicates rebirth, joy of life, the human soul. The sunflower speaks of relating one's personality to the highest creative energy – the Sun. The Queen's staff (Wand) is covered with foliage in the upper part, symbolizing life and revitalization. There is an opinion that the shape of the Queen's dress cut indicates the astrological sign Aries. The black cat depicted on the Arcanum hints at magical knowledge, as well as the willful and independent nature of this Queen. The cat may also point to the dark (nocturnal) side of love (Venus in Aries is in its detriment). The lions adorning her throne testify to great power and the strength of her decisions. Mountains resembling Egyptian pyramids that we see on the card are a symbol of personal growth and greatness of spirit.

This Arcanum symbolizes processes gaining strength. The "watery" fire of this Queen speaks of the integration of instincts (fire) into the sphere of feelings (water). In the space of this card, the realization occurs that love, combining sexuality and spirituality, is an expression of our inner creative will. It is capable of giving ecstasy that erases all boundaries, making the impossible possible (an experience well known to all who have fallen in love and understood that getting a star from the sky is possible and necessary...). In a mythological sense, the Queen of Wands corresponds to Aphrodite; the fiery seed and oceanic foam correspond to the symbolism of Water and Fire carried by this card. Her spiritual task is to unite these elements and create an extremely personal image of the world.

The Queen of Wands is a businesswoman, and she favors the conduct of professional affairs. The card may mean a good time to start a new enterprise or foreshadow meetings with superiors (what will come of it will be hinted by surrounding cards). The Queen of Wands is strong, brave, and ready to deal with arising problems on her own, solving sufficiently large-scale tasks. The card may report that the time has come to start working for oneself or to take on leadership responsibility.

Under the purview of the Queen of Wands is practically any work that is liked, performed "with fire," and based on the querent's innate aptitudes. Often these are occupations somehow connected with publicity, media presence, popularity, fame, the necessity to be in public, make an impression, communicate convincingly. This can be both journalism and stage performances. In any case, the Queen of Wands never feels like a victim, trudging gloomily and submissively to work for a piece of bread. If she feels herself as such even for a moment, she will not hesitate to "take her feet in her hands" in search of a better lot. She will not persuade herself that it's "for someone," "it will be better," etc. – that's not her genre. The Queen of Wands is absolutely convinced that the main thing is the opportunity to realize oneself to the fullest, and everything else (money, projects, connections) will follow.

The Queen of Wands easily proves her advantage over others in different situations, so the card is a good omen for participation in competitions, contests, exhibitions, and similar events. She purposefully and tirelessly achieves what she has planned.

A favorable sign for financial affairs. The Queen of Wands means not money as such, but the opportunity to earn it by displaying professionally valuable qualities (energy, enthusiasm, pushiness, resourcefulness, courage).

The Queen of Wands equally well knows how to live on a grand scale and make do with Spartan little (if the stage on the way to achieving a goal requires it).

The Queen of Wands is capable of productive and bright relationships, and at the same time is practically self-sufficient, as she depends very little on her partner. She is always on her own, open to everything new, and ready to go. This is self-sufficiency both in relationships and outside them. It is precisely about the Queen of Wands, who has no partner, that one can say with a clear conscience in the words of the French: "Mademoiselle does not travel alone, Mademoiselle travels on her own." At the same time, having become interested, she is capable of extraordinary acts for the sake of her love. This Queen will not sigh for years, hiding feelings; she is brave and not afraid to take initiative. She knows she can achieve practically anything – one just has to truly want it and correctly place accents (with the latter task, by the way, she copes much better than the King of Wands, since, like all Queens, she carries the flexible element of water). Her temperament, brightness, and soulful gift find a response in a variety of people, but first of all – those equally energetic and enthusiastic. In the tradition of the Marseille Tarot, the Queen of Wands' lover is the Knight of Wands, and in life, these two types really get along well. They simply cannot not like each other!

The Queen of Wands is distinguished by an exceptional (compared to other Queens) brightness of pure unsublimated sexual desire, well known and well understood by men. It is this Queen who is capable (precisely if she wishes and by force of it) to engage in sex solely for sex's sake, not trying to confuse, mask, or justify this impulse either with love, or calculation, or even personal success, which any other Queen would do. For her, sometimes sex is precisely sex. No more, but no less. At the same time, if she falls in love, her love will be very conscious and mature.

The Queen of Wands is characterized by exceptional willpower directed at changing and transforming the spirit of another person (with the King – life and the world as a whole). The Queen of Wands, like no one else, is capable of motivating her man to great deeds, fanning the fire of ambitious ambitions in him. She does not belong to those women who dream of their chosen one sitting at their feet, not taking his loving eyes off her. She is not interested in a man being next to her – it seems much more important to her to be next to him (and he should go his own, only him destined path). His laurels, successes, victories, heroism, and even posthumous glory are what feed her fire. She is interested in being the woman of an extraordinary man, so almost anyone next to her risks becoming extraordinary. She can forgive almost anything except mediocrity.

The Queen of Wands is a kind and loyal friend, a woman one can marry (for a man, almost always a significator of the right choice of life partner). She is characterized by warmth of heart, honesty, openness, passion, and devotion, a minimum of possessive feelings, benevolence, and understanding. In the space of this Arcanum, the old truth comes to life that a good spouse (or wife) is, first and foremost, a kind friend, a person with whom it is not scary to grow old. With the Queen of Wands, growing old will also not be boring! Here one can expect that retirement will be marked by a parachute jump, and a golden wedding met "where no one has ever been before." The jealousy of the Queen of Wands is not so much sensual as purely psychological – she loves to reign and set the tone, and has difficulty tolerating the obvious interest and admiration of her partner for someone or something with which she, for some reasons, finds it difficult to compete or compare.

The Queen of Wands embodies the archetype of the hetaera, the socialite, the woman – inspirer. Children usually have secondary importance for her and are not an end in themselves. She is sincerely concerned about such aspirations as achievements, individuation, growth. From the point of view of the "feminine" elements of water or earth, her passions do not seem "real" for a woman, however, the Queen of Wands is governed by a purely masculine impulse of Fire.

In general, the Queen of Wands loves psychologically mature and inspiring relationships, mutual interest, equality, and psychological justification of the connection (at any rate, she certainly will not allow herself to be a passive victim of an alcoholic husband and considerations "where will I find another like him?" and, deep down, will never understand those who allow it).

The Queen of Wands is directly connected with kundalini energy, and therefore usually describes fullness of vital forces, good health, high tone, excellent immunity, vitality.

As an indicator of illness, like other Wands, may indicate inflammations and processes occurring with high temperature, fever, burnout, and additionally, manic-depressive states.

The reversed Queen of Wands is jealous, selfish, and arrogant. Most likely, her ambitions are unsatisfied, and her pride is hurt. The reversed Queen of Wands is capable of turning into a real witch, vengeful and desperate, wrathful and malicious. In this case, the black cat (a symbol of mystery and wise willfulness that we can see at the feet of the Queen of Wands) turns out to be "in the head," in the summit position of the card – well, as they say, don't expect good. She becomes like a black cat crossing the road... This figure is capable of exerting strong opposition to the querent. The archetype of a rival, an envious woman, a seductress, a kind of bitch-intriguer.

Since in the upright position the Queen of Wands describes a true friend, ready to help and be there in difficult times, despite difficulties and obstacles, the reversed card is an indicator of a quarrel with a friend or girlfriend, problems with friendship in general.

If in the upright position the Queen of Wands always knows what she wants, in the reversed position – this is an unbearable woman who wants something all the time but doesn't know what herself. She loses genuine self-confidence and her nobility, charm, and charisma, discrediting herself and her cause. Manuals indicate that this is possibly a "businesswoman" sacrificing too much for a phantom idea. Hence discord in the family and general failure of affairs. The card may indicate that the plan is clearly detached from reality; most likely, the fulfillment of the desired is impossible. Astrological equivalents: Cancer, Capricorn, Moon, Saturn.

The card may symbolize a personality who intentionally or not discredits or undermines the authority of the querent, as well as an extremely eccentric and capricious person with whom they are connected. This can be a "hot" woman, arousing desire and interest, able to protect her interests wholly and uncompromisingly, or a person whom they are trying to adapt to surrounding social conditions and who resists them.

The reversed Queen of Wands has to struggle painfully to develop and assert herself. Sometimes this card serves as an indicator of good intentions that cannot be realized, not receiving help, good will in the absence of opportunities to apply it.

With The Fool – a secret love affair

With the reversed Lovers – infidelity

With The Moon – infidelity

With the Two of Wands – sorrow (from an old manual)

With the reversed Three of Cups – betrayal by a girlfriend

Reversed before the reversed Ace of Swords – childbirth

Shakti

Catherine of Alexandria

Queen Elizabeth I

Minerva McGonagall from the Harry Potter tale

"Learning is discovering what you already know. Action is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know it as well as you."