Queen of Cups
Beautiful, fair, dreamy–as one who sees visions in a cup. This is, however, only one of her aspects; she sees, but she also acts, and her activity feeds her dream. Divinatory Meanings: Good, fair woman; honest, devoted woman, who will do service to the Querent; loving intelligence, and hence the gift of vision; success, happiness, pleasure; also wisdom, virtue; a perfect spouse and a good mother. Reversed: The accounts vary; good woman; otherwise, distinguished woman but one not to be trusted; perverse woman; vice, dishonour, depravity.
A. E. Waite, Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911)
Here we meet the feminine beauty, she embodies the hypnotic power of the feminine and is a catalyst for the emergence of deep feelings, which are bottomless. The image of unconscious, of intense passion and fate. As a mystery herself, motivated by her own secret purposes, introverted and magical loves she wholeheartedly or hates. She is both virginal and harlot, a calculator and a victim. A mature woman, caring and loving, has experienced an eventful and emotional life and is consequently sympathetic to the problems of others. She is capable of activating the depths in others and calls action and conflict without doing anything at all.
Queen of Water: Receptivity
Receptivity represents the feminine, receptive quality of water and of the emotions. Her arms are extended upwards to receive, and she is completely immersed in the water. She has no head, no busy and aggressive mind to hinder her pure receptivity. And as she is filled she is continuously emptying herself, overflowing, and receiving more. The lotus pattern or matrix that emerges from her represents the perfect harmony of the universe that becomes apparent when we are in tune with it.
The Queen of Water brings a time of unboundedness and gratitude for whatever life brings, without any expectations or demands. Neither duty or thought of merit or reward are important. Sensitivity, intuition and compassion are the qualities that shine forth now, dissolving all the obstacles that keep us separate from each other and from the whole.
Tarot of the Ages - Mario Garizio ©1988 U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
No intuition is more powerful than that of the Queen of Cups. She is the pure force of Water, and her connection with the subconscious is rivalled only by the High Priestess. She is often like a mirror, reflecting the hidden depths of others back to them, so they can see their own mysteries for themselves. However, her cup is closed, and her own secrets remain invisible to all, even to herself sometimes. Such is the paradox and fluidity of the Water element. Hardly ever manifesting as an event, the Queen of Cups is almost always found either in people near you, or in yourself.
A Queen of Cups in the real world feels right at home in the realms of the subconscious. If she is not psychic, she will posess extraordinary insight into the behaviour and motivations of others. As such, she is often a gifted counsellor and healer, ready to provide a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold whenever they are needed. She is beautiful by almost all standards, because her beauty is the purity of her spirit, and such magnificence has a universally recognizable allure. Even when not physically attractive, she still attracts others to her. A Queen of Cups will also be a dreamer, with wondrous fantasies and a vivid imagination.
It is from this that the Queen's more negative qualities arise. She often loses herself in her fantasies and daydreams, and though completely confident in her instincts, more often than not she is totally unable to apply these instincts to anything in the real world. At music, poetry, mothering and artistry, no one can compete with her - in everything else she is mediocre, at best. Spending as long as she does in the spiritual world tends to make her quite uncomfortable when she has to leave it. She places much importance on relationships because she sees herself as unable to stand alone.
A Queen of Cups lies within each of us, and in some it is closer to the surface than in others. When she appears in reference to an aspect of your own personality, the Queen of Cups should be taken as a suggestion to think carefully about how you use the vast stores of spiritual wisdom you have access to all the time. She can be a sign that you should use you intuition to guide you - or she can be a warning that you are thinking too much with your heart and not with your head. This can cause your dreams to grow out of control... and out of reach. Like all of the Cups court cards, the Queen encourages a moderate approach to intuition and wisdom. The heart may see farther, but sometimes you will have to look at things with your eyes.
Tarot of the Dream Enchantress ©2009 Lo Scarabeo