By Sarah Taylor
Once more, we have a Queen and a Prince in the line-up (the last one was two weeks ago, on Sunday, Nov. 30). There is a whole lot of integration going on, if we take the view that any court card represents an aspect of the self that is in current expression — in other words, that is at the forefront of an inner transformation.
Queen of Wands, Prince of Disks, Six of Swords from the Röhrig Tarot deck, created by Carl-W. Röhrig. Click on the image for a larger version.
Here, both courts encompass all four elements, so there is a rich balancing act at play: the Queen of Wands is the watery aspect of fire, and the Prince of Disks is the airy aspect of earth. Moreover, the Queen is head-on to us, while the Prince is in profile, facing the Queen; a reciprocity between one card and the other, and between one card and us. This is a three-way conversation in action.
Who are you? Who are you becoming? Where is the dominant feminine seeking integration with a masculine that is in his prime, but not yet King?
The Queen of Wands is described by the following words on the card: “Self Knowledge,” “Sympathy,” “change.” The only English word on the Prince’s card is “Design,” although one word in German will almost certainly be translated as “Architect.”
The two primary differences between this reading and the one two weeks ago are that the Queen and the Prince’s positions are switched, and so the Prince now looks at the Queen instead of looking away from her. And his eyes are open and filled with the light that sits inside his crown. That light is reflected in the feather beneath his chin and the constellation to the right of the gem in his helmet.
The Queen of Wands is a witch in the broadest sense: she harnesses erotic energy in service to her art — whatever that art may be. And she is the guardian of both that energy, and of herself. She looks at us directly, fingertip on chin, surveying us. She epitomises masculine energy (Wands being masculine and phallic); and yet as the most individuated aspect of the feminine, the Queen has balanced both principles in a way that works for her. She is then able — if she so chooses — to offer that to others and to the world.
The Prince as Architect is a mathematical designer-builder — and yet his suit is a feminine one (Disks), which means that his raw materials, like the sign with which he is associated (Taurus), are of the earth. Like Taurus, he also works with the raw materials of what he considers to have worth; he is an architect of values. He understands what will be enduring, and places his focus on that. Right now, his inner sight is focussed on the Queen.
What does the Prince build that the Queen knows? What does the Queen transform and the Prince construct through his knowledge of form?
The answer lies in the final card, the Six of Swords, or “Science.” Here, we have two separate strands, their origins in two distinct areas of the cosmos, running through a circular maze to meet each other on the other side and to form the most beautiful and complex of blooms, its colours a synthesis of both.
Through separation and trial, we now find integration. Behind the rather exotic flower is a feather of light, which sits at the same level as the light in the Prince’s cranium, and the white of the Queens headdress.
The words on the Six of Swords:
“Differentiation,” “Cognitions,” “ability to analyse.”
Three swords stand, point down, on each side of the card. Balance, yet “differentiation.” Analysis, yet synthesis. This is one of the ‘lightest’ of the Swords cards, and speaks of a transition from the confusion of the Five to a coming together and moving into a new form. It will also frequently speak of a trip across water in the real world. There is a shift to a new state of relating, and relatedness. This is likely to have its origins in you, although it may also play out through the mirror of another, or others, in your life.
Finally, while the Queen is facing us and the Prince is facing the Queen, the Six feels discrete. This integration may be taking place outside awareness, or at least outside a place that is immediately accessible to you — as if it is in your psychological ‘peripheral vision’. You might sense — but not see — it, because, at this moment in time, what you are looking at is that other, and not what you are co-creating.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. Frequently, and perhaps frustratingly to the part of you that loves to believe it knows and has a handle on everything, this alchemical magic needs little of your conscious attention. Simply being there, doing your thing, in the presence of what transforms you, works its own wonder. Let the understanding of this filter through to its own rhythm; the maze confounds at times, but the path has already been resolved.
Astrology/Elemental correspondences: Queen of Wands (the watery aspect of fire), Prince of Disks (the airy aspect of earth), Six of Swords (Mercury in Aquarius)
If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread.
Beautiful Sarah. Your words flow like a glorious stream of inspiration that makes my heart soar. Sometimes it takes a drop of water to spark a flame. Thank you.
Your readings for the past I don’t know how long., since I started reading them? Have cut through to so much truth in my life. Thank you for your work .. It is splendid
From an intense dream, kind of scary, but exciting at the same time, as I process becoming a crone:
Witches, Dreams, and Initiations
I don’t know what kind
of witch she was,
in my dream, old,
old as the hills,
lying behind me in bed.
I don’t know what kind
of witch she was, smelling,
smelling of mud, of dirt
of earth and water,
looking just like
my mother, smelling
just like my ancient
mother except more
than my mother,
her density thicker,
heavier, harder edged,
the colors of her
tinged with a depth
of darkness
not of this world,
her hand between
my legs, “What!”
my maiden/mother
ask, my maiden/mother
in the past for me now, but
somehow more real
than I remember them,
“What does this mean?”
Is it a memory?
Is this something that
really happened? Or is
it a message, some kind
of a message I’m meant
to take into the future
with me?
What does it mean when
you dream of a crone,
a witch, your mother,
with her hand between your
legs touching the secret
part of you? What does it mean
when you open your legs
and rock your pelvis
against her fingers
and place your hand
over hers
because you want
that pleasure and
you don’t care
who she is?
What does it mean
when she laughs,
when she says it’s alright,
that she knows
what she’s doing?
What does it mean?
Susy Crandall
That was beautiful Susy.
Sarah your tarot readings are just about the only thing truly addressing the journey as felt and experienced by me lately. I Appreciate you.
Thank you, all, for your comments, which I can feel in my heart. Although as I wrote to a friend this morning the writing, when it runs crystal clear, doesn’t feel like it is coming from me at all.
Susy, your poem shook me. Not because it is shocking. Nope. Because it feels like a truth of mine too. I am filled with gratitude for your sharing it, and her, here.
~ S
You are so welcome, everyone is welcome, the goddesses tell us so if only we are listening.
sarah — can you remind me whether the princes in this deck equal the knights or the kings in the rider-waite smith deck?
thanks!
They’re the Knights, Amanda. To recap:
Röhrig:
– Princess
– Prince
– Queen
– Knight
Rider-Waite Smith:
– Page
– Knight
– Queen
– King
thanks, sarah! i was trying to match the cards up to the rider-waite smith equivalents to see how/if one gets the same or similar message from the images, with or without knowing the “standard” meanings of the cards.
for example: if one were to approach on one’s own a spread using the Rohrig deck but had little knowledge of standard tarot meanings (that is, somewhat familiar, but not confident or right at one’s fingertips), would the meaning gleaned still be pretty close using one deck as the other?
I’m not sure if this answers your question, Amanda, but I work with the specific deck itself before I tend to attach a more ‘classic’ interpretation to the cards.
For example, what is meaningful to me in this spread is that the Prince is facing the Queen, and the significance of that. Whereas, if we were using the RWS deck, the Knight (the Prince here) would actually be facing *away* from the Queen — so the interpretation of that particular interplay may well be different, even if perhaps the reading as a whole reached a similar conclusion.
Which means that the Prince is Lancelot, rather than Arthur, to the Queen’s Guinevere; he is the jouster for the Queen’s honour, while she sits next to the King.
As I pondered this reading for the last few days, particularly the ‘science’ component, I recalled my observation years ago that many scientists seem to work from the belief that if it’s not extremely complicated then it’s not of value or true. When Stephen Hawking came out with his book claiming that because the Universe is self-expanding this proves that there is no God., all I could think about was the process of making bread. When I put the dough aside to allow it to rise and expand through the alchemy of the yeast, my “hand is not in the mix” (Hawking’s quote), but this process would not happen without me creating the mix in the first place.
I chuckle as I recall my Dad’s term for people taking intelligence to the extremes – ‘educated idiots’. My favourite concept is ‘simple genuis’. I think we would benefit from some of this now.
I believe that Nassim Haramein was getting this across when he asks the question in this video “Yeah, but who is THIS guy?”
http://tinyurl.com/l854pbs