I made the commitment to work intensively with the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight when it became clear that it was the deck that was drawing fragments out of my sub conscious. So when I saw the Tree of Life Shadow Work spread it was a no brainer. I decided that I could use this spread to work with at least some of the 24 cards that are laid out.
The Queen of Chalices, who was the first card to appear in the Tree of Life Shadow Work spread is one of the most beautiful cards to work with.
“Here is a person who has done a lot of deep spiritual work and has integrated their lessons fully. They know who they are, they know how to listen to their heart and follow their soul’s desires.
Like the King, the Queen of Cups has had plenty of experience in matters of the heart. They have searched and experimented, moved through breakups and new love, learned about kindness and compassion. Again, they may be a person who helps others in their own journeys.
This is an intuitive person, someone who feels everything. Empathetic, they can ‘tune in’ to the people they meet and understand them on a deep level. This can make some folks feel uneasy around the Queen of Cups, whilst others may feel a sense of ease. This is someone who can truly see people for who they are”. source: Little Red Tarot
Here we see a Queen who is presented quite differently to how she often appears in so many decks, yet she clearly has that same sense of self assuredness that we associate with a woman who is water of water, who represents the creative inner essence of the self, the soul.
@badger.tarot observed that as this Queen is biting on her necklace like a little girl but the reflection we see in the mirror reveals that that she is ageing. She also noted that there is something very poignant in her eyes, which appear to be filling with tears.
Traditionally the Queen of Chalices sees sensitivity as something that makes one strong, not weak. She has a tendency to listen to her heart and emotions over anything that she may be thinking. Of course, this could be good or bad, depending on the situation
But what does this card reveal about facets that I, personally have overlooked in childhood or and which I might need to re-evaluate?
When I was in the womb I had to have been aware of how terribly unhappy my mother was. No doubt because of this I developed the strong intuitive sense that I needed in order to survive. It was preordained that I would need to be able to read situations, read a room, read my mother’s mercurial moods and meet her needs. I was destined to spend a lot of my life giving to others.
My mother was not a Queen of Cups. If anything I had to mother her. She carried an enormous sense of loss and grief and unburdened herself on me. I never considered that it might be me that had those qualities.
Contemplating what I may have overlooked brings to mind a poem by Zora Cross, perhaps one the influential Queen of Cups figures in my life.
Late, late last night, when the whole world slept,
Along to the garden of dreams I crept.
And I pulled the bell of an old, old house
Where the moon dipped down like a little white mouse.
I tapped the door and I tossed my head:
“Are you in, little girl? Are you in?” I said.
And while I waited and shook with cold
Through the door tripped me—just eight years old.
I looked so sweet with my pigtails down,
Tied up with a ribbon of dusky brown,
With a dimpled chin full of childish charme,
And my old black dolly asleep in my arms.
I sat me down when I saw myself,
And I told little tales of a moonland elf.
I laughed and sang as I used to do
When the world was ruled by Little Boy Blue.
Then I danced with a toss and a twirl
And said: “Now have you been a good, good girl?
Have you had much spanking since you were Me?
And does it feel fine to be twenty-three?”
I kissed me then, and I said farewell,
For I’ve earned more spanks than I dared to tell,
And Eight must never see Twenty-three
As she peeps through the door of Memory.
For Reflection
Who are the Queen of Cups figures in your life? Make a vision board depicting them! Choose one and develop a portraiture of this important figure.
Draw a pair of shoes on your page that your Queen of Cups would wear. Mentally stand in them for awhile and make notes about what observations spring to mind. How does this impact on your perception of this woman?
My mother may not have been the Queen of Cups but if I were to draw her heart now, it would end up looking like Swiss cheese because of all the wounds she dealt with.
Using illustrations of the human heart as a base draw a heart which depicts some of the scars your heart, or the heart of a Queen of Cups you know, now have.
The Tarot Midwife 