This article is an excerpt from my new book, The Tarot, Magic, Alchemy, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism, which I am working on right now and hopefully will have available by the end of year.  The book is an updated and expanded version of my book, Alchemy and the Tarot (covering more than twice as much information). The new book will contain updated information on alchemy and the history of the Tarot, and it will cover The Alchemical Tarot cards, but it will also cover The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery, the Waite Smith Tarot, and The Tarot of the Marseilles. And It will have several chapters on ancient magic and mysticism

The Queen of Swords

The Queen of Swords from the Tarot of Marseilles,

The Waite Smith Tarot, The Alchemical Tarot, and

The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery.

In the Tarot of Marseilles, the Queen of Swords sits erect on her throne holding her sword upright in her right hand. She looks out in the direction of her sword and gestures with her left hand as if she is about to say something. Perhaps her sword is a symbol of her proclamation. Etteilla’s Queen is slightly more in profile. She leans forward on her throne, leans her sword against her shoulder, and places her left hand on her knee. She is also wearing an armored breastplate. This Queen is not about to say anything, but she has an intent look on her face. Etteilla calls her widowhood. Perhaps he imagined that she killed her husband. This idea gains strength from her reverse meaning, a malicious woman.

The Queen of Swords from The Grande Etteilla

Waite repeats Etteilla’s widowhood meaning for this card but adds qualities like, sadness and mourning. But Smith’s illustration has more in common with the Marseilles Queen than with Etteilla’s. Her Queen erect sits in total profile, she holds her sword upright, and holds her left hand out as if she is making a proclamation. There are clouds and one bird in the sky, which dominates the background, and we can see by the tassel on the Queen’s sleeve that the wind from the Knight’s card has now died down. The Queen’s cape also displays clouds and is clasped with a golden brooch in the shape of a bird. Her crown and the sides of her throne have sylph butterflies, and under the arm, there is a winged head, which represents a cherub in Christian art. She is the Queen of Air and of words.

The Alchemical Queen of Swords is not making a proclamation; she is helping us make a decision. The Queen is a winged angel with an armored crown, who holds one sword upright sheltered by her red wing. On the other side, under her green wing, she supports a down-ward-thrusting sword. She stands on a cloud demonstrating that her element is Air and that she represents our thoughts. The figure is winged like an angel but with her helmet and her swords, she also resembles the goddess Athena or Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, war, and justice.

In alchemy, green symbolizes what is unripe and red what is ripe. The Queen presents us with a choice between what is negative or immature and what is positive, mature, or ripe. She also represents a progression from the immature to the mature. If she is flanked by two cards, the card to our left will reflect the mature side and the card to our right the immature side.

In The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery, the Queen of Swords sits facing us on the other side of a table. Like the Alchemical Queen, she has two swords. The downward negative one is stuck into the table, and she holds the positive one in her right hand. Under her cape, the Queen wears chainmail and armor. Two feathers are falling from above. They represent the element Air, but they also represent truth, like the feathers of Maat, the Egyptian goddess of justice. The feathers of truth fall on both swords. The Queen recognizes that some things are negative and some are positive. She accepts the fact that not all things are positive, but she chooses to hold the positive sword. She is like the goddess of Justice but her two swords are her scale.