Queen of Swords
Minor Arcana · Swords · number 13 · Regina di Spade
Upright
The Queen of Swords sits alone, sword upright and hand outstretched, under a sky of clouds: widowhood, sadness and embarrassment, absence, sterility, mourning, privation, separation. It is the card of someone who lost something and learned to stand anyway. If these days you feel alone, after a separation, a loss, a child leaving home, it is no accident, and your dignity in this pain is what matters most. It can indicate a strong, wounded woman who needs you. The practical advice: do not fill the void in a hurry. Allow yourself the sadness with a clear mind, keep the accounts in order, and accept the hand of whoever reaches out.
Source: Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910) · read the original passage
Reversed
Reversed, the Queen of Swords turns bitter: malice, bigotry, artifice, prudery, ill will, deceit. Unprocessed pain becomes nastiness, and the sharp tongue wounds whoever happens to be there. If these days a woman in your circle, or you yourself, judges everyone harshly, gossips, sulks on principle, it is no accident: there is an old wound underneath. Beware of criticism dressed up as advice, and of rigidities that push away those who love you. It is not a sentence. The practical advice: before saying something cutting, ask yourself whether it helps the other person or only you, and stay silent if it is the latter.