Artemis

Swords · Air

Queen of Swordsfor Cancer · Self and Identity

Queen of Swords tarot card

"Independence isn't the question. What you do next is."

Six quick picks first, then your reading

On the card

Her right hand raises the weapon vertically and the hilt rests on an arm of her royal chair the left hand is extended, the arm raised her countenance is severe but chastened. Swords represents thoughts and the queen card represents maternal energy. Together the queen of swords represents a figure who upholds fairness. She has many different responsibilities and she must keep the peace between them-- so she is fair and in the pursuit of doing the right thing by all.

Upright
IndependenceClear ThinkingDirect CommunicationPerceptiveness

You are being called to be a judge in a situation, you must be rational and care for the outcomes of both parties. Romantically, perhaps you or your partner has responsibilities beyond just the relationship (perhaps a child or ailing parent they must attend to) and you must decide how to proceed. Perhaps you must decide between projects at work. Be strategic and calculated with your career moves. Do not be swayed by the emotional arguments of either side, listen to what you believe is true.

Reversed

You are being judged harshly (by yourself or someone else). This judgment can stem from bitterness over an emotional event and it has led to a punitive energy. This person does not want what is best for both parties or for the truth to be revealed, but is instead swayed by what will make their own bitterness feel less intense.

Its place in the deck.

Court cardQueen
One of the 16 court cards: a Page, Knight, Queen and King in each suit. A court card often stands for a person in your life, or a side of yourself you are showing right now.
SuitSwords · Air
Swords are the suit of Air: mind and language. A Swords card is always, underneath, about what you think, and the story you keep retelling yourself.
RankInward mastery
The Queen is inward mastery: holds the element internally, does not need to prove it.

Where it shows up.

In the stars
🜁︎
AirElement
Thoughts, words, and conflict. In tarot: Swords.
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Queen of Swords for Cancer in Self and Identity

The Nurturer

Swords are the air suit, so the Queen of Swords sits in Libra. Libra squares Cancer, so the card asks for the move Cancer is least fluent in: write the sentence down and stop rewriting it. The friction is the content, not an obstacle to it. Upright, this is the element held internally, by someone with nothing left to prove about it.

When reading about yourself through a Cancer lens, the Queen of Swords says that you feel like you are only acceptable when you are useful, your body is something that wants too much (or needs too much), and your own feelings are something to handle in private. This has either made you excellent at ignoring your own pain until it becomes a crisis, or taught you that being gentle with yourself is not selfish. You have been so focused on who you think you should be that you haven't checked in with who you actually are. The Cancer blind spot in it is being seen as a burden, or as someone whose needs are too much.

In practice that can look like a loop that finally breaks, or seeing your own pattern in writing. Whatever form it takes, it is held by someone who has been through it already.

Somewhere else?

WorkRelationshipHealthWealthMy Future

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