The Queen of Cups is a loving, nurturing, compassionate person, who is deeply in touch with their feelings. They are grounded, aware of how situations affect them and make them feel. They are imaginative and creative. This Tarot card can often symbolise family, the Queen being sensitive and empathic to the feelings of others.
The Queen of Cups in the Soulmirror Tarot by Nina Wellmann, shows a confident, serene woman, sat upright, balancing a cup on the palm of her hand. The cup is delicate, breakable, the water inside could spill, yet she holds the cup confidently. The water symbolising her emotions has filled the cup, she doesn’t’t hide her feeling or push them down. Instead she has her emotions under control, the cup is well balanced and the water, her feelings, do not overflow uncontrollably. This symbolises emotional maturity and dignity. She sits firmly grounded on a rock, yet merges simultaneously with the flowing water. There are pearl like beads glowing all around her. Pearls are protected by their shells so that they can then show their true value and beauty. It is the same for feelings. If you can understand and control your deepest feelings, you are better able to recognise and empathise with the feelings of others.
In the Desert Illuminations Tarot, Lindsay D. Williams has chosen a feminist icon to represent the Queen of Cups. Annie Oakley was the iconic cowgirl sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows. Tapping into her intuition, staying grounded during stressful situations and always showing up with emotional maturity, enabled Annie to outshoot one of the most experienced men in her field. She stood firm and with an attitude of “You can absolutely hit that bullseye” managed to work her way out of poverty to experience wealth and adventure and the respect of her peers. Annie doesn’t look at the Cup - “Jug” in this Tarot image. Instead, she has her eyes focussed on her goal ahead. Her own personal bullseye. She appears calm and confident and firmly grounded in the knowledge that she has reached the maturity to know what she desires, and to make it happen.
It’s back to the water in the next card from Catrin Welz-Stein’s Tarot of Mystical Moments, with a woman sat on a shell on the sea bed, her octopus tentacle hair floating freely in the flow of water. She is at one with her surroundings, her environment and her feelings. A golden light pours down on her and she appears to glow. She is a caring, motherly spirit, taking the seahorse under her arm like a child. Even the other fish swim towards her, drawn to her open heart and the care she shows for others and herself.
The Queen of Cups not only represents a person of emotional maturity who cares and empathises with others, but she also teaches us to take care of ourselves first, to understand and connect with our emotions to understand ourselves better. Only then are we able to open our hearts to others. With her throne firmly grounded and her feet and dress mixing with the water, she is connected not only to herself, but to the outside world and to other people.
