Queen of Stones - The Artiste

Imagine my surprise when today I pulled The Artiste – The Queen of Stones (Pentacles) from the Chrysalis Tarot. She represents the creative impulse of imagination and intuition. This is an impulse I am always trying to feel and learning/practicing how to work with.

She is the fourth Queen I've pulled during The Solitary Tarot Challenge. A few day ago I've got Gaia – The Empress. So this Queen completed the full ranks of female royals I've got for my daily draws.

When I read what the LWB had to say about her  I was even more amazed:

“The artiste paints your path through a tranquil grove of ash trees. A butterfly watches the process of transforming blank canvas into glorious reality, a metaphor for your personal journey…. You’ll find yourself immediately drawn to her as she charts your progress with brush strokes of wise and sensible advice”

I could not think of anything to add to this. How beautiful does this Queen link to my Spiritual Journey Spread. Together these four Queens and their Empress unlock hidden doorways to new opportunities  new ways of thinking and they open up windows to let in a fresh breeze.

I am so grateful I chose to participate in this challenge.

Queen of Stones - waking up from hibernation

For today I've drawn the Queen of Stones from the Wildwood tarot. We see a mother bear checking the weather outside her winter lair. Is it already warm enough to end her hibernation and go out with her cubs? Or is it still too cold? 

Like a good Queen of Stones, this bear puts her children first. She is the nurturer, the caregiver, the main source of food and she teaches them how to be a bear. She is protective because she knows  how dangerous the world can be and perhaps she is even hesitant to take her cubs out of her safe haven.

I can relate to this fear for my “cubs”, which started when they left my house to play outside. When I think back this was the time I became more anxious and controlling. Somewhere along the line I began to fear the outside world. Of course this was a long-term process but some intimidating events did speed it up.

When we look at this queen, I feel her hesitance but also her longing for fresh air and adventure; to play with her cubs in a stream filled with salmon. To feel the warm sun on her pelt. Longing for all the good life has to offer, which is so much more than the cave were she was sleeping….

The Queen of Stones is awake

Wildwood Tarot

Lately I am rather tired and  I am lacking the energy to do things. This card came up for me today : the Queen of stones from the Wildwood Tarot. Here she is depicted as a bear and today, her defending and guarding qualities are standing out to me. I like to imagine I am curled up, sleeping, like one of her cubs in the  back of her cave and she is guarding the entrance to hold off anyone who  wants something from me.

It is February; her winter sleep is over and I can imagine she is ever so hungry and because of it, cranky  and ill tempered. She has to go out eventually to get some food. She has to leave her cubs who were born during her winter sleep in order to keep alive and get strong again. Sometimes life is all about difficult choices. Especially when you are a caretaker. This queen wants to protect, to feed and to shelter her cubs but she also has to mind her own well-being in order to maintain her nurturing aspects. There  has to be a balance between caring and being cared for even if you have to do both by yourself.