Monday, August 10, 2015

Queen of Cups - The Red Tent



The Queens of Cups might bring to mind that awful mean Red Queen of Hearts that was in the story of Alice in Wonderland. She was a weird and scary one for sure. The Queen of Cups is nothing like that Queen fortunately. This Queen lives her life from the perspective in believing that it is better to be loved than to be feared, the polar opposite from the way the Red Queen of Hearts sees life.

I don't believe there are any solely good or bad cards in the Tarot decks. There is a positive and a negative to be found in life, and it is the same in the Tarot, because it is about the journey of life, told through the cards. The Queen of Cups can be self-indulgent and morally wayward if she lacks a development of her inner life that reflects her soul qualities.

I was happy to draw the Queen of Cups this morning. I see this card as an strong affirmation for me, as I identify so much with her, and the element of water. Being a person who has been involved in trusting, and deepening my intuition for many years now, I relate to the Queen of Cups, as I greatly value and follow my gut and my emotional intelligence over my intellect. During the times when I stopped trusting my intuition is when I went off the rails and lost my way.

Cups (Hearts)are represent the emotional, relationships, friendship and romance. The colour red is also associated with hearts, love, passion. In ancient societies red also symbolizes strength and female power.

Recently was told about The Red Tent which is now a growing contemporary movement based on the ancient tradition of women gathering during the time of their menses, or moon time, and women gather to support one another, their families, communities and the world at large. I can imagine the Queen of Cups sharing her strength and power through her own stories with her sisters all gathered to celebrate their strength and power, heart to heart in The Red Tent.



2 comments:

Ellen said...

I'v read the book "The red tent and I really liked it
this post reminds me of the start of my own period when my mother hushed me to talk about it when my father and/or brother were in the room. Luckily in my own house and with my own daughters there was such a great deal more freedom around our moontime. I remember my husband "complaining" how expensive it was to have three women in the house who all needed tampons etc :D

Unknown said...

Oh Ellen I sure empathize. Before I started my period I asked my mother to test her to see what she would say. She coyly asked me if I hadn't heard "that word" before? Lol. My husband used to want me to write down everything I spent including my tampons! At that point I was ready to stuff a box of them into his pie hole!

I would love to read the book, see the movie, and attend a Red Tent gathering. There is a group in Halifax, and I connected with the woman who has them there, which is close by.

Thank goodness we are moving beyond this kind of shaming and foolishness over simply being women, but in many countries we are still so far behind and even going backwards. Thank God I do believe in the power of the individual, and the creative power and strength of women to make real change!