The beautiful Queen of Pentacles sits on a throne surrounded by examples of fertility both natural and man-made.  As we move from the Knight to the Queen, there are a number of shifts that show an increase in power and wisdom as relates to the Earth element.

For one, the Queen is seated on a throne of stone.  Carved with symbols of bounty and fertility, the Queen has settled down.  She does not roam for knowledge like the Knight.  Rather, she looks within (notice how she looks downward).  She has learned that she does not need to range far and wide to be a master of her Court.  Perhaps more importantly, she understands that this is not the job of a Queen.  A Queen is as much a symbol for the land she rules as she is its caretaker, its steward-mother.

That we have grown in our power in the element is obvious.  Notice the obvious increase in size and in weight of the pentacle in the queen card when compared to the Knight and the Page.  Now, the elemental symbol is quite large.  It is weighty enough that she must rest it in her lap.  However, there is a sense of control here now.  Whereas the Page and the Knight held the pentacle with both their hands, the Queen looks more relaxed, one hand cupping the pentacle on her lap and the other seeming to stand by in case it begins to slip.

She has restored the balance that seemed to be lost in the Knight card for she wears the ruddy surcoat and the green veil.  Whereas the Page was severely unbalanced between Nature’s power and man’s power of the element, here the Queen has achieved a balance between the forces of Nature that are at Gaia’s disposal and the power of mankind to utilize the resources of Earth and work our own successes.  The garden in which she sits echoes this.  There are stands of flowers that look like tulips or irises (flowers that grow from bulbs) which suggests cultivatation of the garden space, as the roses twining in an arched bower at the top of the card reinforces.  The rabbit in the card shows how her power over the element has spread beyond mere soil and plant fertility.  Now the fertility sustains other life.  Her power has expanded to serve other living beings.  The land here is fertile and we notice for the first time the presence of water in the card.  Perhaps this is why the Page and the Knight did not have things growing in their fields — the elements are interdependent upon each other for success, just as humans are interdependent within our ecological and social systems.

Lessons From The Queen: As power grows, so does responsibility to settle with that power and make life better for the wider population, true mastery of an element or power comes from careful balance between what is man’s and what belongs to the Gods, it takes less for us to tend our skills as those skills grow in weight and substance, fertility in the earth suit requires the presence of the Mother element (Water) before our plowings and sowings come to fruition (don’t forget to remain receptive and to water your gardens with the waters of motherly nurturance).

Read about the King of Pentacles…

Photo of Queen of Pentacles card, art by Pamela Colman Smith under direction of A.E. Waite, originally published by the Rider Company, 1909.