The Hare, Queen of Bows

I chose this card as a daily draw to meditate on today, from the Wildwood Tarot.

In the Wildwood deck the Court cards are represented by animals instead of human figures, and I find it an interesting added dimension to traditional understandings of the various cards. The Hare, today, is no exception.  A Hare stands partially upright in a rolling field by night.  One paw lies on a stone image of the Green Man/Green Woman, and high above a round and luminous moon shines.  In the hazy light  a dark shape in the distance looks rather mysterious: it could be a stand of pines, or a tree-covered ridge.  

None of the symbols are anything I would traditionally associate with the Queen of Wands (Bows in this case).  Wands represent fire, energy and movement, and tend to be connected to the sun rather than the moon. The moon represents intuition, and the "dark side of creativity" - the inner mystery as opposed to energetic, outer creative force of the Wands suit.  Normally we see the moon associated with the Queen of Cups, a water card.  The Hare itself represents intuition and rebirth, so it connects well to the moon, however rebirth and hares also connect to the Judgment card, which is represented by the element of fire, and the sun, like this Queen, so there is a unifying element here.  In fact, I like the touch of intuition given to all the Queens in the Wildwood deck (water is included in each depiction except this card, which includes the moon) because it is a quality naturally associated with femininity in general, not just a particular sort of femininity (though the Queen of Cups might have a special depth of intuition, I suppose).

Wildwood Tarot
Mark Ryan, John Matthews, Will Worthington
Sterling Ethos

                                  

 I usually think of the Queen of Wands as "the woman who can do it all."  She is successful, vibrant, and knows how to strike a balance between career and home.  In this way the Hare is appropriate, as it also represents the idea of balance.  The symbol of the Green Man and Woman are also fitting in this way.  In Wildwood, the Green Man is the Emperor, who provides structure, guidance, authority and  protection. The Green Woman is the Empress, who nurtures love, family, and creativity.  I believe the Queen of Wands/Bows embodies both sets of characteristics.  

So as for myself?  I tend to feel that my strongest Queens are Cups and the Pentacles (making for a rather muddy combo!). I feel fairly strong in Wands, though my energy tends to be more passive and introverted.  Swords is the one I'm trying to develop.  When I look at this Queen of Wands/Bows card I don't automatically connect strongly to the book meaning, but I do connect very deeply to the images on this particular version, and feel it's a very good match for how I've been feeling lately: in a process of rebirth, connected and steadily deepening my connection to my intuition, nurturing, creative, balanced.  I really enjoy the new elements that the Wildwood Queen of Bows has to offer.