Scorpio in the Druidcraft court cards

Last in our exploration of Scorpio on the tarot -but not least - Scorpio in the court cards. But which one – or ones?  Different traditions have different astrological correspondences when it comes to the Court Cards.  

For instance, the Book-T system attributes the cardinal attributes (initiating things) to the Queens, fixed (maintaining order) to the Kings, and mutable (being able to adapt and transform) to the Knights.  Each court card is also linked to the elements, with Pages with Earth, Knights being associated with Fire, Queens with Water, and Kings with Air.

Other decks follow a different convention. They keep the Knights as carriers of mutable qualities, but have the Queens taking on the ‘fixed’ attributes and the Kings the ‘cardinal’ ones.  This gives us the Queen of Cups as the court card associated with Scorpio.  That combination of Water and fixed-ness suggests being in control of her emotions and very self-contained – strong Scorpio qualities! She trusts her instincts and is very intuitive, in touch with the watery world of emotions. Feelings cannot be ignored – or only at your peril.  Other Scorpio traits which could be seen in the Queen are seductiveness and mysteriousness!  

Queen of Cups (detail): Druidcraft Tarot

The Druidcraft Tarot was not designed with astrology in mind, but I can see a Scorpionic element in its Queen of Cups, not least from the scorpion edging out from under her cloak and the snake emerging from under her throne! The Queen stands at the water’s edge, a chalice in her hands, positioned in such a way that the full moon appears to be rising from it. She’s able to draw deep into the depths of her emotions and intuition to transform dreams into creative reality. 

The Queen of Cups is often seen as a healer, such as a therapist or counsellor – someone who’s willing to accompany others into the depths of their psyche and emotional world in order to heal themselves. 

 

The snake and the scorpion, both creatures associated with Scorpio, remind us that we need to recognize our desires, our fears, our cravings – whatever it is that’s driving us; only when we’re truly aware of them should we attempt to master them, otherwise we run the risk of drowning.  The water appears tranquil, as does the Queen - calm on the surface yet carrying tremendous power for transformation within.

Druidcraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections