The Queen of Swords as AOC
Recently I compared a video of AOC absolutely cold grilling the EPA over water contamination in Morgan County, Georgia, allegedly (ugh) from AI data centers being built there to the Queen of Swords card. Holding up jars of brown well water, she was about to secure a commitment from them to investigate these impacts.
While some people commented to tell me that “AOC was the easy one ☺️” there was more than one person that had questions and so I wanted to respond to the main questions here: “Why not the Justice card?”, “Is the Queen of Swords just someone who speaks their mind /genuine?”, and “Why is she the Queen and not the King?”
The Queen of Swords vs. Justice Tarot Card
As a commentor put it, “I love the Queen of Swords for this one but the video instantly made me think of the Justice card!” Yeah, ditto. If you’re familiar with my fun little Tiktok to Tarot Card videos, just know that I also often think of more than one card for the videos I choose to share. Certainly there are a lot of card in the deck that overlap in energy, meaning, and, well, vibes.
So why did I ultimately name AOC the Queen of Swords and not Justice?
Because I don’t feel like we’ve gotten any kind of justice yet when it comes to the human and land impacts of these AI or these data centers.
While a lot of what I read on the Justice card talks about being painfully neutral and objective about what’s happening (again, of which I don’t think AOC is neutral, thank you dearly!) when I watch the Justice card play out in someone’s life as their calculated yearly card or a particularly strongly placed card in a reading, I have found it comes with some pretty big course corrections, some pretty big amends or outcomes to the situation at hand. And a whole lot of time spend inside our “systems” - legal, medical, education, tax.
For example, a woman I know began a Justice year with a breakup that sent her into the hospital, in and out for months, to finally deal with the underlying health conditions she didn’t realize was as bad as it was. She had been trying to keep up with this person who was judging her energy levels (ick). From an outside objectivity, we can think of how unfair and unjust that person was being to her, and how unfair and unjust she may have been treating her body because of it. The course correction didn’t bring immediate healing (just like liberation from injustices is very rarely a quick process), but it did begin the process of getting back on a course where it could be dealt with, though again she faced a lot of injustices within our medical complex.
Does this sound like AOC’s moment from that congressional hearing? Maybe the government still not being able to rectify the injustices, sure. But her grilling the EPA? It didn’t quite fit enough for me. I have yet to really see course corrections happening with Data center impacts. Time will tell, though, and if it does I will eat the words of this blog post and hence forth consider AOC as an living archetype of the Justice tarot card.
The Queen of Sword and Speaking Your Mind
Now, a lovely commentor asked me this, “So is queen of swords just someone who speaks their mind /genuine?” JUST?! Just!? (No shade, this commentor was so thoughtful with this insight).
Do we know the kind of grief and anger we have to be in touch with internally and then alchemize in order to speak out mind in such a clear, cutting, and emotionally centered way? How many of us dream of not breaking into tears in every hard conversation… or, to the other extreme, not to have our voices scream and our blood boil as we lash out our words, and later be instantly regretful and shame-filled?
This is what I told that commenter: “I feel like one (just one) embodiment of the Sword Queen is being able to clearly perceive the grief and suffering of herself/her people and alchemize her empathy into advocacy- like a clear, cool, biting defense of true suffering and what needs to stop / be protected. In our own lives, this may be on our own behalf, while in relation to community, it's on behalf of them. That's how I see this aspect of the Queen ⚔️”
See it takes a huge emotional, let alone somatic, capacity for someone to fully take in, digest and use the grief and rage of injustices, unfairness, abuse, pain, oppression, trauma, and sadness inflicted upon ourselves and others as fuel for deeply clear callsfor justice. For course corrections. For better boundaries or protections. For naming the abuser in the room. And do so from an anchored place, a place where they can mean what they say, say what they mean, and cut through all the bullshit dynamics that swirl around those situation.
In a way, the Queen of Swords is just as emotionally tuned in as the Queen of Cups.
But while the Queen of Cups feels deeply as they hold space and witness the victims (or the part of themselves that has been treated unfairly), the Queen of Swords will feel deeply this treatment (of others or themselves), and in processing it, come to a point of seeing the stark truth, or if not, desiring the truth: meaning she will advocate, protect, and seek out truth vs. hold space, witness, and seek out care the way the Queen of Cups does.
The Queen of Swords or the King of Swords?
Now to get into the structure of the tarot deck, and my own differentiation of the Queen versus the King. A commentor asked me this: “Why is AOC the queen instead of the king? She is mastering the external world, not just her internal world, right? I’m learning and would appreciate guidance.”
And look, there are some deeply wise, seasoned teachers who categorize the Queen as internal mastery and the King as external mastery. And I get why. Because the Queen archetype is so very deeply connected to what is happening on an internal, often emotional, relational, and physical level, despite her suit. But I belief every single court card, every card indeed, exists on the reality plane. Which means because she exists, because you, the person reading the card, exists, you are never not acting into the external space.
Even nonaction is a type of action.
This is how I responded to the comment: “I don’t subscribe to the Queens in tarot as only in or “mastering” the internal world but as someone who moves through the world (ie: actions, behavior, expression) in deep connection with and from experiencing what’s internal, felt, processed through her body, heart, and humanity. The king for me is slightly more detached (not disconnected, simply trying to rise above what’s happening internally to order to lead or act with a really wide understanding of their element (suit) and still hold onto external stability).”
For me, the King rises above what’s internal and acts from there while still in deep partnership with the element of their suit.
The Queen sinks deeper into the somatic, inner experience and acts from there while in deep wholeness with the element of their suit.
Look, I love that yang energy, but ying action can land just as powerfully and potently as yang action.
In “Understanding The Tarot Court” Mary Greer and Tom Little describe BOTH Queen and King as having “expertise in his/her field.” They difference, they say? The King’s expertise is based in public and authority, while the Queen’s expertise is based in interpersonal, intra-personal, and care. For me, AOC is who she is because she is proficient about what people need, not just what authority she has.
Maybe it’s the difference between a civil rights lawyer and a judge. Once certainly had a point of view and a strong opinion. The other is paid not let that interfere in their judgement.
Which one do we think AOC is?
It kinda comes down to this question: Are you translating suffering and pain into clear communication, in order to get to truth and justice? If Justice is now correcting your life’s course or you’re starting to realize the objective truth of the situation, no matter how painful that process (I am so sorry how true that often is), then the Queen’s words have done their work to move you into the Justice card.
