The Queen of Wands

Since the tarot court cards feature prominently in The Girl With the Collywobbles, I'll be providing in-depth explanations of my characters' court cards. I'm giving a general overview and I'll state which card belongs to which character, but I otherwise won't tie it into the plot on account of potential spoilers. For that reason, these posts will be of interest whether you've read the book yet or not.

The Queen of Wands rules from the 21st degree of Pisces to the 20th degree of Aries. Lon Milo Duquette states that this corresponds to those born between March 11th and April 10th. Pulling charts, I've found that to be off by a couple of days, but it's good for a general ballpark. If you're close to the cutoff, you can find your exact degree here.

The Queen of Wands is a natural leader. She has a magnetic quality about her, the kind of person that's able to draw others to her by the sheer force of her energy. She is kind-hearted, steadfast, and persistent. She exudes a natural confidence, and can be quite loving when the impulse strikes her.

On the down side, she's prone to melancholy and moodiness in general. This leads to brooding and the tendency to take slights where none are intended. Although she does well in attracting both devoted followers and loving suitors, her explosive temper and tendency to misjudge situations can easily alienate her champions. This same tendency to misjudge situations can result in her being easily deceived, a fact that likely plays into the hypersensitivity and occasional panicked outbursts you find in this character.

The Queen of Wands gets a bad rap in a lot of the descriptions. Aleister Crowley's interpretation of this card strikes me as particularly harsh. I'm not sure if that's because as a Libra, he looked unfavorably on his astrological opposite, or if it's a reflection on how women with dominant personalities were (and still are) perceived. Regardless, there's a genuine warmth associated with this card and author Robert Wang reminds us that the placement of her hand on the leopard's head demonstrates the incredible taming power of the Queen. Although capable of great ferocity herself, her natural authority brings the environment under control. This card represents a person with a profound power that can be destructive among the undisciplined, but which is constructive and stabilizing in someone who has mastered self-control.

This card corresponds to our protagonist, Aletheia. Her birthday is April 4th.

Thalia Flashback

The following is a brief flashback that I had to cut from Collywobbles. Approximately a week before Thalia died, she treated Aletheia to dinner before heading out on the last con they would do together. 


     Aletheia sipped her wine. It went so well with the gnocchi, but she wondered if she ought to be drinking before a job.
     “Dear,” Thalia said. “You are such an amazingly good person, but the world you live in is just so very black and white. Don’t be afraid to let a little sin into your life once in awhile.”
     “I have sin in my life.” Aletheia lifted up the wine glass and pointed to it. “See?”
     Thalia took a sip of her own wine. “That your sin is my virtue only proves my point. You have so much compassion for the weak and helpless but if you never let yourself get out of control, you’ll never know how much our sins can confuse us, how hard it is to know what’s really happening in the moment.”
     “I don’t know. I get plenty confused.”
     “It’s all the thinking. The ivory tower is good for that, but, no, I mean a very different kind of confusion. It would just be so much easier if you went on spring break every now and again. It would help.”

Aletheia's Chart

Aletheia's full name is Aletheia Nous O'Fallon, showing her mother's fondness for the Ancient Greeks, as well as her mother's interest in philosophy.

Aletheia is an Aries, so she has quite a bit of fire in her. Edgar could no doubt attest to this, given the coffee incident. Her Pisces ascendant causes her to present herself as sensitive and vulnerable, and she often flip-flops between her highly emotional presentation and her feisty Aries sun.

Her moon is in Virgo, which tends to give a critical undercurrent to the personality. In her case, it's more self-critical than critical of others. Virgo moon can also indicate a critical mother, and her own mother was indeed critical. Although Aletheia tells Thalia that her mother didn't expect much of her, a very different picture is painted in her memories. Her mother's criticality is indirect and, at times, dismissive. She was fond of assuming that Aletheia should be able to understand highly complex and abstract texts at a relatively young age, offering very little by way of guidance. Her mother's criticism of the education Aletheia receives in high school also has the implicit message that somehow Aletheia has erred by not having complete mastery of Heidegger by the time she's a teenager. That her mother was experienced as critical is shown by the negative self-image Aletheia has of her own mental processes, namely that she has "a broken brain." The inaccuracy of this self-perception is shown through her memory of Thalia, who thinks that Aletheia's only problem with thinking is that she does it far too much.

Another aspect of her moon is that of worry. Moon in Virgo people are often prone to worrying. This is shown in her character but, of course, Aletheia has a lot to worry about!

Aletheia's moon is in the seventh house, which has interesting repercussions, given the direction her love life goes in throughout Collywobbles.  A seventh house moon is often found among those that have mentally ill partners.

Lastly, her Venus in Aries in the first house lends itself to attracting suitors, and in some cases, men competing over her. Certainly, she isn't lacking for suitors. She dates two different men in the first year that she's in New Orleans. She has certain men hit on her even when it's wildly inappropriate to do so, and of course her greatest suitor--and the most determined one--is Edgar.