The Queen of Swords' Burden

Why does this Queen tend to be seen in a negative light? She's seen as the cold one, angry, revengeful, stern and abrasive. Yes, perhaps in her negative aspects. And yes, her blade can cut and wound but that's not always a bad thing. I'm interested in focusing on her positive characteristics and therein lies the problem because her positives, I've come to realize, are a difficult thing for some to bear.

She defends herself and her own honour. She can decipher and sense your motivations behind the words you use. She'll see if there's a discrepancy or an incongruity there the second you open your mouth. Is this not a good quality? Is it not one you would want to cultivate and enhance in yourself? If she were a man, we'd be patting him on the back for being sharp and intelligent. Yet, when she does it, she's deemed a bitch, stuck up and unapproachable.

Why is her strength admonished and reduced to a weakness while a man's strength is respected and raised to a 'holier than thou' status?

It is said she lacks heart and warmth. Yet, it's her heart and warmth that draws you close. It's her wit and intelligence that attracts you to her. It's her strength that you recognize and envy. She's seen things in her life and when she feels, she feels deeply. If she's betrayed, these feelings become like a poison in her blood or a sharp knife that turns inward. It might take a long time for her to heal and though she may forgive, she cannot forget. All the power in the world will not allow her to forget. It's not set up that way. The experience becomes imprinted on her brain and every painful experience she endures thereafter become her little jewels. They are gifts but don't ever tell her that. She'll laugh in your face.

All of that darkness and tragedy give rise to a kind of wisdom she can't help but make her silent weapon - her weapon against the set up and structure of this world, its falseness and inauthenticity. So, make no mistake, if you cross her, you will regret it. Not because she's going to do anything. She most likely will not do a thing. She'll simply turn her back on you. She's been there, done that. She knows what you're all about. She doesn't have time for the unworthy.

If she sees you're up to no good, if she senses you're a taker or a liar, she'll smile a little smile but her wheels are turning. In that moment, she's made up her mind about you and she'd be right even if you think she's wrong. It's just that she's become such an expert at detecting bullshit, there's nothing you could say or do to redeem yourself once you've lost her trust. She's already figured you out. It's too late.

She sometimes wishes this 'gift' wasn't so. It makes her feel lonely. She doubts whether there IS any good in the world. She doesn't want to raise her sword to you but you leave her no choice. Her word is like gold. When she gives, she gives fully and wholeheartedly. She gives with her Being. She can't settle for anything less than that in the other.

But what makes her utterly beautiful and larger than life is her ability to cut you down without ever having to use that sword. Her words carry intent and meaning. In that space between words, too, a stirring takes place and she can feel it. And she knows you can feel it, too. She's in a league of her own. You'll wish you'd never met her. Why? Because she's seen right through you and she knows you don't deserve her. She knows that you know you don't deserve her, either. And that thought satisfies her, immensely.