I had the pleasure of signing copies of Queen Up! at a bookstore in New Hampshire recently.  I love connecting with different communities at book signing events because it is an opportunity to share the message of empowerment and meet new people.  On this particular Saturday afternoon I had the blessing of meeting a number of wonderful people. There was a mother and her adult twin daughters who learned about their dominant energy alignment and how it shapes their personality and motivations. We were all curious to see if the twins would draw the same Queen card, and they did. That was a first!

Another mother with her young son told me about her first Tarot deck which had belonged to her mother. I met a fellow social worker, whose years of dedication to serving others had earned her a retirement which she was enjoying by further serving the community as a volunteer. I also met someone from the local pagan community who not only had awesome purple hair (a perfect color for Spirit and Royalty) but also shared a name with one of my favorite nephews.

As the afternoon was coming to a close, a young girl and her mother came over to the table to check out the book and the Queen cards I had on display. With her mother’s permission, I walked the girl through a Queen Up demonstration. I explained to her that each Queen represents a different super power, and that we all have all of the superpowers, but we usually favor one over the others at different times in our lives. Rather than asking her to shuffle, I showed her each of the Queen cards and asked which one she liked the best.

She looked very serious, and took a few moments to carefully consider each one. She chose the Queen of Swords. I managed to refrain from describing this energy as the ‘kick ass Warrior Queen’ and instead explained that the Queen of Swords is the Warrior who protects people and fights for what she believes is right. She looked confused so I added ‘like Wonder Woman’ and her face lit up with recognition.

She proceeded to ask questions.

“Why does she have a snake?” referring to the cover art by Shaheen Miro.

I explained that snake is a powerful guide representing rebirth because they can shed their skin, and also representing healing and wisdom. I told her a lot of people are afraid of snakes but that snakes are a powerful animal and we don’t need to be afraid of them.

She told me she loves all books and wanted to write a book someday. She then pointed to the Queen of Cups card and said “I think this one is you.”

Her mother asked why and she said “Because you are nice.”

I explained how on target her intuition was- not because I am particularly nice specifically- but because the Queen of Cups is. Her superpower is compassion, love and healing.

Watching this young lady as she asked questions and interacted with the cards filled me with the energy of the Queen of Cups- so much so that I started to get teary. This beautiful child showed no indication that she had been taught that asking questions was rude, or wrong, or annoying. She showed no indication that anyone had yet imposed limitations on her regarding what kind of life she could or couldn’t have. This is what Queen Up is all about, and listening to the enthusiastic questions from this little Queen reminded me that future generations are going to make this world an amazing place if we will just get out of their way and let them.