Queen of Swords – I Predict the Future!

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Jamieson Wolf

When I got back into reading Tarot, one of my coworkers kept joking with me when I pulled out my cards. “Ooooh!” he would say. “You’re about to predict my future! Do you know when the world is going to end? What are the stock markets like?”

I would laugh it off, telling him that Tarot cards didn’t predict that kind of future. For a long time, however, I believed that Tarot cards predicted the future in some way. I kept drawing cards from my Thoth deck, wanting to see a better future for myself than the present that I was currently living at the time.

I kept trying to skew what I saw in regard to the future that I wanted so desperately. At the time, I had just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was trying to let go of a really abusive relationship. Every answer the cards gave me was a negative one and I would find no clarity or hope in my readings. I earned a new hatred for the suit of Swords as the 10 of Swords kept coming up for me. I grew to almost fear what the cards would reveal.

There came a time when I realized that I had to change my thought pattern around the MS and the relationship that I was in. It took a lot of work and, though I still drew cards every day for myself, I had stopped asking what would happen. Instead, I focused on what I need to know or what I needed to focus on while I was going through my shift in the way I thought. The cards provided me with the guidance that I needed.

After the bad relationship was dealt with and ended for good, I realized that I had been using the cards in the wrong way. I had been looking to Tarot to fix my problems, to give me the bright future that I so desired, without wanting to do any of the work myself.

It took me a while, but I finally understood that Tarot is really an ally, not a crutch. It was not the be and end all and often wouldn’t answer my question but lead me in the direction of the work that I needed to do on myself. The cards were mirrors, showing me the work that I would have to do on myself so that I could move down that path that I was on.

When I began to write Queen of Swords, I knew that Jackie was a Tarot reader, but how attuned to the cards would she be? I decided to use the readings that Jackie gives herself throughout the book as kind of foreshadowing on what is about to happen or what she has to deal with to get to where she needs to go.

In every Tarot reading throughout the book, Jackie always draws The Queen of Swords. This card represents herself but also the work she needs to do on herself. One thing I’ve found with Tarot cards is that they will often keep appearing until we’ve confronted what they are trying to tell us or we have done the work we need to do to progress.

For example, at one point in the novel, Jackie draws the Queen of Swords, the Tower and the Sun. Now, I know as the author that Jackie will need to claim her true self and embrace the focus and coolness of the Queen of Swords if she is to survive the crumbling of the Tower and find joy when the Sun comes. The beauty of Tarot is that those three cards could have a completely different meaning. It could mean to stop fooling herself and get more self aware of who she is so that she can survive the tower and find the light in the dark. That’s the beauty of Tarot. The cards can be read so many different ways and it depends on how you read the cards together.

Part of the issue that I had with starting Queen of Swords was that Jackie was a seasoned Tarot reader, but how aware of her situation did I want her to be? Would I go the meta route and have Jackie aware that she was actually living in a real-life Tarot adventure? Or would I go the other route and, even with her Tarot cards, have Jackie remain clueless about what would happen next?

In the end, I chose not to make Jackie aware of the fact that she was living through a living Tarot deck. That would have been too much I think and knowing Jackie as I do, I know that she would have overanalyzed everything. The book would never have gotten past the first few chapters if she was constantly worrying about what was to come.

In the end, Jackie had to live through her own adventure and so did I during the writing of it. Even though I was writing the book, and drawing Tarot cards along the way about what should happen next, I’m the only one who could decide that for Jackie, no matter what the Tarot cards would say.

I took their guidance to heart, looked at myself in the windows that the cards provided, and learned about myself and Jackie along the way.

Queen of Swords is available now in paperback and in various ebook formats. Find it here:

I do hope you enjoy Jackie’s tale and perhaps you’ll use the Tarot cards to look into what is coming for you? Either way, have fun!