Queen of Wands is a chapbook by Samira Stephens that arranges a series of experimental poems around the Major and Minor Arcana of the tarot. Each poem adopts the name of a tarot card (The Fool, The High Priestess, The Empress, etc.) and uses the card’s symbolic language as a springboard for a deeply personal exploration of identity, cultural heritage, diaspora, gender, mental health, grief, and artistic agency. The collection moves from the naïve optimism of The Fool through the trials of the reversed cards, culminating in Judgement and a re‑assertion of self. Throughout, Stephens blends surreal imagery, South‑Asian and Australian cultural references (lehenga, marigolds, Thornbury, High St), mental‑health terminology (fluoxetine, anxiety, chronic tension), and a raw, confessional tone that oscillates between melancholy, defiance, and hopeful empowerment. The work functions both as a poetic meditation on the tarot’s archetypal journey and as a manifesto of a diasporic woman claiming her creative voice.
Topics
Tarot Framework as Narrative Arc for Self‑Exploration
The chapbook uses the sequence of Major and Minor Arcana as a structural backbone, mapping the poet’s inner journey onto the archetypal tarot narrative from The Fool to Judgement.
Diasporic Identity and Cultural Hybridity
Poems interweave South‑Asian dress, Australian urban locales, and multilingual code‑switching to articulate the tension and richness of living between cultures.
Feminine Power and the Queen of Wands Motif
The recurring image of the Queen of Wands serves as a symbol of agency, creativity, and reclaimed feminine authority against patriarchal constraints.
Mental Health, Grief, and Fragmented Self
References to therapy, fluoxetine, chronic tension, and vivid depictions of anxiety and depression reveal a candid portrait of psychological struggle and healing.
Creative Process, Artistic Agency, and Language Play
The poet foregrounds the act of writing itself—experimenting with form, reversal, and visual metaphor—to assert control over narrative and identity.
Gender Expectations and Patriarchal Critique
Through cards like The Emperor and The Hierophant, the poems interrogate patriarchal structures, questioning prescribed gender roles and cultural expectations.
Spatial and Urban Imagery: Australian and Global Settings
Specific places (Thornbury, High St, chemist warehouses) anchor the poems in lived geography, juxtaposing global cultural symbols with local Australian scenes.
Reversal and Inversion: Subverting Traditional Tarot Meanings
Reversed cards are used to flip conventional tarot interpretations, mirroring the poet’s own subversion of cultural and personal narratives.