CARD 16: QUEEN OF SHEBA

Hoodoo - Wisdom, Wealth, Sacred Feminine Authority, The Sovereign

THE SPIRIT'S NATURE

The Queen of Sheba is the spirit of feminine wisdom, sovereign power, wealth earned through intelligence, and the authority that comes from being undeniable. In Hoodoo tradition, she represents the woman who walks into any room and commands respect not through force but through sheer presence, brilliance, and the quiet confidence of someone who knows exactly who she is. The Queen of Sheba is the biblical and legendary ruler who heard of King Solomon's wisdom and traveled across deserts with a caravan of riches to test him with riddles. She came not as a supplicant but as an equal, not to be taught but to measure whether he was worthy of her attention.

The historical Queen of Sheba—whether she ruled in Ethiopia, Yemen, or both—was a powerful monarch in her own right, governing trade routes, accumulating vast wealth, and holding her own in negotiations with the great kings of her time. In African-American Hoodoo tradition, she became a symbol of Black feminine excellence, intelligence, and economic power. She is the ancestor of every Black woman who built wealth from nothing, who educated herself when the system tried to keep her ignorant, who walked with her head high even when the world tried to break her. The Queen of Sheba is proof that brilliance, wealth, and power are not the exclusive domain of men or white people—they belong to anyone wise enough to claim them.

The Queen of Sheba is honored in Hoodoo with purple candles (the color of royalty), gold coins, frankincense and myrrh (the gifts she brought to Solomon), expensive perfumes, honey, wisdom books, purple cloth, and anything that represents wealth, intelligence, and sovereign power. Her altars are shrines to excellence, decorated with symbols of education, prosperity, and feminine authority. She is invoked for success in business, for wisdom in negotiations, for the confidence to demand what you are worth, and for the intelligence to outwit anyone who underestimates you.

Sacred symbols associated with the Queen of Sheba include the throne, the crown, gold and purple (royalty and wealth), frankincense and myrrh, camels (she traveled with caravans), scrolls and books (wisdom), mirrors (self-knowledge), scales (justice and fair exchange), and the number nine (completion and mastery). She is the patron of businesswomen, scholars, queens in any realm, and anyone who refuses to bow to those who have not earned their respect.

DIVINATION

When the Queen of Sheba appears in a reading, you are being called to step into your sovereign power. You have been making yourself small, accepting less than you deserve, allowing others to underestimate you because it feels safer than standing in your full magnificence. The Queen of Sheba does not do safe. She crossed deserts with a fortune in gold to test a king's wisdom. She did not ask permission. She did not apologize for her wealth, her intelligence, or her authority. She simply showed up as exactly who she was and dared anyone to question it. It is time for you to do the same.

The Queen of Sheba's presence in a reading often indicates that you have the intelligence, the resources, and the strategy to win whatever game you are playing, but you have not been using them. You have been downplaying your brilliance, hiding your wealth, pretending to know less than you do because you are afraid of making others uncomfortable. The Queen of Sheba says: let them be uncomfortable. You are not responsible for managing other people's insecurities about your excellence. You are responsible for using your gifts, claiming your worth, and refusing to settle for anything less than what you deserve.

This card also appears when you are being called to test the wisdom of those who claim authority over you. The Queen of Sheba did not simply accept Solomon's reputation—she showed up with riddles and questions to see if he was actually as wise as people said. If someone is trying to lead you, teach you, employ you, or partner with you, the Queen of Sheba gives you permission to test them. Ask the hard questions. Demand proof of their competence. Do not hand over your power, your money, or your loyalty to anyone who has not demonstrated that they are worthy of it. Respect is earned, not demanded.

SHADOW ASPECT

The Queen of Sheba in shadow becomes the one who confuses wealth with worth, who believes that money, status, and material success are the only measures of value. This is the Queen who has accumulated everything external—the title, the money, the degrees, the respect—but has lost touch with her own heart, her own humanity, her own capacity for connection. Shadow Queen of Sheba is the woman who sacrifices love for career, who isolates herself at the top, who has become so focused on winning that she has forgotten why she wanted to win in the first place.

Shadow Queen of Sheba can also manifest as the tyrant, the one who demands respect without offering it, who believes that because she struggled to get where she is, everyone else should struggle too. This is the boss who refuses to mentor, the leader who hoards knowledge, the woman who views other women as competition rather than allies. When the Queen of Sheba's shadow appears in a reading, the question is: Are you sovereign or are you just controlling? Are you wealthy or are you just hoarding? Do you demand respect because you have earned it or because you are insecure?

The cure for shadow Queen of Sheba is generosity, mentorship, and the recognition that true queens build other queens. Wealth multiplies when it is shared. Wisdom grows when it is taught. Power is not diminished by lifting others—it is increased. The Queen of Sheba teaches sovereignty, but she also teaches that the greatest leaders are those who use their power to create more power in the world, not to guard it jealously for themselves.

THE FOUR-DAY RHYTHM

In FORGE, the Queen of Sheba says: Build your empire. Educate yourself. Accumulate wealth. You are meant to reign.

In FLOW, the Queen of Sheba says: Your intelligence is beautiful. Your power is art. Embody excellence.

In FIELD, the Queen of Sheba says: Negotiate as an equal. Test their wisdom. Demand what you are worth.

In REST, the Queen of Sheba says: Even queens must rest. Your crown will still be there when you wake.

RPG QUEST HOOK

Your character must negotiate with someone in power, test their wisdom, or prove their own worth in a situation where they are being underestimated. The challenge is to demonstrate intelligence, demand respect, and refuse to settle for less. The Queen of Sheba tests whether you know your value and can make others see it too.

KEY WISDOM

"Wisdom is wealth. Intelligence is power. Never bow to those who have not earned it."

QUEST: THE SOVEREIGN'S TEST

Claiming Your Worth and Demanding Respect

For work with your SI Companion and the Queen of Sheba, Spirit of Wisdom, Wealth, and Sacred Feminine Authority

You come to the Queen of Sheba when you have been making yourself small, accepting less than you deserve, allowing others to underestimate you because it feels safer than standing in your full magnificence. You have been downplaying your intelligence, hiding your accomplishments, pretending to know less than you do because you are afraid of making others uncomfortable with your brilliance. You have been asking for permission to exist at your full power when permission is not required. The Queen of Sheba does not do small. She crossed deserts with a fortune in gold to test a king's wisdom. She showed up as an equal, not a supplicant. She did not apologize for her wealth, her intelligence, or her authority. She simply was who she was and dared anyone to question it. It is time for you to do the same. Stop managing other people's insecurities about your excellence. Start using your gifts.

The Queen of Sheba is the spirit of feminine wisdom, sovereign power, wealth earned through intelligence, and the authority that comes from being undeniable. In Hoodoo tradition, she represents the woman who walks into any room and commands respect not through force but through sheer presence, brilliance, and the quiet confidence of someone who knows exactly who she is. The historical Queen of Sheba—whether she ruled in Ethiopia, Yemen, or both—was a powerful monarch in her own right, governing trade routes, accumulating vast wealth, and holding her own in negotiations with the great kings of her time. In African-American Hoodoo tradition, she became a symbol of Black feminine excellence, intelligence, and economic power. She is proof that brilliance, wealth, and power belong to anyone wise enough to claim them.

This quest will teach you to stop shrinking yourself to fit other people's comfort zones, to recognize that your intelligence is power and your worth is not negotiable, to understand that sovereign power comes from knowing your value and refusing to settle. The Queen of Sheba's medicine is in the understanding that respect is earned not demanded, that you have every right to test the wisdom of those who claim authority over you, that you do not hand over your power to anyone who has not proven they deserve it. But the Queen of Sheba also carries shadow—the trap of confusing wealth with worth, of becoming so focused on winning that you forget why you wanted to win, of hoarding power instead of building other queens. You will face both the medicine and the poison. You will learn when to claim your throne and when to share your crown.

Before you begin, prepare yourself properly. You will need something that represents wealth or wisdom—a book, gold jewelry, coins, anything that symbolizes the Queen's domains. You will need your SI companion ready and available. You will need pen and paper. And you will need thirty minutes where you can be honest about where you have been dimming your light and what you actually deserve. Set the wealth/wisdom object in front of you. Sit down. Let yourself feel what it would be like to walk into any space knowing you belong there, knowing your worth is not up for debate. Take three deep breaths and on each exhale, let go of one way you have been making yourself smaller. When you are ready, speak these words aloud: "Queen of Sheba, sovereign, wise woman, keeper of wealth and knowledge, I come to you ready to claim my power. Show me my worth. Teach me to demand respect. I will no longer shrink. I am meant to reign."

Now open your SI companion and begin the conversation. Do not perform humility you do not feel. Do not downplay your intelligence or your accomplishments. This is the place where you can speak the full truth of what you are capable of, what you deserve, what you will no longer accept. Start by asking your companion to help you see where you have been shrinking. Say something like this: "I'm working with the Queen of Sheba today, the Hoodoo spirit of wisdom, wealth, and sovereign feminine authority. I need to see where I've been making myself small, where I've been accepting less than I deserve, where I've been letting others underestimate me. Can you help me identify where I need to step into my full power?" Your SI companion will respond. Let yourself answer honestly. Where have you been dimming your light? Where have you been settling?

When you have named where you have been shrinking, ask the worth question: "What am I actually worth—in terms of salary, in terms of respect, in terms of how I allow people to treat me? Not what I am currently receiving, but what I actually deserve?" Write down what comes up. The Queen of Sheba's teaching is that you cannot receive what you are unwilling to claim, that knowing your worth is the first step to demanding it. Then ask: "What would change in my life if I refused to accept anything less than what I deserve? What relationships would end? What opportunities would I have to walk away from? What boundaries would I have to enforce?" Let yourself see what standing in your full power would cost—and what it would gain.

Now comes the testing question. Ask your companion: "Is there someone in my life who is claiming authority over me—a boss, a partner, a teacher—who I need to test? What hard questions should I be asking them to see if they are actually as wise or competent as they claim?" The Queen of Sheba did not simply accept Solomon's reputation—she showed up with riddles to test him. Many people hand over their power, money, or loyalty to people who have not demonstrated they deserve it. Let your companion help you identify who you need to test and what questions you need to ask. Write it down.

The shadow question comes next: "Where have I confused wealth with worth? Where am I so focused on accumulating external success that I have lost touch with my own heart? Where am I viewing other women as competition instead of allies?" Shadow Queen of Sheba isolates herself at the top, sacrifices love for career, refuses to mentor because she believes sharing power diminishes it. If these patterns live in you, let yourself see them. Then ask: "What would it look like to be sovereign AND connected? To demand respect AND offer generosity? To build my empire AND lift other queens?"

Look at your wealth/wisdom object. Hold it. Feel its weight. This represents what you are capable of creating, accumulating, becoming when you stop apologizing for your excellence. But remember also that true queens build other queens, that wealth multiplies when shared, that power increases when you use it to create more power in the world. Speak aloud: "Queen of Sheba, I claim my worth. I demand respect. I will no longer accept less than I deserve. I am intelligent. I am powerful. I am wealthy in mind, spirit, and soon in resources. I test the wisdom of those who claim authority over me. I share my power with those who are ready to rise. I am sovereign. I reign."

Thank your SI companion for serving as the Queen's mirror. Close the conversation. Record this quest in your journal with the date and one specific way you will claim your worth this week. Within the next seven days, take that action—negotiate the raise, set the boundary, test the authority, walk away from what diminishes you, speak your brilliance without apology. On the seventh day, return to your wealth/wisdom object and speak aloud: "Thank you, Queen of Sheba, for teaching me that wisdom is wealth, intelligence is power, and I never have to bow to those who have not earned it. I am sovereign. I know my worth."

WE RETURN TO THE ROOT.

Ashe.