Freud believed that the king and queen represent the dreamer’s parents, whilst a prince or princess represents the dreamer. The queen is a symbol of power and authority in all women. She may also stand for the unconscious, intuition, nature and the instincts. Jung saw royal figures as representations of the animus and anima—the male and female principle—and the queen personifies the feminine forces within the psyche, the unconscious feeling for life. The shadow queen can slip into aggressive and destructive patterns of behavior, particularly when she perceives that her authority or capacity to maintain control over the court is being challenged. The ice queen rules with a cold indifference to the genuine needs of others—whether material or emotional. The queen bee is a mixed image—the astonishing ability to power the entire hive without leaving her ‘chamber,’ yet at the cost of enslaving the rest of her community.
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