No lesson was posted this week, so we have been fumbling through with each other (the students) in trying to create the card...Eliza will post it when she can...and we will move on...but this card is a VERY hard card for me...bringing up issues with motherhood...Egads! This is such a hot button for me I have been avoiding the process all together! One of the girls in the class bought Tarot for Dummies book and so I went out and found it as well...So this weekend I have been working on this concept...GAH...I get hung up on this issue!
One of the students posted this to help us out:
THE EMPRESS TAROT CARD
Feminine, motherly, fertility, creation.
The Empress is the Earth mother.
The Empress hair is bound by a wreath of myrtle.
The heart shaped shield has the symbol of Venus.
She wears a crown of twelve stars.
The Empress is the Goddess of love, Venus and the symbol of universal fecundity.
DIVINATION MEANING : Represents the mother or sometimes the grandmother (I am going on my Grandmother who raised me until I was 12 years old to represent this card)
THE EMPRESS~Basic Tarot Symbols
A gown decorated with pomegranates, a crown of stars, a rod, a heart-shaped shield with the symbol for Venus, a field of ripe wheat.
Basic Tarot Story
Having decided what shape his future will take, the Fool strides forward. But he is impatient to make his future a full-grown reality. This is when he comes upon the Empress. Hair gold as wheat, a crown of stars, a white gown dotted with pomegranates. She rests back on her throne surrounded by an abundance of grain and a lush garden. It is possible that she is pregnant.*
Kneeling, the Fool relates to her his story. And she, in turn, smiles a motherly smile and gently gives him this advice: "Like newly planted grain or a child in the womb, a new life, a new love, a new creation is fragile. It requires fertile soil, patience and nurturing, it needs love and attention. Only this will bring it to fruition." Understanding at last that his future will take time to build and create, the Fool thanks the Empress and continues on his way.
* Pregnant. Well, not in the Rider-Waite deck she isn't. But she is in early decks, and it is an apt symbol for this card.
Basic Tarot Meaning
The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.
Thirteen's Observations
The Empress card is one of the easier trumps to read. She's Mother. Generally, Mother in a good sense. Patient, loving, giving, generous. If defining her as the Querent, you can say that they are currently feeling like a mother hen, worried about their children, new business, new creation, new romance. Male or female, they want to dote and hover and fret over every little sneeze and problem. If defining the Empress as someone related to the Querent, well, it might well be the Querent's Mom, or a woman who's very motherly toward them.
Of course, the Empress can also be the worst aspects of an attentive Mom; she can smother, not know when to let go, be possessive and jealous of those who would take away her "baby." It is important for the Querent to realize that plants can die from over-watering as easily as neglect.
This card tells the Querent that if they want their new romance, new career, new business, new creation to grow into all it can be they have to pay attention to it, baby it and be willing to let it take those first steps when it is ready. Most of all, like any pregnant mother or good gardener, they have to be patient. All things need time to gestate and sprout.
The mother figure is the first relationship the male has with a woman and can in many cases color and influence subsequent relationships throughout his life. In extreme cases, this can become a negative aspect. The Empress signifies birth, fertility, pleasures of the senses and fulfillment. Domestic harmony and maternal care and protection are present, representing roots and a firm foundation for future progress. An involvement with nature offers inspiration and reassurance, as does artistic creativity. Feminine progress, fruitfulness, fertility, attainment, accomplishment, mother, sister, wife, marriage, children, feminine influence, ability to motivate others, practicality, intuition.
The Empress is your creative imagination when filled with desire to create something you should be willing to nurture and nourish it along to birth and afterwards.
