THE EMPRESS
The Daughter of the Mighty One
Venus
“Fertility”
Seated on a comfortable throne and surrounded on one side by a field of ripening wheat is The Empress, a beautiful and somewhat matronly woman who is dressed in a white robe decorated with pomegranate fruits, the feminine symbol of fertility. Her right arm is raised to about shoulder level and in her right hand she holds a scepter with a round globe resting atop it, symbolizing her dominion over the natural world. Atop her head and gracing her golden blond hair sits a crown into which are set twelve glowing white stars. A pearl necklace of seven round stones compliments her robes. To the left of her, leaning against the side of her throne, is a heart shaped shield inscribed with the astrological symbol of Venus, a circle with an equal armed cross extending from its bottom arc. In the background stands a grove of cypress trees through which flows a blue stream that forms a small pond to the right of the gray stone rock upon which her throne sits. She is smiling as by tradition as she is said to be in the early stages of pregnancy. The Empress invokes an atmosphere of the mother power of fertility and fecundity – of being pregnant with a creative idea or a new life and of the promise for the future either may hold.
Venus, the ancient Roman Goddess of Love, is the astrological symbol of our desires and attractive powers. She is often regarded as the vehicle of passion and desire but, in the Tarot, her association with the Empress expresses her powers of fertility and fructification as the Universal Mother, Mother Nature, in her highest and most spiritual aspect. Her energies of growth, development and imagination lie at the root of all artistic creation and creative development.
ORACLES
You will achieve emotional well being, material security and happiness in your life. The gift of fertility will be yours. Through it you will grow and develop and find pleasure, satisfaction and fulfillment.
When Appearing Reversed in a Reading
This card may indicate a potential loss of material security, trouble in a close personal relationship or infertility. Misfortune may overtake you as the result of a self indulgent life style. Unwanted problems may occur due to sexual irresponsibility. Only decay results from an unstable or unbalanced relationship based on material, sexual or emotional manipulation.
THE TREE OF LIFE
“The Path of Luminous Intelligence”
The fiery luminance of love as expressed in the positive and creative aspects of Nature reveals the laws hidden within its mystery to those who travel the Path of Luminous Intelligence and seek the Inner Light of Holiness that burns at the root of their being.