The Empress (III)

Meanings according to Rider-Waite:

ASTROLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Venus in Taurus as a symbol of fertility and growth.

THE EMPRESS. The Empress is the inexhaustible power of Nature, ceaselessly bringing forth new life. This card signifies vital force, fertility, growth, and the birth of the new. She is the inexhaustible source of all life, of our creative potential, and of our capacity to perceive subtle vibrations and to embody them in the form of something new. On the physical level this is growth and fertility; on the emotional level, creative abilities; on the level of the mind, a wealth of ideas and inventiveness; and on the level of consciousness, the cognition of the new. The constant birth of the new signifies both the continuous change of our life and the necessity of bearing the pain associated with this birth.

From the book: Hajo Banzhaf. THE TAROT HANDBOOK. Translated from the German by E. Kolesov. Publisher: Center for Astrological Research, 1999.

3 - THE EMPRESS Venus The third card of the MAJOR ARCANA is called THE EMPRESS and is similar to the "woman clothed with the sun" described in the Apocalypse. The card depicts a woman seated on a throne. In her right hand she holds a shield bearing the emblem of a phoenix, and in her left hand a scepter crowned with an orb or a trefoil. Beside her left foot there is sometimes a crescent moon, and on the head of THE EMPRESS there is either a crown or a diadem of stars. Sometimes the Empress is called "Generation" — for students of the College of Mysteries, she is the Alma Mater, from whose body one is "born anew." In the pseudo-Egyptian TAROT, THE EMPRESS is depicted upon a cube painted with eyes, with a bird perched on the index finger of her left hand. The upper part of THE EMPRESS's body is surrounded by a golden nimbus — the emblem of the power that pervades the whole tangible Universe. THE EMPRESS is often depicted as pregnant. Showing us that even the Universe is not born without travail, the Third ARCANUM OF THE TAROT depicts a woman in labor. But unlike the virgin PRIESTESS, she personifies fruitfulness and fertility and is depicted illumined by the Sun. Above her head is a crown of twelve rays or stars — a symbol of manifestation and of time. This image is found in the Apocalypse, symbolizing the fact that the coming of the Savior takes place in time and in space. The TAROT card depicts a woman ready to bring forth a child and holding in her hands the Egyptian "key of life" — a symbol of dominion over the created world (and for this reason she is called THE EMPRESS). With this ARCANUM is associated the concept of the will of the Creator, laying the foundation of all subsequent creation. From the PRIESTESS, THE EMPRESS has been given the understanding of the process of creation — it is within her power to decide what shall and what shall not be granted independent existence. She (THE EMPRESS) commands the process of creation, opening or closing the door from the unseen idea into the manifest world. The concepts of wisdom and folly are linked with the card of THE EMPRESS, and she corresponds to that stage of a person's life at which one must become aware of those desires upon which one creates one's own destiny. For this reason the card "THE EMPRESS" also has a second name — "Comprehension." This ARCANUM corresponds to the planet of practical wisdom and mistress of creation — Venus, with whom is connected the foundation of all mysteries — the greatest mystery of Birth.

In the upright position the card THE EMPRESS symbolizes creation, new life, light, beauty, and goodness in daily and material affairs, in feelings and thoughts. And also fruitfulness, material income, stabilization in domestic affairs. (As if maternal guardianship over the destiny of the home and hearth.) Sometimes — marriage, or a wedding, an increase in offspring, success in creative endeavors.

In the reversed position the position of THE EMPRESS may signal that you are perhaps laying down a new cycle, striving toward action, and you require a clear awareness of them. The card may also signify domestic troubles, material difficulties, infertility, or the desire for pregnancy, difficulties in the assertion of one's Self, the decline of creative powers. "For the success of any undertaking it is important to be able to unite one's activity with reason, not with emotions. Remember that to affirm and to desire the opposite is to doom oneself to destruction."