The Empress
As a symbol of growth and harmony, the Empress encourages us trust in ourselves through connecting with our inner strength and compassion.
The Empress Tarot Card Description
“You never know what you can achieve so long as you never stop trying.” ― Stephanie Thornton, The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora (2013).
The Empress card is an exciting one to see in a reading. The extroverted, passionate, and feminine power and energy The Empress exudes are intended to support and encourage you. Her crown, covered in glamorous jewels (12 stars to be exact, but who's counting), symbolizes her spiritual connection to the cosmos.
She is surrounded by a lush and fertile landscape, which represents growth, abundance, and the nurturing aspect of our planet Earth.
Her shield has the symbol of Venus on it, which represents love, beauty, and harmony. Her flowing gown is often decorated with pomegranates, which represent vibrancy and life's fruitful potential (terrible pun but needed to happen).
Key Takeaways
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The Empress tarot card represents growth, abundance, nurturing, love, beauty, and harmony.
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When upright, The Empress brings good times in love and relationships, deeper connections, emotional support, self-care, and embracing your nurturing side.
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In career and finances, The Empress upright signifies abundance, creativity, success, meaningful projects, and positive relationships at work.
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Reversed, The Empress can indicate feeling neglected, emotional distance, restlessness, and a lack of motivation. She gently encourages reflection and addressing these imbalances.
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The Empress also encourages you embrace your vulnerability, practice compassion, and stay grounded.
Qualities
- Upright: Nurturing, abundance, growth
- Reversed: Disharmony, neglect, disconnection
Celestial Influence
- Planet/Zodiac: Venus
- Card Number and Arcana: III (Major Arcana)
- Element: Earth
- Crystal: Emerald or rose quartz
Try meditating on the Empress card while holding emerald or rose quartz to connect with your vulnerability and inner strength.
Symbology of The Empress Tarot Card
Crown
Our Mother Earth wears a crown with twelve stars which reveal her connection to the mystical realm and the cycles of nature. Her crown also shows her role as a nurturing and guiding force.
Throne
The Empress sits on a fierce throne, surrounded by lush and fertile scenery; together, symbolizing her stability and grounded nature.
Shield
Next to our beloved Empress is her shield with the symbol of Venus, standing for love, beauty, and harmony. Her shield further represents her protective and nurturing qualities as well as her embodiment of feminine energy.
The Upright Empress: Interpretations and Meanings
Of all the tarot cards, The Empress most confidently embraces her wild ways (which we celebrate!). Here are some other interpretations:
Love and Relationships
The Empress upright in a love tarot reading can be seen as a positive sign. This could be a period where connections deepen, and there is an abundance of love and fulfillment in your relationship. Things might get a little wild, in a good way.
If you are single, The Empress encourages you to open yourself to new possibilities and embrace the sensitive and nurturing parts of yourself. This, of course, can feel quite vulnerable, but by authentically showing up as your true self, you are more likely to attract someone who is aligned with your values and beautiful qualities. Self-care and caring for others are major themes for this card, too.
For those looking to have a family (including chosen families), the Empress is the "strongest pregnancy card" in the Tarot deck. This doesn't necessarily mean having children, though it could if that resonates with you. It could mean the growth of a new idea, ritual, or meaningful connection.
Career and Finances
When it comes to your career and finances, the Empress upright signifies abundance, creativity, and success (whatever that means to you). This might mean taking on more projects that deeply align with your creative ideas, values and passions. It could also mean having your work (which we know is amazing) recognized by others and things finally falling into place.
Given the caring and nurturing nature of the Empress, this could also be a period where you are building great relationships with colleagues and collaboratively creating a sense of community within the team.
The Reversed Empress: Warnings and Challenges
If you see the Empress reversed in a love and relationship reading, don't fret! While it may indicate potential challenges or imbalances in your life, these things often have a way of sorting themselves out in the end.
Love and Relationships
Our confident Empress in reverse might signify a lack of nurturing and care in your relationships at this time. Without that emotional connection, either you or your partner could be feeling neglected or distant.
Periods such as these are a normal part of being in a relationship, but it may be worth attending to and gently addressing at a pace that works for everyone involved.
The Empress reversed may also suggest that you or a loved one have been suppressing or neglecting their feminine side and need to embrace it in order to bring their masculine and feminine energies into balance. This may not feel right to everyone, which is absolutely okay. Trust that you know yourself best.
Career and Finances
When it comes to career and finances, the Empress reversed might suggest feelings of restlessness and a lack of motivation and creativity. It might be worth journaling or reflecting on what aspects of your career energize you and fill your cup and, where possible, incorporating those elements either into your work or hobbies and creative pursuits.
Departing Wisdom from The Empress
When the Empress tarot card appears, know that you are in good company. Her presence reminds each of us to connect with our true selves and express our vulnerability through compassion and care towards ourselves and others.
Her earthy groundedness reminds us to detach ourselves from any resistance we may have to the natural cycles of life (they're everywhere). This might mean simply acknowledging that something is difficult right now, compassionately accepting that we are doing the best we can at this time, while having a future-oriented mindset to get through things, because we always do.
Mantra: I surrender to life's rhythm, letting go of resistance and trusting in the unfolding journey.
References
The Way of Tarot | Alejandro Jodorowsky, Archive.org
The Marseille Tarot Revealed A Complete Guide to Symbolism, Meanings & Methods | Yoav Ben-Dov
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot | Arthur Edward Waite
Disclaimer
The contents of this article are provided for informational purposes only. Take what resonates with you and leave behind anything that doesn't. Anahana is not liable for any interpretations, insights, or outcomes that may arise from using the information provided.
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