THE EMPRESS

The Empress is the Earth Mother, here seated in a blooming garden. A field of ripe wheat lies before her, sacred to the Egyptian goddess Isis; behind her is seen the stream of consciousness flowing between cypress trees, sacred to Venus. The heart-shaped shield is inscribed with the symbol of Venus.

The Empress’ hair is bound with a wreath of myrtle—again reminiscent of Venus, as are the seven pearls around her neck. She wears a crown of twelve stars, each with six points, denoting dominion over the macrocosm, as does her scepter surmounted by a globe.

The High Priestess symbolizes the virgin state of the cosmic subconscious, but the Empress typifies the productive, generative activities in the subconscious after it has been impregnated by seed ideas from the self-conscious.

The subconscious has control over all the steps of development in the material world; therefore the Empress represents the multiplicator of images.

She is the Goddess of Love, Venus, the symbol of universal fecundity. As the High Priestess is Isis veiled, the Empress is Isis unveiled.

Divinatory Meaning:
Material wealth, marriage, fertility for would-be parents, for farmers, or for people in the creative arts. If its position is not in the best placement in relation to other cards, it sometimes indicates luxury or dissipation.

Reversed:
Infertility, loss of material possessions, inaction, frittering away of resources. Possibility of destruction by war and famine. Poverty may disrupt home. Psychological problems may cause instability.

Dascent Deck