The Empress is ruled by Venus and is also called the Daughter of the Mighty Ones. She represents motherliness, nurturing, feminine power and Love. The Empress is often shown visibly pregnant, and surrounded by the fecundity of nature - this aspect of her energy emphasises her impulse to life and continuation of life. She turns the seasons and brings Spring as she comes out of the mourning of Winter, and so brings hope and increase. She symbolises fertility and is a positive symbol to those who are hoping to conceive. But she is also a welcome sign when wishing for creative inspiration, because she also represents fertility of ideas. Sometimes she is referred to the Grandmother, which is an ancient reference to her aspect as the Great Goddess. She also rules over nature and protection of the Earth and her resources - animal,vegetable and mineral - for nothing is without its place here. The Empress is the ultimate archetype of womanhood and femininity in all its aspects, and yet she does not represent an individual in the querent's life. The power of the Goddess is to great to be contained in a human individual and to do so would be to engage in hubris that does not serve the individual. Rather she represents a phase in life or energy that we can connect with and honour. When The Empress appears in a reading for you, it is time to consider your own experience of motherhood - whether it is your children or your own mother and often this card will bring a healing with important female figures in your life. What can you now give attention to in your life to nurture and grow it? Image from "Crystal Visions Tarot" © Jennifer Galasso
