The Empress
The Empress card signifies motherhood, love, gentleness, and sensuality. It represents a nurturing and passionate approach to life, embodying the glory and creative force of nature. This card highlights the balance between nurturing care and passionate excess, signifying a strong and powerful feminine archetype that is both gentle and commanding.
Keywords
Introduction
The image for this card came to me very naturally, and my interpretation is quite straightforward and in tune with the traditional Smith-Waite portrayal—"motherhood, love gentleness [...] sexuality, emotion, and the female as mistress” (Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack). Again, I'm not exactly gunning for the gender binary with my deck, but the importance of this archetype spoke to me. I thought of all the women in my life who at one point or another embodied the Empress and the sensual pleasure she takes in life, the love she shares with others, and the pursuit of pleasure she encourages, and took inspiration from them when drawing my card.
Traditional Attributes
Flowing water for the glory and creative force of nature, the star crown for wisdom and the universe—all of the Empress’s traditional attributes are present. One significant departure is the heart. Instead of a shield with a heart and Venus emblem, I wanted to display the more passionate and dangerous side of the Empress. Like a gentle spring day, she can be nurturing and mild, but she is also a mistress of passionate sexuality and decadent excess. To quote Pollack again, “The Empress, along with such mythological counterparts as Aphrodite or Ishtar or Erzulie, represents something very grand. They signify the passionate approach to life. They give and take experience with uncontrolled feeling.” And so she clutches and upholds the heart, that innermost symbol of our emotions.
Inspiration and Imagery
A news clipping of an opera singer playing the role of Aphrodite in a Baroque Opera used to hang in our house. The Empress’s costume was inspired by the costume the actress wears in that picture. I quibbled over whether the Empress should be nude, clothed, or clothed but bare-breasted, and the latter felt like the most powerful choice. Her chest is bare, but her dress and jewelry indicate the status and power she wields.
Fyodor Pavlov tarot
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