Liminal/New Liminal Tarot - Empress

3 – Empress

A young yet mature-looking woman rests with her hands on her pregnant belly. She gazes at an apple tree with a squirrel in its branches. A red dragon sits beside her, and behind her a field of wheat grows under the sun and the moon.

The Empress is the Great Mother (or Mother Nature) archetype. Her purpose is to love, sustain, and renew all that she creates. She is pure sensuality and emotion. Her wheat and apples supply nourishment and health; the seeds within offer a chance for renewal. Like the squirrel, she wants to create and gather what is needed to provide for those she loves. The red dragon (the symbolic color of blood and love), however, is a hint at how she will protect her loved ones. Without remorse or hesitation, she will tear any threat to shreds. The moon and sun suggest both a calm nurturing nature as well as a fierce strength. The swirls and spirals indicate the cycles of nature.

Live life to its fullest, love wastefully...Wasteful love never stops to ask whether love is due or deserved, one simply gives it away. ―John Shelby Spong