III. The Empress

[sweeneyish]

III. The Empress

 

 

The Empress sits on a gravestone throne, on the same style of tiled floor as the High Priestess. Unlike the High Priestess, she appears to be in a more organic and natural location, filled with lush branches and vines popping with bright pink spheres. She wears a royal purple gown and a blue crown. A vine appears to grow from her body, winding around her right leg and left arm. An orange flower blossoms at the end of the vine and sparkling bulbs of light emanate from the petals. She wears spiked boots, and appears to be pinning the vine down with her right leg. Her body is hunched and (to me) she looks vaguely uncomfortable and unsure, gazing over her shoulder at the past she is leaving behind. 

 

Once again, I find this Empress quite unique when we compare her to the RWS Empress. Unlike the RWS Empress, this one seems unsure, cautious, and not at all comfortable with her position. The RWS Empress is all open lines, while this Empress is hunched and crunched together. In some ways, she reminds me of Tarot de Marseille Empress, especially the Jean Noblet one, who also looks quite young and perhaps not entirely ready for her position. 

 

According to the big book, this Empress is indeed newly pregnant (with the caveat that Valenza does not see his descriptions as the gospel truth, and encourages original interpretations). She is unsure if she will be a good mother, and wonders if she is ready to leave the past behind and put someone else's needs above her own. As such, she is in conflict, which is shown by the way she handles the vine. Her hand holds the vine gently, while her foot seems to aggressively push the vine away. Valenza notes that as soon as she recognizes the vine not as an enemy, but as a part of her, the conflict will resolve and she will be ready to embark on her new calling as a mother. 

 

Keywords: fertility, motherhood, birth, flourishing, change, insecurity, nature, growth 

 

Some questions and topics to consider: 

 

1. While the High Priestess is almost entirely covered in clothes save her feet, the Empress is nearly naked except for her feet (and cape and crown). Why do you think that is? 

2. Who and what does the Empress rule? Does she rule all of the characters depicted in the deck, and the different locales they live in? 

3. Where is the Empress in this picture? Has she gone to the woods on her own to contemplate her life? Or is she in the garden of her castle? 

4. If you met the Empress, what wisdom would she share with you? 

 

 

[AnomalyTempest]

22 hours ago, sweeneyish said:

Some questions and topics to consider: 

 

1. While the High Priestess is almost entirely covered in clothes save her feet, the Empress is nearly naked except for her feet (and cape and crown). Why do you think that is? 

2. Who and what does the Empress rule? Does she rule all of the characters depicted in the deck, and the different locales they live in? 

3. Where is the Empress in this picture? Has she gone to the woods on her own to contemplate her life? Or is she in the garden of her castle? 

4. If you met the Empress, what wisdom would she share with you? 

 

 

 

Since I didn't really have much to add to your description I decided to answer your questions. 😄

 

1. Ever tried giving birth fully clothed. 😛 I just automatically associate the Empress with Birth and Wild Creation. Like the Empress is an overgrown herb garden and the Emperor is like a geometrically designed English Garden, if that makes sense. Clothes are inhibiting, restricting, confining. Shoes are protection, I guess, as is a cape.

 

2. She definitely grew that thorny wall of roses. I'm not sure if it just me but I am noticing a lot of defensiveness in this deck during this study that I hadn't picked up on before. Maybe you are an unwitting guide to my shadow work. LOL

 

3. Let's just run with the Shadow. It's night in the card after all. I think she is outside. She would feel trapped and confined by walls. She is wild creation. There is a wall of thorny roses. Are they keeping something in our out? She's looking back over her shoulder as though she's afraid of getting caught at something. Perhaps her Emperor is overprotective? Maybe she;s not supposed to be sneaking out in the middle of the night.  From here I could have the beginnings of a novel.

 

4 Well, after typing the above, I think she would tell me that the security of the castle and town walls is a trap. Nothing can replace one's independence and freedom. Why did she trade it away... I need to stop. Answering this question will just lengthen the story.

 

I have to say this deck lends itself to storytelling so easily for me. I keep getting sucked into little narratives and before long I have a whole drama going on in my mind. It makes them both easier and harder to read because the story does not necessarily have to do with the spread or positions of the cards.

[Flaxen]

On 4/14/2022 at 9:19 PM, sweeneyish said:

Some questions and topics to consider: 

 

1. While the High Priestess is almost entirely covered in clothes save her feet, the Empress is nearly naked except for her feet (and cape and crown). Why do you think that is? 

2. Who and what does the Empress rule? Does she rule all of the characters depicted in the deck, and the different locales they live in? 

3. Where is the Empress in this picture? Has she gone to the woods on her own to contemplate her life? Or is she in the garden of her castle? 

4. If you met the Empress, what wisdom would she share with you? 

Great questions! It’s interesting how she appears to different people. To me, she looks like she is listening intently. Something has caught her attention and she assessing what she needs to do. 
 

1. She is the one that has created the garden and wild places, in fact she has that wild energy herself. Her marriage to the Emperor has ‘civilised’ her somewhat which is why she is wearing the crown, cape and boots to match his. 
 

2. I think she rules the wild places, the gardens, fields, woods in the Deviant Moon world. Her natural subjects are those who love the wild like herself and she struggles a bit with the townscapes. 
 

3. The chequered floor matches the one with the Emperor. She is part of his world now but is happiest in the garden - the part where she can let everything grow and flourish in its own way. I don’t think the marriage is entirely comfortable - more like an endless negotiation of trying to balance wildness/growth with order/restriction. Too much of either can lead to problems.

 

4. She would counsel someone to keep some of their wild places and always think about what can be grown next. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by Flaxen

[sweeneyish]

On 4/15/2022 at 3:25 PM, AnomalyTempest said:

 

Since I didn't really have much to add to your description I decided to answer your questions. 😄

 

1. Ever tried giving birth fully clothed. 😛 I just automatically associate the Empress with Birth and Wild Creation. Like the Empress is an overgrown herb garden and the Emperor is like a geometrically designed English Garden, if that makes sense. Clothes are inhibiting, restricting, confining. Shoes are protection, I guess, as is a cape.

 

2. She definitely grew that thorny wall of roses. I'm not sure if it just me but I am noticing a lot of defensiveness in this deck during this study that I hadn't picked up on before. Maybe you are an unwitting guide to my shadow work. LOL

 

3. Let's just run with the Shadow. It's night in the card after all. I think she is outside. She would feel trapped and confined by walls. She is wild creation. There is a wall of thorny roses. Are they keeping something in our out? She's looking back over her shoulder as though she's afraid of getting caught at something. Perhaps her Emperor is overprotective? Maybe she;s not supposed to be sneaking out in the middle of the night.  From here I could have the beginnings of a novel.

 

4 Well, after typing the above, I think she would tell me that the security of the castle and town walls is a trap. Nothing can replace one's independence and freedom. Why did she trade it away... I need to stop. Answering this question will just lengthen the story.

 

I have to say this deck lends itself to storytelling so easily for me. I keep getting sucked into little narratives and before long I have a whole drama going on in my mind. It makes them both easier and harder to read because the story does not necessarily have to do with the spread or positions of the cards.

I love your story here. I was thinking about the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress - she does have that wildness to her, and the Emperor, on the other hand, is so

tight laced and inorganic.

 

Re: the shadow work, my reading style tends to go in that direction, which paired with this deck, perhaps goes a little heavy in that direction 😆.

 

10 hours ago, Flaxen said:

Great questions! It’s interesting how she appears to different people. To me, she looks like she is listening intently. Something has caught her attention and she assessing what she needs to do. 
 

1. She is the one that has created the garden and wild places, in fact she has that wild energy herself. Her marriage to the Emperor has ‘civilised’ her somewhat which is why she is wearing the crown, cape and boots to match his. 
 

2. I think she rules the wild places, the gardens, fields, woods in the Deviant Moon world. Her natural subjects are those who love the wild like herself and she struggles a bit with the townscapes. 
 

3. The chequered floor matches the one with the Emperor. She is part of his world now but is happiest in the garden - the part where she can let everything grow and flourish in its own way. I don’t the marriage is entirely comfortable - more like an endless negotiation of trying to balance wildness/growth with order/restriction. Too much of either can lead to problems.

 

4. She would counsel someone to keep some of their wild places and always think about what can be grown next. 

 

This is so wonderful - you give her a lot of power with that description of the wild, and how she actually created it. Totally changed my perspective on the card. Thank you! And actually, the flower she is holding looks like the flower the being is emerging from in the VI of Wands (and that tops the wands in general), which totally connects with rulership over that group, who mostly reside in the woods. 

[AnomalyTempest]

40 minutes ago, sweeneyish said:

This is so wonderful - you give her a lot of power with that description of the wild, and how she actually created it. Totally changed my perspective on the card. Thank you! And actually, the flower she is holding looks like the flower the being is emerging from in the VI of Wands (and that tops the wands in general), which totally connects with rulership over that group, who mostly reside in the woods. 

I really like this depiction as well.  And I never noticed the flower at all.

[AnomalyTempest]

Just thought I'd pop back and leave a link to the Empress discussion of the Deviant Moon from the old Aeclectic forum. https://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=144050 They have some great thoughts on things but I'm not really sure about the etiquette involved in sharing exact quotes and what not so I just decided to do this.

[Flaxen]

9 hours ago, sweeneyish said:

And actually, the flower she is holding looks like the flower the being is emerging from in the VI of Wands (and that tops the wands in general), which totally connects with rulership over that group, who mostly reside in the woods.

I like this! It would be interesting to examine all the cards to see where the flowers appear. 

[sweeneyish]

Totally, @Flaxen I didn’t really think about it until I was looking at the Empress more closely.

 

It‘s interesting, because of the context you both gave, I’m seeing her more and more as kind of feral and animal like - Which explains her (lack of) clothing, and her posture, more like an alert, wild creature dressed by someone to look more civilized. Really cool! 

[AnomalyTempest]

I keep noticing that the "outer" faces all seem to be kind of shocked by whatever they are seeing. Those big round eyes just seem to be saying, "Wtf?"

[sweeneyish]

20 hours ago, AnomalyTempest said:

I keep noticing that the "outer" faces all seem to be kind of shocked by whatever they are seeing. Those big round eyes just seem to be saying, "Wtf?"

 

The eye facing out is super interesting - definitely lets us make our own conclusions.

I’ve been seeing a lunatic quality to it - a madness imbued with the power of the moon. 

[sweeneyish]

Here's a spread for the Empress!

 

[AnomalyTempest]

Yay! I am always excited to see your spreads.  I am taking my mother to Physical Therapy today but tonight I'll give it a go. 😄

[sweeneyish]

Aw, that's awesome, thank you so much @AnomalyTempest! I hope your appointment with your Mom went well, and that your reading does too!

[AnomalyTempest]

I did this last night and was just too lazy to type it all in

.

 

First Impressions: The Sun seems so bright compared to the other cards. So many people. I keep thinking there is something about the King and Queen I am not putting my finger on.

 

1. How can the wild untamed world cultivate my imagination and creativity?

    By encouraging me to dance again? 😛 It will bring it into the light and let it shine. It will help me engage more with others and everything needs sunlight to grow. Don't keep things in the dark or hidden away.

2. How can I nurture this creativity?

    This card is my traditional significator so I am taking it mean I need be my true self and have confidence in who I am meant to be.

3. How can I bring this creative energy into it's creative form

    I need to actually do it. Don't scam myself with negative self-talk and doubts. My creativity is a practical part of who I am. Suppressing it is suppressing myself. Take a practical approach to making my art.

 

I did not play around with this spread and move the cards and such like I normally do. I waited until I was tired to lay it out and I thought I would dream about it but if I did, I don't remember. 😴

[sweeneyish]

On 4/22/2022 at 11:39 PM, AnomalyTempest said:

I did this last night and was just too lazy to type it all in

.

 

First Impressions: The Sun seems so bright compared to the other cards. So many people. I keep thinking there is something about the King and Queen I am not putting my finger on.

 

1. How can the wild untamed world cultivate my imagination and creativity?

    By encouraging me to dance again? 😛 It will bring it into the light and let it shine. It will help me engage more with others and everything needs sunlight to grow. Don't keep things in the dark or hidden away.

2. How can I nurture this creativity?

    This card is my traditional significator so I am taking it mean I need be my true self and have confidence in who I am meant to be.

3. How can I bring this creative energy into it's creative form

    I need to actually do it. Don't scam myself with negative self-talk and doubts. My creativity is a practical part of who I am. Suppressing it is suppressing myself. Take a practical approach to making my art.

 

I did not play around with this spread and move the cards and such like I normally do. I waited until I was tired to lay it out and I thought I would dream about it but if I did, I don't remember. 😴

 

Great reading. Queen of Wands is one of my favourite cards, and especially the Deviant Moon portrayal. That's a good significator!