The Empress
Name: The Empress
Number: III
Astrology: Venus
Qabalah: Daleth
Chris Gabriel November 9, 2024
The Empress is maternal, feminine power. In each depiction we find the Empress crowned, enthroned, and bearing a scepter. She is the perfect balance to the masculine Emperor.
In Rider, she wears a flowery white dress marked with red flowers, and a crown of 12 stars resting atop her laurels. She wears a pearl necklace and her blonde hair falls down to her shoulders. She is looking calmly ahead. Her raised wand is topped with an orb while her other hand rests upon her knee. She is seated on voluptuous red cushions, and near her feet, a stone heart bears the mark of Venus. Behind her flows a waterfall.
In Thoth, we find the Empress in a pink blouse adorned with bees and flowers. Her skirt is emerald and her crown is a curved mitre with a Globus Cruciger. Her girdle is the wheel of the Zodiac. She has pale, almost white, blonde hair, and we see her only in profile. She is expressionless, with aLotus wand in one hand, and her other held out beneath. This posture forms the Alchemical sign of Salt. Waxing and Waning Moons emanate from spirals to her left and right, each topped with a pink and white bird. At her feet there is a shield with a double headed white bird. Beside it is a Pelican pecking her breast to feed her blood to the chicks. This is the ultimate maternal sacrifice.
In Marseille, she wears a royal dress marked with a triangle. Her crown is of gold, and topped with a Fleur de Lys and she has a triangular necklace. She holds her wand, topped by the Globus Cruciger, and cradles the eagle marked shield beside her. A plant grows at her feet.
In each of these cards, the Empress serves as a balance to their respective Emperor. Where the Emperor is the Father of the Nation, the Empress has an altogether different role? Thoth provides the most direct explanation - , she gives her blood, sweat and tears for the sake of Love. This is the role of the Good Mother who, just as the Good Father, sacrifices her desires for the sake of her children, even to the point of bodily harm.
The Thoth card also reveals the tripartite components of the feminine, as the tripartite Moon we saw in the Priestess. The Empress is the full Moon, the Maternal.
As Venus, she is the feminine ideal of beauty, the sensual and aesthetic. She is a Lover of life, children, art, and even men. Her willingness to sacrifice for the sake of her children shows that it is not a simple equation, but a weighted, meaningful one. The symbol of Venus is the Mirror, something Venus is often holding, but as the Empress, the Goddess of Love will scar her breasts to feed her young.
When the Empress is pulled in a reading, I find it tends to relate directly to a significant woman in our lives, a mother, lover, or dear friend. Appreciate the sacrifices she has made for you, and reciprocate her Love.
