.gif)
The Empress (Tarot card)
Encyclopedia
Trump Card
Trump Card was an American syndicated game show that aired from September 10, 1990 to September 6, 1991 and was hosted by Jimmy Cefalo. Debi Massey served as hostess and Chuck Reilly was the announcer. The show was produced by Telepictures Productions, Createl, Ltd., & Fiedler-Berlin Productions...
or Major Arcana
Major Arcana
The Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...
card in traditional Tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
decks. It is used in Tarot card games as well as divination.
Description and symbolism
Arthur Edward WaiteArthur Edward Waite
Arthur Edward Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A...
was a key figure in the development of modern Tarot interpretations. However, not all interpretations follow his theology. Please remember that all Tarot decks used for divination are filtered through personal experience and standards.
Some recurring keywords are:
- Mothering ----- Fertility ----- Sexuality ----- Abundance
- Material prosperity ----- Pleasure ----- Comfort ----- Power
- Nature ----- Delight ----- Desire ----- Physical attraction
- Health ----- Sensuality ----- Beauty ----- Satisfaction
The Empress sits on a throne wearing a starry crown
Crown (headgear)
A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power, legitimacy, immortality, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death. In art, the crown may be shown being offered to...
, holding a scepter in one hand. The Scepter is representative of her power over life, her crown has twelve stars representing her dominance over the year, and her throne is in the midst of a field of grain, representative of her dominion over growing things.
History
The Empress seems to have had a rather uneventful five centuries. WaiteArthur Edward Waite
Arthur Edward Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A...
and the other occultists are responsible for the starry crown, the emblem of Venus, the waterfall, and the vegetation and wildlife. In historical decks, the Empress sits on a throne
Throne
A throne is the official chair or seat upon which a monarch is seated on state or ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, an instance of metonymy, and is also used in many expressions such as "the power behind the...
, almost always holding a shield
Shield
A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....
or orb
Globus cruciger
The globus cruciger is an orb topped with a cross , a Christian symbol of authority used throughout the Middle Ages and even today on coins, iconography and royal regalia...
in one hand and a scepter in the other. The shield typically bears an eagle, the heraldic emblem of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. The Empress Adelaide
Adelaide of Italy
Saint Adelaide of Italy , also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was the second wife of Otto the Great, Holy Roman Emperor...
, beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
by the Catholic Church, seems a likely historical person this card may allude to.
Interpretation
According to WaiteArthur Edward Waite
Arthur Edward Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A...
's The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, The Empress is the inferior (as opposed to nature's superior) Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, the "Earthly Paradise". Waite defines her as not being Regina Coeli
Queen of Heaven
Queen of Heaven is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Christians, mainly of the Roman Catholic Church, and also, to some extent, in the Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches, to whom the title is a consequence of the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, where the Virgin...
(the Blessed Virgin Mary), but rather a Refugium Peccatorum
Refugium Peccatorum
meaning Refuge of Sinners is a Roman Catholic title for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its use goes back to Saint Germanus of Constantinople in the 8th century....
- a fruitful mother of thousands: she is above all things universal fecundity
Fecundity
Fecundity, derived from the word fecund, generally refers to the ability to reproduce. In demography, fecundity is the potential reproductive capacity of an individual or population. In biology, the definition is more equivalent to fertility, or the actual reproductive rate of an organism or...
and the outer sense of the Word, the repository of all things nurturing and sustaining, and of feeding others.
The Empress is mother, a creator and nurturer. In many decks she can be shown as pregnant. She can represent the creation of life, of romance, of art or business. The Empress can represent the germination of an idea before it is ready to be fully born. The Empress is often associated with Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, goddess of beautiful things as well as love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
, and indeed the Rider-Waite deck brandishes her symbol upon a heart
Heart (symbol)
The heart has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past, also intellectual core of a human being...
-shaped bolster
Bolster
A bolster is a long narrow pillow or cushion filled with cotton, down, or fibre. In western countries, it is usually placed at the head of bed and functions as head or back support...
. The Empress is also often interpreted to be Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
, goddess of abundance. She is the giver of earthly gifts, although at the same time, she can be overprotective and possessive. In anger she can withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. Due to her fury and grief, Demeter keeps the Earth cold and barren until Spring when her child is returned to her.
Mythopoetic Approach
She is the Queen of Heaven, as shown by her crown of stars. She is the Great Goddess, the consort of the dying god. She’s associated through her cross sum (the sum of the digits) with Key 12 The Hanged Man, the Dying God, her Son (or daughter) and Consort, who dies at Autumn Equinox or Winter Solstice, and is reborn with Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, or Beltane. She’s also associated with Key 21, The WorldThe World (Tarot card)
The World is a trump or Major Arcana card in the tarot deck. It is usually the final card of the Major Arcana or tarot trump sequence. In the tarot family of card games, this card is usually worth five points.- Description :...
, the final card of the Tarot. Through death, rebirth, and reproduction the world is renewed.
She is associated with Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
, both as the mistress of heaven and as the Ur-Poisoner. According to some tales, Isis achieved the queenship of heaven by poisoning Ra
Ra
Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
with a serpent and refusing to heal him until he told her his secret name. Isis’s consort was Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
, an example of The Hanged Man.
The Empress is closely associated with the suits of Disks (Earth) and Wands (fire/masculine generative force). She is the mistress of the Knights (12th cards of the Minor Arcana), who as Grail Knights are in some sense searching for her, and, like their counterpart in the Major Arcana, the Hanged Man, may well die for her.
She is also associated with Ishtar
Ishtar
Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte.-Characteristics:...
, who went alive into the underworld and came back. She is sometimes associated with Demeter, the mother of Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
. When Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
, the lord of the underworld, kidnapped and raped Persephone, Demeter stopped everything from growing until a deal was struck whereby Persephone spends part of the year with her, part of the year dead.
The fruit on her gown suggests a pomegranate. The pomegranate, of course, is the fruit that Persephone thoughtlessly or hungrily ate in the underworld, which binds her to it for part of every year. It also suggests the wall hanging behind The High Priestess
The High Priestess
The High Priestess is the second trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination. In the first Tarot pack with inscriptions, the 18th-century woodcut Marseilles Tarot, this figure is crowned with the Papal tiara and labelled La...
’s throne, veiling us from the greater mysteries.
When she appears in a spread, she may represent life itself asserting itself through our attempts to master it. She can also represent the smothering of a blanket of ivy as it paralyzes and chokes the forest. She often represents mothers, good and bad, or the demands of the real world. She can also portray the blood flowing throughout all living things, and the womb and the tomb.
The Empress may also represent the Object of Desire. Most obviously, the love of the beloved, the love and approval of parents, especially (but not solely) mothers. While this may be healthy, over attachment to the object (or to the idea of the object) can be a danger sign.
If the Empress is the Object of Desire, the Hanged Man (or a Hanged Man substitute from the Minor Arcana
Minor Arcana
|thumb|[[King of Swords]] card from a Minor Arcana deckThe Minor Arcana of occult or divinatory tarot refers to the portion of a Tarot deck that consists of 56 cards. The Minor Arcana are roughly similar to the cards found in a common deck of playing cards...
) is the one who desires. This can inspire Great Works, or trap the Querant in pathology. Attachment can lead to death, metaphorically or otherwise. When The Empress kills (again, metaphorically or otherwise), it is usually by consuming, suffocating, or poisoning.
The Empress may represent the veil of illusion, Maya (illusion)
Maya (illusion)
Maya , in Indian religions, has multiple meanings, usually quoted as "illusion", centered on the fact that we do not experience the environment itself but rather a projection of it, created by us. Maya is the principal deity that manifests, perpetuates and governs the illusion and dream of duality...
. In the Book of Thoth deck, she holds a lotus in her hand, associating her with the mother of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, the mother of the knowledge that transcends the world.
In her beneficent aspect, she gives, nurtures, and/or celebrates life. In her negative aspect, she takes it, either literally or figuratively.
When Demeter is inverted it portends either an opposite or challenge to the previously portrayed aspects of her card. If the card shows up upside down it would mean difficulty (although not lack of success) in her positive attributes. This would include denial by the certain loved one, or the potential to change this future through personal action. The inverted Empress should not necessarily imply the opposite of the card, but should be taken as a sign for a rise to challenge (i.e. your loved one won't come around etc.), to be oneself, to become the Empress and satisfy ones own individual needs in order to accomplish ones goals. Essentially, this means growing stronger through being yourself (in many ways potentially)and becoming the person capable of overcoming certain obstacles in ones life. The Empress can have a very strong influence on a mans life, whether inverted or upright.
Alternative decks
- In the Vikings Tarot, Saga the Empress sits on a beach with a seal, a vast ocean stretching out behind her.
- In the X/1999 Tarot version made by CLAMP, The Empress is Kanoe.
- In the The Legend of the Legendary HeroesThe Legend of the Legendary Heroesis a Japanese light novel series by Takaya Kagami, with illustrations by Saori Toyota which was published by Fujimi Shobo in Dragon Magazine from February 25, 2002 to October 25, 2006, and has 11 volumes. Its sequel, began publishing on October 25, 2007 and currently has 9 volumes...
Tarot, The Empress is Iris Eris.
- In the Mythic Tarot deck, the Empress is depicted by DemeterDemeterIn Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
.
In pop culture
- In The House of the Dead 4The House of the Dead 4The House of the Dead 4 is a light gun arcade game with a horror theme and the fourth installment of the House of the Dead series of video games, developed by Sega. The game is an interquel and takes place between the events of The House of the Dead 2 and The House of the Dead III, and introduced...
, part of SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's The House of the Dead seriesThe House of the Dead (series)The House of the Dead is a video game franchise published by Sega and created by in-house designer Atsushi Seimiya of AM1....
of light gunLight gunA light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
games, the Empress is the name of the third boss, a chainsaw wielding giant. All of the bosses in the House of the Dead seriesThe House of the Dead (series)The House of the Dead is a video game franchise published by Sega and created by in-house designer Atsushi Seimiya of AM1....
are named for cards from the Major ArcanaMajor ArcanaThe Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...
.
- In Persona 3Persona 3Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, originally released in Japan as simply , is the fourth video game in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series of console role-playing games developed by Atlus, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei series of video games...
, character Mitsuru Kirijo and Persona 4 Margaret, Igor's assistant, are The Empress Arcana Social Link. This arcana features notable female mythological figures, such as Mother Harlot, GabrielGabrielIn Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
, and Skadi. Also, both of these Social Link characters have an elegant appearance to them.
- The Empress is a monster card in the Yu-gi-oh!Yu-Gi-Oh!is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...
card game, as part of a group of cards called the Arcana Force.
- The Empress is an enemy stand in Jojo's Bizarre AdventureJoJo's Bizarre Adventureis a manga written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. Every main character's name in each part can be read as JoJo. The manga, published by Shueisha, first ran in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 2002, before being transferred to the seinen magazine Ultra Jump in 2004. The current story...
, used secretly by minor character Nena to attack Joseph Joestar by infecting his arm with a flesh puppet.
- The Empress represents Alessa Gillespie in the Silent HillSilent Hillis a survival horror video game series consisting of seven installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, have been developed by an internal factor, Team Silent...
tarot symbology.
- In the SNES game Ogre Battle: The March of the Black QueenOgre Battle: The March of the Black Queenis a 1993 real-time strategy role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, directed by Yasumi Matsuno with artwork by Akihiko Yoshida...
, the Empress is portrayed as sitting on a throne with a tiara on her head, wearing red robes, and being surrounded by a cloak of feathers. On drawing the Tarot card after liberation of one of the towns, it increases the characters' charisma by 1, and restores their HP to maximum (better than the PriestessThe High PriestessThe High Priestess is the second trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination. In the first Tarot pack with inscriptions, the 18th-century woodcut Marseilles Tarot, this figure is crowned with the Papal tiara and labelled La...
) when used in battle.