Astrological Influence: Venus
Key words and phrases: Prosperity. Creativity. Productivity. Wealth. Wellbeing. Giving birth. Nurturing and caring for others Sentimental nature. Practicality. Union. Synthesis. Giving and receiving pleasure. Sensuality. Motivation. Doing physical activity.
Continued growth. Material comfort. Receiving lavish reward. Status. Focusing on the body. Feeling
vibrantly healthy. Social standing. Abundance. Having more than enough. Appreciating beauty. Physical love and affection. Relating to plants and animals. Feeling connected to the earth. Feminine sexuality. Basic needs comfortably met. Marriage. Gain. Fertility. Pregnancy. Maternal instincts. Nurturing. Willingness to help others. Birth. Motherhood. Feet firmly planted on the ground; Successful results of hard work. Fulfilled potential. Good fortune.
Symbolic Meaning
In the Waite deck the Empress depicts a dignified woman sitting on a cushioned throne in a fertile garden. She wears a crown embellished with a cluster of twelve stars and a white robe decorated with flowers, and holds a sceptre indicating that she has power and authority. Her heart-shaped shield is inscribed with the astrological symbol of Venus. In the foreground is a field of corn and a waterfall behind her that is surrounded by trees. The Empress is pregnant and represents that everything is born of the Mother.
The crown is an indication of high status, and elaborate head-dress have been worn for thousands of years, from the feathered head-dress of the Native American chief to the jewelled crown of the monarch. Symbolically, it
have many opportunities to expand our knowledge and awareness. The crown can also represent honour of some kind, triumph and dedication to duty.
The twelve stars symbolise universal fulfilment. It is the number of the Tribes of Israel and Christ’s disciples. There are also twelve gates to the City of Jerusalem, and the “Tree of Life” bore twelve fruits. The twelve stars also relate to the zodiac and the twelve months of the year, representing a complete cycle.
The robe is also a symbol of status and power and is still used today, like the robes of state decorated with white ermine, and the judicial, ecclesiastical and academic dignitaries.
The flowers on the Empress’s robe represent feelings of pleasure and beauty. They suggest that a feeling or ability is beginning to come into being, and there is a freshness of what we are doing. The red colour of the flowers is linked with love and fertility, and signifies vitality, strength, dynamism, life, sensuality and power. They are also associated with pleasure, beauty and relaxation, and denote giving and receiving.
The sceptre was originally a male fertility symbol. It implies royal or divine power and has been used as a symbol of imperial or royal position. The Empress holds the sceptre vertically, which represents the spiritual link between the higher and lower worlds.
The Venus symbol on her shield represents love, harmony, union and beauty. In Roman mythology Venus was the goddess of beauty, love, gardens and springs. Originally she was the Italian goddess of vegetation but was adopted into the Roman pantheon and given the attributes of the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
The shield symbolises protection and liberation, and was part of a knight’s badge of honour and identification.
The corn is associated with summer, harvest, fertility and fruitfulness. It is used to symbolise human fertility, and also represents new life or new
developments in other ways and reaping the rewards of our labour. In Greek myth Demeter was the goddess of agriculture, corn and fertility. It is said that she had sexual intercourse with Iasion in a ploughed field and produced Platus. She also punished Erysichthon with perpetual hunger when he cut down a tree in her sacred grove.
The waterfall is often taken to represent an orgasm, or any display of emotion that is powerful and yet under control. It can also suggest some kind of
spiritual cleansing. The waterfall represents our ability to create new life in response to our desires, and signifies peace and comfort or going with the flow.
A pregnancy can signify ideas, projects and plans for the future. It suggests new beginnings or a major event that will bring immense changes and responsibility. Pregnancies represent ambitious plans and projects that we feel will need nurturing and bringing to life. It can also mean that a waiting period is necessary for something, possibly the completion of a project. Perhaps we need to be patient and wait for the natural process to take place in order to fulfil a task. Obviously it can indicate the birth of a child for either someone close to us or ourselves. In Egyptian myth, Hathor was a mother- goddess, and goddess of childbirth, fertility, joy, love, marriage, music and the sky. It is said that she breast-fed the Pharaohs and greeted the souls entering the underworld.
The trees symbolise steady growth, age, experience, time and continuity. They are a symbol of life and creation. The oak, for example, is a symbol of longevity, strength, reliability and resilience. The roots symbolise the provision
of wisdom from our collective experience and may indicate how we feel about our own roots.
The Mother Goddess was all-powerful and was identified with nature and the earth. She was believed to be the creator of limitless fertility and abundance that fed and sustained life, but she could also destroy and demanded respect as part of nature’s regenerative cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth. The earth was worshipped in ancient times as the supreme mother-goddess and was believed to be both alive and divine. Mother Earth was a figure of great compassion and the source of all life and fertility. Paleolithic images of the mother-goddess have been found dating back 40,000 years.
On the whole the Empress symbolises fertility and new life, and represents the abundance of nature, fertility and growth. This card is about caring, mothering and birth, and embodies marriage and motherhood. It reminds us that everything moves in cycles from birth to death to rebirth, and indicates the birth of a child or the birth of a new project. The Empress is suggesting that we have the power to live and multiply, and is urging us to put some passion into our dreams and our creative potential. She denotes the fertile and creative power of the feminine, and the devotion and nurturing that is required before anything can be brought to fruition. There is a strong sense of wellbeing with this card, she is protected, secure and emotionally fulfilled. This card is suggesting that we take on some of her characteristics and go with the flow. It is also advising that we secure a solid base on which to build a secure future.
The Empress’s card number is three and relates to the bringing together of opposites to create something new. It expresses all aspects of creation, such as birth, life and death; past, present and future; and mind, body and soul. The number three is a creative number and represents creative enterprise and growth, and all that is active and fertile. It also suggests material benefits from a fruitful harvest.
The astrological influence of the Empress is the planet Venus, which relates to our emotions and motivations. Venus denotes the desire to achieve harmony in relationships, and indicates opportunities for advancement, acclaim and popularity through an agreeable and helpful nature. Emotionally, Venus has a very friendly and romantic influence that often leads to marriage, especially if the planet has an influence in a male’s horoscope. It symbolises success in artistic and creative pursuits, which will lead to improving the financial situation so that we are able to obtain the comforts and luxuries that we desire. Venus also denotes the birth of a child, and work on the home, such as redecorating or refurbishing. Good health usually comes with the influence of this planet through the freedom of worry because of its affect with harmonious thinking.
The Empress represents the Mother archetype and our experience with mothering, nurturing, emotions, and our creative impulse.
Interpretation
When the Empress is in a reading a creative and productive phase is about to happen, and it is time to express your creative instincts. Your influence will achieve something that will lead to growth and prosperity in all aspects of your life. This card signifies that you can improve your circumstances by drawing on your own wisdom, understanding, strength and creativity, to bring stability and harmony into your everyday life. In your working life you are directed towards creative pursuits, such as art, sculpture, writing or anything
associated with beauty, or the caring profession, such as nursing, maternity care, childcare, or care for the elderly. If you use your talents wisely and responsibly then your efforts and achievements will be rewarded, and result in a better standard of living, which will lead to good fortune and financial
security, enabling you to surround yourself with material comforts.
This card suggests that you will have successful and creative partnerships in both business and personal relationships. You are warm and loving and your
personal relationships will be filled with joy and contentment. Maybe you are in love and want to make a commitment to your partner and are about to make arrangements to marry. Sexual relationships are satisfying and there may be news of a pregnancy or a birth, and all will go well if you are pregnant, but if you are not it indicates that someone around you could be. However, it warns that you should take extra care if you don’t plan to have a baby just yet. You are a good homemaker and your creativity urges you to make your home a more beautiful place, perhaps you are thinking of redecorating or
refurbishing your home or maybe thinking of moving into a larger house, possibly in the countryside, or at the least with a garden. A stage of personal fulfilment is being reached and you are enjoying the simple pleasures of life, you may have a love for nature, such as the countryside, gardening or even growing your own food.
If you have been ill you are now entering a recovery period and will soon get better, so it is time to pamper and take care of yourself. A strong need for emotional wellbeing will be fulfilled as you begin to tune into your inner
feelings and emotions. Listen to your feelings or instincts and open your heart and mind to the powers of your intuition, and learn to trust them more. You are happy with your life and something is about to come to fruition, maybe there is something that you have kept a secret for a while and now you are motivated to tell others about it.
The Empress is a competent woman who feels safe and secure, she has sincere feelings, is kind and helpful but can be a little self-indulgent.
Therefore, this card is suggesting that you take on some of these qualities and encourage those who need your support. By all means be generous with your time, however, deter others from becoming too dependent on you, and without feeling guilty don’t give too much to others either. It also suggests a woman who embodies these principles and may become a role model for you. Focus on being rather than doing, relax and enjoy yourself.
Negative
You have a lost your influence through your emotions becoming unstable or through a lack of affection because you are not mixing with others, or because of your lazy and unenthusiastic behaviour resulting from self-indulgence. There may be a loss of material comforts due to reduced financial
circumstances. Financial resources may have deteriorated due to spending extravagantly on luxuries. Perhaps there is sorrow because of a broken relationship, maybe you are attracting those who can’t live in harmony, or attract those who take advantage of your warm and loving nature. There may be sexual difficulties, maybe impotence or frigidity, or you are having a
sterilisation or vasectomy, or an unwanted child may be conceived. There is something missing or lacking in your life, or you want to find something creative and meaningful to do, but do not know where to start.
People
A wife, mother or sister. A woman who exerts an influence or power over an achievement, a material creation, or a specific area of work. Those connected with music, painting, acting and other artistic pursuits. Those engaged in trades that cater for the pleasure of the public or for personal adornment, such as dress designers, beauticians, manufacturers of clothing accessories,
florists, hairdressers and confectioners. For a man, it is the woman of his dreams.