The Empress in the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot
Images and Symbols
The Empress sits outside in glorious, idyllic nature, a crop of wheat before her. She wears a starry crown and a robe with pomegranate print and holds a staff in her hand. The symbol of Venus appears on the heart shaped shield beside her ('women are from Venus' after all). In some decks she is obviously pregnant.
Numerology
The Empress has number Three. Threes are given birth to by Twos, and as such they represent growth, progression, and development. It tips the balance of Two, so it's a creative force of change. Thoughts, words, deeds: a trinity of keys which permit manifestation. Musical triads are harmonious. Triangles are immensely strong structures. Three is a very important next step in The Fool's journey.
Interpreting The Empress
The Empress is the ultimate matriarch. Whereas The High Priestess represented the fertility of ideas, The Empress is literal, feminine fertility. She is the archetype which first nurtures us, then teaches us how to nurture. Not only how to nurture a child, but to nurture oneself, ones creations, ones talents, ones relationships. And whereas The Magician was the initial spark of an idea, The Empress is the womb where that idea may grow.
The Empress sees that The Fool has his tools, his idea, and some intuition about the way forward, but he still must learn the art of patient nurturing and getting in touch with his own feminine energy. That will require flexibility and the ability to let go more and more as the idea matures and takes shape.
The card may literally speak to the querent if the querent is a parent. It gives the reminder to gently nurture, and warns against possessive smothering. She tells us to nourish and guide our kids well, but to let them fall off their bike, get scraped knees, discover for themselves that some things in nature have stings and prickles.
Whether read upright or reversed, (I tend to integrate both significations, regardless of how the card appears, and invite the querent to search themself for which aspects apply to them) this card has both positive and negative connotations for the querent. We all reap what we sow. Do not forget to patiently tend to your crop, but don't overdo it.
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