Learn Tarot: The Empress Meaning
Learn Tarot with That Oracle Guy Patrick. Together we'll dive into the meanings, symbolism, and history behind each card, with affirmations, journaling prompts, and theme songs to help ground the lessons into your daily life. The wisdom of tarot is yours to claim — and if you're ready to go deeper, Tarot Academy was built for you.
#3 The Empress, Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck
Meeting The Empress:
The Fool meets The Empress in a breathtakingly beautiful landscape — waterfalls and trees and fields of wheat. She is the mother archetype, the embodiment of Venus, and divine feminine ruler over the Earthly realm of the tarot. She is beautiful, physically, emotionally and spiritual. She is adored by all.
The Empress teaches The Fool to slow down and appreciate the beauty of the natural world — to embrace the inspiration it offers, and to “give birth” to new avenues of creativity, passion and love. The Empress is the first person to speak of Love, the highest vibration in the universe, and our ability to give and receive it.
She speaks of receptivity — of embodying the divine feminine predisposition to allow oneself to receive with ease.
Abundance is a birthright for us all — and the world provides that abundance for our mental, physical and spiritual growth. The question is: do we ever slow down enough to receive it? The Empress wholeheartedly supports this growth for The Fool.
While The Emperor rules the realm with regiment and disciplines, The Empress rules with care and inspiration — the Empress gives the realm its future.
Keywords for The Empress:
Abundance
Nurturing
Divine Feminine Power
Receptivity
Fertility / Pregnancy
Motherhood
Sensuality
Growth
Nature
Creativity
Giving Birth (Literally & Figuratively)
Associations:
The Element: Earth
The Planet: Venus ( Love / Beauty / Harmony / Luxury / Passion )
Card Symbolism:
Crown of 12 Stars: The diadem of the zodiac, all 12 zodiac signs — connects her with earthly cycles as well as heavenly, the spiritual abundance of the cosmos. 12 zodiac signs, 12 months, 12 hours.
Ornate Throne: Her authority as a ruler of the natural world — a sensual, nurturing power that supports growth. Seated on luscious red cushions, a color of passion and love but also war and anger — her ability to neutralize The Emperor.
Scepter: A masculine symbol of authority but with a feminine sphere at the time — she rules with a different approach than The Emperor.
Field of Wheat: Wheat becomes food for her subjects — abundance, fertility and nourishment.
Lush Garden Setting: The nurturing qualities of nature — invites you to reconnect with the earth and find inspiration in its beauty.
Luxurious Robe: Sensuality, beauty, and the richness of life — sliced pomegranates in the symbol of Venus, she is the fruitful mother of thousands.
Heart-Shaped Shield: An ode to Venus, the Greek goddess of love, sexuality and beauty — she was honored as one of the most sacred of all deities. The word “veneration” used to mean the worship of Venus.
Flowing River / Waterfall: A continuous flow of nourishment, life and emotion — the life force that sustains growth.
The Roman Numeral (III): Creativity and expansion, the combination of three forces (mind, body, spirit), the natural unfolding of energy.
Upright Meaning:
When The Empress shows up in a tarot card reading, it’s time to give birth to a new creative venture. She wants to remind you that your ability to receive inspiration, love, beauty and abundance is as easy and natural as a soft breeze — and nothing can take that away from you.
Don’t get me wrong: We all live on a planet and we all live in a society. Society, especially capitalist society, tells is that in order to achieve something we have to: “Do, Do, Do! Go, Go, Go!” The Empress wants to remind us of an easier way: sometimes manifestation isn’t about trying or doing more, it’s about allowing yourself to receive with ease.
Slow down. Care for yourself as you care for others. Care for your intimate, inner world. Honor your femininity. Make love to your body. Admire the way you are, the way you care, the way you look, the way you love. Express yourself in sensual dance and poetic words. Find a new art form to explore, or better yet: pick up one that you abandoned, even though you enjoyed it. Walk around barefoot. Buy flowers, grow flowers, light a candle, savor a meal. Take deep, filling breaths.
The Empress is adored by all. Honor your unique point of view, honor the things you love doing, and lean into your infinite creative potential. The Empress is “pregnant” with all creative possibilities. The Emperor
Reversed Meaning:
The Empress in reverse is a wake up call. Slow down and reconnect with yourself, your senses, your body, the Earth, and remember: you receive abundance with ease, because miracles happen for you every day.
Right now you may be doubting your worth as a creative force, thinking “I can’t do this, I’m not a [insert thing you aspire to be].” You may be overemphasizing the idea of success so much that you lose the joy in your process. You may be so worried about what others will think that you hesitate to take those expansive, creative, abundant paths. You may look at your body and criticize it, instead of seeing the beauty in every “imperfection” you fixate on.
Remove “the other” from your head right now. Don’t worry about what “other” people would think. Don’t compare yourself to “other” creatives, coworkers, parents, artists, lovers, or leaders. Do what you want to do because you want to do it, and do it now. Love how you want to love because you always deserve it.
The Empress is the Divine Feminine Ruler of the Realm. See yourself as the ruler of your own life. Care for yourself in order to properly care for your realm. Give grace and space to all of your softness. Uphold your autonomy and your independence. You don’t need this, that, or the other to get started. All you need is yourself, your creativity, your passion and sensuality, your endless potential, and to get out of your own way.
Journal Prompts for The Empress:
What areas of my life could I invite more ease? Can you remember a time where something you thought you had to work hard at turned out a lot easier than you expected?
How do I currently nurture my own growth? What areas of my life would benefit if I nurtured myself a bit more?
In what ways do I express my creativity? Would I like to give myself more time and space to create more?
In what ways do I express my sensuality? Which sensual pleasures do I want honor and uplift in my life?
What does it for me mean to be connected with nature? Can I see myself as an expression of nature itself? In what ways does that change the way I love and care for my body?
Affirmations:
“I am connected to the Earth’s bounty. I am the divine energy of Venus. I manifest my dreams with ease.”
“I embrace my natural abundance. I nurture my divine creativity.”
“Beauty and love flow effortlessly into my life.”
“I honor my feminine energy — growth and transformation come easily to me.”
Theme Song:
Don’t Touch My Hair by Solange, 2016
About The Author
Patrick is a professional tarot reader, author, and educator offering online tarot readings and structured tarot education. His work approaches tarot as a mirror for self-reflection, and as lived experience. The wisdom of tarot is the wisdom of our lives.
Patrick helps students and clients develop a grounded, thoughtful relationship with the cards; one that strengthens intuition and self-trust.
Based in Brooklyn, he works with clients and students around the world, and considers this work his purpose.
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