Here we meet the Empress, Key 3 of the Tarot. The title means literally “She who sets in order.” She is the feminine ruling power and the consort of the Emperor, Key 4. She is a different aspect of your feminine self. This is in stark contrast to the High Priestess, representative of the cold virginity of a cloistered devotee of the gods. The pregnant Empress sits within a warm, rich and fertile garden. Even the cube upon which she sits is detailed and carefully arranged.
The Hebrew letter D is Daleth and means the leaf of a door. That’s the part of a door that swings, and through which you would pass, coming and going. Some would say that Daleth represents the womb, as the door of life. So what does a door represent? It suggests protection and safe-keeping. This is a clue to her mode of consciousness. Here we’re looking at personal safety and self-preservation. Also she serves as a symbol for all activities that deal with the storage, conservation and development of anything that is useful.
Daleth is a double letter in the Hebrew alphabet, meaning that it can be pronounced two different ways, and the polarities Wisdom and Folly are assigned to it. So how does she affect your life? The Empress represents your feminine, subconscious mind. The Magician is your self-conscious mind. What he puts into play, using observation and inductive reasoning, she multiplies!
The subconscious mind’s power of deduction multiplies an original premise into a multitude of consequences and applications. Wisdom will arise from an accurate and profound “premise”. Thus we have this beautiful garden. Folly will arise if the premise is superficial or inexact. Folly uses the creative imagination in a destructive way.
Her foot represents understanding and its
yellow color signifies intellect. So here we have demonstrated conscious understanding of the cyclical nature (the crescent Moon) that underlies all life expression.
She is called the Empress because the subconscious mind has control over all sequences of development in the material world. She’s in charge of manifestation. Be careful what you focus on, what you think about. If you are angry or happy – the Empress will give it to you in a multiple of ways. The Empress is the personification of Love and is here to fulfill your every need and desire, whether it be peace or joy, or what you fear. A function of this Key is imagination, or embroidering fact with fancy to elaborate the outcome.
She is your personal fulfillment center! Understanding this and how she works can give you a fabulous life! Your choice, your creation! What did you think about or observe today that’s multiplying itself into your future experiences? Does it serve you, or will it destroy you? If you have thoughts of hatred, fear and criticism the Empress will fill your life with those very same thoughts, but now directed at you from others or through events. If your thoughts are filled with love and compassion, she will tenderly fill your life with grace and those who will treat you with love and compassion.
In this Key the stream of consciousness watering the garden is coming from the High Priestess, but it is directed and modified by the Magician. The pool of water is the accumulation of influences coming from the Magician. The water makes the garden fertile. The water falling into the pool represents the way that power descends from above (above means within in the Tarot). In the Tree of Life power descends in an orderly fashion from one center to another towards its manifestation in earth, the 10th emanation at the bottom called the Kingdom.
Venus is the planet belonging to the letter Daleth. So this card has many references to Venus. The Empress is very pregnant and Venus presides over childbirth. She is considered the mother-goddess. Venus is the patroness of love, beauty and art. She rules the sense of touch, which ties her into a powerful influence on our desire nature. Red is the color of desire and activity. So we have here five roses representing the five senses, and they’re colored red to indicate her active desire nature.
Venus’ color is green. Green is a color of symmetry and balance. It occupies the central position in the solar spectrum, midway between hot fiery red and cold electrical violet. She is clothed in green. In the background are cypress trees. They are sacred to Venus. Myrtle leaves, which are tokens of immortality, create her crown of authority in the form of a wreath. The Fool also wears this same wreath of myrtle leaves.
The 10 cypress trees behind her also refer to the 10 Sephiroth, or circles of energy emanations, on the Tree of Life.
There is a dove in the trees, once again directing our attention to Venus, and to peace and the Holy Spirit. Venus represents the entire support system which makes it possible for us to exist on this planet.
By the red roses we see a small bee. In Egyptian hieroglyphics the bee was related to royalty because of its organization of the hive. Mother Nature makes sure the race continues. The woman within each of us is our Creative Imagination.
The male principle that balances the female is the Emperor, Key 4. The abstract masculine aspect is difficult to approach. The Empress is quite the opposite. She is part of the life we can touch and are close to. Recall that on the Magician Key the tool for water is the cup, symbolizing imagination and knowing. This knowing is from experience, not the intellect. The ultimate adventure of the hero’s journey is to reach the Holy Grail in one piece! The study of the Tarot and the Cabala can get you to the point where you can experience all these spiritual truths you’ve heard about.
The main symbol in Key 3 is the heart. In the Tarot the right hand is the active hand. She’s holding a seven-sided shield, another reference to Venus ruling love. It’s made of copper, the metal assigned to Venus. To connect to the Empress you must practice love. We can approach nature through science, but the direct approach is through the heart, through feelings.
The dove,
represents the Holy Spirit, or Life Force. Here it’s seen moving on the shield of love, not in the head. Meaning is found in the heart. Practicing harmlessness to others is a way to begin. This Life Force moving in matter consists of life, intelligence, and energy. Alchemy calls it fire. The Cabalistic saying about “fire in the water” speaks of the fire of love in the Empress’s heart.
There is no time, but there is process. If you get side-tracked from the Path, the Empress can wait. Our unfoldment is a natural process; we don’t have to make it happen. The Magician, our self-conscious mind, initiates this process. Just hold onto your idea and the Empress, remember she’s your fulfillment center, will take care of the rest. The High Priestess represents the abstract aspect of substance, the Empress represents everything that goes into nature that you can touch.
Every manifestation of substance is taken care of by the Law of the Triangle. It’s not haphazard. This Law is understood by the subconscious mind. Note the red Law triangle over her heart. The Law of the Triangle is how Life manifests through the three Sephiroth, or spheres, found at the top of the Tree of Life. Note that she gazes up. To look up means to look within. She recognizes that her Source of Power is within her.
The wheat field represents nourishment. Nature keeps us alive. Her scepter means she’s Queen of the World; her power is awesome. The scepter shows the globe of this world, indicating her dominion over the physical plane, surmounted by a cross. Here we have the Venus symbol upside down.
The stars above her head, which complete her crown of authority, are 6-pointed. A six-pointed star is a reference to the Star of David, the Beloved, and the law of manifestation “as above, so below”. These stars show her attainment in using the Laws of the macrocosm. The 12 stars signify the 12 signs of the zodiac. They are the 12 modes of energy by which she is influenced. Her pearls signify Venus and the Moon. There are 7 pearls representing the original 7 planets. They are strung at the door of her throat where the chakra of the thyroid is located. The thyroid is the regulator of the entire metabolism of the body. Her waist and neckline are edged in gold. She is clothed in the color of the sun. Her undergarment is white, the color of purity.
Here we have the five senses as 5 red roses. In the Lovers Key 6 you will see the 5 senses as the 5 fruits of Eve. All the movements of living creatures on the physical plane are tied to the senses and the desire-nature. Everything that lives seeks pleasure and tries to avoid pain. Victory lies in understanding our desire-nature and learning how to handle it. Love is always victorious!
Revelation 12:1 “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”
Gates of Light 