A journey with the tarot

[Kate]

Woo Hoo, brilliant - The Empress.

Hi Katink, it's good to see you here

CARD III.

THE EMPRESS.

I felt the breath of the spring, and accompanying the fragrance of violets and lilies-of-the-valley I heard the tender singing of elves. Rivulets murmured, the treetops rustled, the grasses whispered, innumerable birds sang in choruses and bees hummed; everywhere I felt the breathing of joyful, living Nature.

The sun shone tenderly and softly and a little white cloud hung over the woods.

In the midst of a green meadow where primroses bloomed, I saw the Empress seated on a throne covered with ivy and lilacs. A green wreath adorned her golden hair and, above her head, shone twelve stars. Behind her rose two snowy wings and in her hands she held a sceptre. All around, beneath the sweet smile of the Empress, flowers and buds opened their dewy, green leaves. Her whole dress was covered with them as though each newly opened flower were reflected in it or had engraved itself thereon and thus become part of her garment.

The sign of Venus, the goddess of love, was chiselled on her marble throne.

"Queen of life," I said, "why is it so bright and joyful all about you? Do you not know of the grey, weary autumn, of the cold, white winter? Do you not know of death and graveyards with black graves, damp and cold? How can you smile so joyfully on the opening flowers, when everything is destined to death, even that which has not yet been born?"

For answer the Empress looked on me still smiling and, under the influence of that smile, I suddenly felt a flower of some clear understanding open in my heart.

 

[taz3cat]

Mine is called Lilith #3 and is very sad lookiing as if the world was causing her pain. Yet she is the mother and has wing of an angel.

 

[Kate]

Lilith got a poor interpretation with the Abrahamic religions unfortunately, they demonised her.

If you imagine the archetype further back it might be a happier image for you. The original female hasn't always been disrespected.

 

[taz3cat]

Lilith got a poor interpretation with the Abrahamic religions unfortunately, they demonised her.

If you imagine the archetype further back it might be a happier image for you. The original female hasn't always been disrespected.

May need a new deck of Tarot Cards, but that is such a time consuming project. You have to feel comfortable with the deck you choose. I choose this one over 30 years ago. I have changed and it don't feel as good as it did.

 

[Kate]

I'd stick with what I was comfortable with personally. If you know where certain aspects of an archetype originate you can interpret the symbol in a way that you understand.

As Lilith the original female is a sad figure, she has been degraded and disrespected. She isn't all fulffy and pink anymore and has become a sad, unloved and unloving symbol. Her potential has been denied and that's true for a lot of women spiritually these days. We have choices of being a demon ..... or powerless victim. The abundant love of a virtuous, wise, experienced woman is not celebrated in many cultures now.

 

[Kate]

This is the image of The Empress symbol from the deck I usually use.

The whole image is an idea of the gateway to heaven.

In this card the woman is shown in her most general manifestation. She combines the highest spiritual with the lowest material qualities... the inactive principle of nature which must be energised to maintain the whirling equilibrium of the universe.

The shield is protection from over indulgence - healthy love needs to be reasonable.
The dove on the back of the throne is a symbol of Venus and peace.
The sparrow I haven't worked out yet.
The pelican symbolism I'm not sure about but it feeds the young from the blood of it's own heart.
The moons are feminine symbols and show that there is no contradiction in the symbol except what opposition is needed for balance.
The lotus she is holding is the lotus of Isis. Its roots are in the earth beneath the water or in the water itself but it opens its petals to the Sun. It is a living form of the holy grail sanctified by the blood of the Sun.
There are various heraldic images and a lot of other things in the symbol also that I won't try to detail.

 

[Bryn]

Beautiful!

I imagine that even the Great Mother, the Empress, would know when a tiny sparrow falls.

on edit:

I found my Crowley Tarot book by Hajo Banzhaf & Brigitte Theler. It's for Crowley Tarot.

Sparrow at Empress' back ... Latent lustfulness

 

[Bryn]

May need a new deck of Tarot Cards, but that is such a time consuming project. You have to feel comfortable with the deck you choose. I choose this one over 30 years ago. I have changed and it don't feel as good as it did.

What tarot deck do you have? The one that's over 30 years old?

 

[Kate]

Thanks for the sparrow definition Bryn.



Sorry to move away from pink and fluffy for a few minutes but I think it's useful to see this symbol in context with the world we live in. That's not so pink and fluffy a lot of the time.

YouTube - Peace love and understanding (new edit by Alessandro David)

Peace, Love & Understanding

As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin for light in the darkness of insanity.

I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
Theres one thing I wanna know:
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?

And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

cause each time I feel it slippin away, just makes me wanna cry.
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

cause each time I feel it slippin away, just makes me wanna cry.
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding? ohhhh
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?​

 

[Bryn]

The Empress #3 from one of my tarot decks called One World

When you look at it, you see beauty, balance and harmony

 

[Kate]

I had that One World deck but it confused me no end because the associations are non standard - they changed the astrological attributions and such. I ended up getting rid of it because it made my head spin, lol. It does have lovely pictures though.



This is a great Empress:

And this:

Now, if only I could find that bloomin' key

 

[Bryn]

Thanks for the sparrow definition Bryn.



Sorry to move away from pink and fluffy for a few minutes but I think it's useful to see this symbol in context with the world we live in. That's not so pink and fluffy a lot of the time.

We posted at same time. Good video to show us the reality of ugly wars and famine. I hate wars more than anything. Barbara Walker said it best ... she goes something like this:

The bible should be taken away from men like good mothers do when they wipe dangerous toys from little boys. LOL

You know, bible has been used over and over to justify wars..especially war in Iraq. Bloody wars against women and pagans, etc. in the past.

 

[Bryn]

I had that One World deck but it confused me no end because the associations are non standard - they changed the astrological attributions and such. I ended up getting rid of it because it made my head spin, lol. It does have lovely pictures though.



This is a great Empress:



And this:



Now, if only I could find that bloomin' key

LOL

I am also a tarot card collector and have over 100 decks. One World is one of those I don't use even though some of artwork is nice. I use Robin Wood Tarot, Connelly Tarot, Vision Tarot (Native American), Wolf Pack Tarot, and few of others depending on my mood. I also love Tarot of White Cats.

 

[taz3cat]

What tarot deck do you have? The one that's over 30 years old?

I lied they are only 26 years old. Looked them up. Karma Music tarot Cards 1983. It was the only really different set I could find in Little Rock, Ark at the time and none of the others called to me. Little Rock, Ak was not a place to talk about tarot cards. My neighbors would have got me.

Karma Tarot

 

[taz3cat]

I had that One World deck but it confused me no end because the associations are non standard - they changed the astrological attributions and such. I ended up getting rid of it because it made my head spin, lol. It does have lovely pictures though.



This is a great Empress:

Now, if only I could find that bloomin' key

That is the empress if I ever saw one. She has it all. happy Empress ful of love and the mother of abundance in all thing living.

 

[Bryn]

That is the empress if I ever saw one. She has it all. happy Empress ful of love and the mother of abundance in all thing living.

I do agree that Kate's post of this Empress is brilliant! She has it all indeed. Makes me miss my home in South Florida close to the Keys (Gateway to the Keys). I would use to go to fruit/veggie market called "Robert is Here" that had plenty of wonderful tropical fruits like pineapples, mangos, papayas, etc. They would help me cleanse my body. I feel like a fish out of water here in Arkansas, but I plan on going back to my native Florida next year. Unfortunately, it won't be South Florida, it'd be somewhere in North or Central because South Florida is very expensive to live now.

 

[Bryn]

I lied they are only 26 years old. Looked them up. Karma Music tarot Cards 1983. It was the only really different set I could find in Little Rock, Ark at the time and none of the others called to me. Little Rock, Ak was not a place to talk about tarot cards. My neighbors would have got me.

Karma Tarot

Yeah, we live in Bible Belt, don't we? That even has blue law. Where I came from (South Florida) I was able to buy tons of tarot cards in any book stores. But here in Arkansas...no. But I did find one place called Golden Leaf in Hot Springs that sells them. Cool! I don't buy from them because they're too expensive so I get mine from Amazon.com. I once had a wonderful cool tarot called Amber Tarot which I sold for 389.00 last year on Amazon. I had bought this deck for 175.00 from Tarot Garden.com years ago. Go to wicce.com and take a look at decks and find one that you feel comfortable with. She has pictures you can view. Some of them are out of print. But there are plenty of them still in print that you will like. I suggest that you order from Amazon.com. You nearly always get a deck for a good price.

 

[Kate]

For anyone who doesn't feel like an Empress, don't be put off. The essential message here isn't about gender or pink fluffyness, it's a doorway to heaven.

The idea of harmony is the key (I think).

In order for heaven to work, the ingredients need to be added intelligently, in correct measure and with conviction.

To get through this door imagine the essential principal of energy being channelled by creative and constructive intent.

I'm not sure but I think energy and chaos will become clearer later and we'll need this key to tame the beasts.

 

[Kate]

 

[taz3cat]

I am not sure I want to find the "door way to heaven". I have a problem with the concept of heaven and it's many meanings. Pink and fluffyness sounds as good as anything to me.