Tuesday 3 April 2012

Today's draw: The Empress


Today's card is The Empress from the Universal Waite tarot deck. I'm generally a bit perplexed by  majors in a daily draw, because they just seem too big and far-reaching for the events of a single day. (To be fair, I'm also generally perplexed by the 'daily draw' itself, and seldom try to read for myself using this technique.) It doesn't help that I rarely feel much like the Empress in myself, personally. With all her juicy pomegranates and waving matured grain, she represents aspects of the feminine that I don't readily identify with. I'm certainly no earth mother, definitely not interested in getting pregnant! On the other hand, I am interested today in avoiding the sort of squabbles that went on yesterday, so there is the sense of seeking harmony. And my hope is to get a lot of tasks done today...although I would have expected something like 8 of Coins for general productivity, whereas the Empress suggests producing something of an altogether more creative nature, and that seems unlikely to happen today!
 Or could this card be pointing not at me but to someone else I will encounter today--someone who may try to mother or nurture me? The card today was upright, but that was because I turned all the cards in the deck to face the same way. Following on from yesterday's musings about reversals, though, what are the shadow meanings of this card, and how might they manifest today? The card could represent a smothering influence from a woman. It could mean that I am not paying enough attention to my own feminine side, my own nurturing or mothering instincts. (But how would I manifest these at work, of all places? But then, why do I always assume a daily draw is about work. Maybe it's about outside work. Maybe it's about inside me.) 


Whatever the Empress may or may not mean for me today, it is a lovely card in itself. The Empress wears a crown of 12 stars, which could refer to any number of things, most likely the zodiac. The shield at her feet in the shape of a valentine heart, has the symbol of Venus in green, representing her fertile feminine nature. Her sceptre shows her authority over all creation. Both the waterfall emerging from the woods and the grain in the foreground meet at her feet. She is queen of the things of the earth, all things that grow and bring forth life and fruit. So you can see why it's a bit of a pickle to figure out how this card represents my next 24 hours! :) I just can't get into daily readings where the reader suggests, 'Oh, well, the Tower could just mean a big unexpected but needed change, like you might suddenly have to clean out your refrigerator because of a power cut.' LOL What? So...maybe I'll get a phone call from my mother today. Or maybe I should call my mother today. Or maybe I'll feel like mothering or being mothered today. I will return tonight with a report!

5 comments:

  1. Liked your musings here. I've never really been able to identify with this major either :]

    ReplyDelete
  2. A person I loved used to say the Empress card reminded him of me. I always found it curious, because I don't think I have any trait in my personality that could pertain to this card. I am a total tomboy, wearing sneakers and red lipstick and I'm not sure if I am any good at nurturing. When my co-workers talk about babies, I have to muster all my selfcontrol to NOT roll my eyes.

    So nope, not an Empress.
    But he said that for him I represented something fresh and 'fertile', full of life and color. So maybe the Empress has many more possibilities other than the good ol' motherhood/nurturing/pregnant thing.

    I think your reflections on this card help to expand its meanings too! Think beyond the box!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm still not sure what this card had to do with my day today. It was pretty much uneventful, except for a lovely gift from an internet friend with a talent for creating pretty graphics. :)

    Marina, I will keep trying to think beyond the box on this one!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I see the Empress as being about creativity, and I see that in you in things like the way you personalise decks, writing on them in sharpies, or trimming them. Also, self-nurturing with floral essences would fit well in the Empresses domain, I feel.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chloe, you make a lot of sense, and I think the Empress in my day yesterday was Marina sending me her gift that she created. :)

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment here: