But the way is through, not around.
The Empress:
The Daughter of the Mighty Ones
Trump #3
Planetary Trump of Venus
Letter: Daleth (door) (numerical value: 4.)
Path: #14 (from Chokmah to Binah)
Alchemical Trump of Salt
Tempus Messis: "Tide of Reaping" *(Aurum Solis name for the season of Summer)
NOTE: (The Empress is, in one sense, associated with the entire suit of Cups. Unlike The Hanged Man who, although most certainly embodies a profound truth associated with that suit, is nevertheless tainted with contradictory Elements. The Hanged Man straddles the Worlds of Briah and Yetzirah. The Empress not only resides entirely above the Abyss, but she's also the third trump, associating her with the Mother of the Cup of Understanding Herself—the third Sephira—Binah. This Sephira is quite literally that which gives birth to the World of Briah: The Kabbalistic World to which the entire suit of Cups is attributed.)
Helpful Quotes:
"This is the Harmony of the Universe, that Love unites the Will to create with the Understanding of that Creation: understand thou thine own Will!
Love and let love. Rejoice in every shape of love and get thy rapture and thy nourishment thereof."
-Aleister Crowley
"Love is the door. If you are deeply in love—with anyone, it doesn't matter who…Love matters; the object of love doesn't matter. If you are in deep love with anyone, so much in love that there is no relationship from the head, if just the heart is functioning, then this love will become prayer and your beloved or your lover will become divine."
-Osho
Contemplation
This is the card of motherly love, the healing power of nature, and the feminine archetype in general. The aesthetic quality of this card is its most obvious feature. The Empress reveals to us the psychological effects of the environment on our bodymind (set and setting). This includes the city, town, or village in which we live, as well as the way we dress and the food we eat. The effect of color and sound on our sense of wellbeing belongs here as well.
The Empress is associated, not only with the Earth Spirit, Gaia, but also with planetary and archetypal Venus. If Venus is beauty, and Gaia is the essence of nature, we can say that this trump portrays the power of natural beauty and its healing effects on mind, body, and soul. Sometimes all we need do to feel better is go for a walk in the woods or mountains, sit by a lake or pond, or perhaps relax and listen to the sound of the ocean waves on a pleasant evening.
Self-love and various forms of bodywork are part of The Empress's domain. This includes, but is not limited to: Massage, Reiki, Qigong, Rolfing, Aroma and Color therapies, Hatha-Yoga, Tai Chi, Cosmetics, or just listening to soothing music.
Biologically, The Empress is the hormone estrogen; The Emperor is testosterone. In the realm of physical fitness, The Emperor is physical exertion; The Empress is the rest and recuperation needed to rejuvenate the body. Incidentally, I ascribe to this card something I call “mermaid” awareness, which is the feminine bodymind unity as distinguished from the “centaur” awareness of The Hierophant, which is the unified male bodymind. Many men and women experience themselves as egos separate from their bodies, and the concept of Mermaid and Centaur awareness is a way of expressing, by way of myth, that this schism has been healed. *(See The Spectrum of Consciousness, by Ken Wilber)
Therapy in all its forms is included here and isn't limited to the physical realm only. Anything which promotes health, healing, happiness, and a fuller, more holistic lifestyle are all part of The Empress’s remedy for countering any form of imbalance within ourselves. She inspires us to accept and love ourselves.
According to Greek myth, the hermaphrodite god Mercury (The Magus) was the lovechild of Hermes and Aphrodite (hence the term "Hermaphrodite"), and yet in the Thoth Tarot deck it's The Emperor, Aries, who weds The Empress. This marriage takes place in the sixth trump, The Lovers, with the Hermit (Hermes) serving as priest. In that card, The Hermit oversees the details of his own rebirth. One can envision the results of this union by imagining what happens when sunlight hits an acorn kernel:
The kernel bursts open, initiating a domino effect of growth; because in one single kernel lies the program for an entire grove of oak trees.
Who causes this regenerative domino effect? It's none other than The Emperor, husband of The Empress. The Emperor often symbolizes the responsibility of having to destroy an old structure (The Tower) to build a new one in its place. In combination with The Empress, we see necessity as well as danger when we consider the current ecological crisis. More and more each day we find ourselves surrounded by concrete and steel. The natural, soothing, and healing sounds of nature are quickly being replaced by the monotonous hum of city traffic and the roar of airplanes, while one natural disaster after another is sent as if to correct an imbalance that, for some mysterious reason, we think has nothing to do with us. The Empress teaches us that the hectic and feverish pace of society is in direct opposition to the slow and patient processes of nature.
Long before I knew anything whatsoever about The Empress, or Tarot for that matter, I wrote something regarding Mother Earth that I'd like to share with you. It shocks me as I read it now, for it almost seems as though the card was there in front of me when I wrote it. As I hinted at in the Preface to this book, Tarot can serve as a language shared by you and your Holy Guardian Angel. I offer these pieces as an example of such a language:
"The Earth revolves slowly, rocking us gently, ever sustained by the warmth of her womb. Magnificent orb in the light of the moon, spanning lifetime after lifetime of endless delight! So skillfully spun in her dance with the Sun, no spot on her body remains unkissed. Why do we insist on destroying her so? Divided by hatred, boundaries, and nations? Why do we measure a man by his color when all of us come from the same blue mother? We are, every one of us, siblings in she; she is Earth, and the mother to whom we all cleave."
Also, in a semi prose poem entitled, “Song of the Beloved”, I put forth this vision once again:
"Angel of nature draw near to me! My heart is a flame and it leaps forth to greet you! My eyes are held open by the fingers of longing, moist with the tears of our last embrace! For love is your name, and the seal of your covenant is a kiss. Skyclad I've seen you by rivers and streams. I've walked through your bride chamber dense with trees. I've danced to your love-song sung by the birds, the passionate bellows, your voice in the breeze. Ah, your Voice! Like the sound of water against stone!
“Like soft flesh against my own, the mysteries of your ways entrance me and I am overcome. I lift my gaze toward the Sun, the blue-sky shimmers and breathes its lazy clouds; like incense smoke on the ceiling of your temple, the canopy above my bed.
“Your conversation is sweet rapture, for in it is the knowledge of the secret language of lovers. Your speech is silence. Your waters are placid. Your leaves are stilled, and your petals have closed—you have absconded!
“The Search goes on, till' by your touch I'm awakened at dawn."
The above poems portray nature as female, as the eternal muse: beautiful, bountiful, and inspiringly Venusian. Please understand that it isn't my intention to limit nature to the archetypal feminine. It should be obvious that nature contains both male and female polarities, and we encounter this balance throughout the Major Arcana. Put simply, it's far easier to approach the gate of Love by wooing the aspect that inflames one most. This can, however, be a wrong step. After all, you can't domesticate the divine. Usually, when we first encounter that aspect of the divine that "inflames” us, we can't recognize it as such. Whenever we're handed the building blocks of personal growth they're rarely given on a silver platter but are instead heralded by lightning flashes and earthquakes. Enlightenment, like love, takes us by storm or not at all. When the storm was upon us it was nothing to be "inflamed" about, and it usually isn't until after the storm has passed, leaving behind a clear sky and a cleansed
earth, that we can marvel at the majesty and necessity of such a cataclysmic event. It's usually only then that we can "inflame” ourselves with prayer. But to sing a song of praise during the storm? Well, that’s what love is all about!
Growth happens naturally, or it doesn't happen at all. Even when we speak of romantic love we say that we should "let nature take its course”. For this reason, poetic and mystical visions often share a very similar language. True prayer is nothing short of a love song dedicated to the divine, and it just so happens that in Tarot, whenever the experience of Truth is close by, the herald of that manifestation tends to be female. The reason for this seems to be the tendency (especially for men) to associate woman with ethereal qualities. These qualities include grace, beauty, gentleness, poise, openness, receptivity and sensitivity, empathy, sympathy, patience, etc. Of course, the converse is equally true, and the archetype of the "Dark Mother" lurks beneath the peaceful scenery of this card. The Hindu goddess, Kali, is one popular example of the Terrible Mother in her role as Time, simultaneously bringing life into the world and demanding it back. Indeed, when we encounter the dark or terrifying aspect of any one of these trumps it's usually because Death is somewhere close by. This is unfortunate because Death, like The Devil, is pitifully misunderstood. Let's explore this misunderstanding and see if we can find a remedy.
Death is one of the major themes of the Major Arcana. In fact, the Major Arcana has often been called The Dance of Death, alternatively known as the Dance Macabre, or Dodentantz. Turn your attention to the symbols of the waxing and waning moons on either side of The Empress. Now bring your attention to the wilted opium flowers found at the bottom right corner of the Death card. As most artists know, it's by never allowing oneself to be contented with the result of a creative project that the creative urge is revived. By learning how not to cling to events in time, we keep clear the space required to promote that most beautiful phenomenon called "natural growth" (flowers).
The so-called shadow aspect of The Empress is aptly illustrated in the well-known biblical phrase, "For thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return”, which is Death. This leads us to the alchemical principal of Salt, with which The Empress is associated. Put simply, alchemical Salt is base matter brought to life by Alchemical Sulphur (life-force). The spiritual goal of Alchemy is to transform the unconscious mind (base metals) into Gold (e.g., Life, Love, Eros, spiritual Enlightenment, etc.). What remains after this dissolution, namely the physical body, is also altered in the process. In a recent study, a quantum physicist experimented with the most receptive of the elements: Water. The results suggested that matter was indeed influenced by thought processes. In one test, a Zen Buddhist monk blessed a bottle of natural river water. The water molecules were then observed under a powerful microscope and had changed shape. They now assumed an aesthetic, flower-like configuration. In another test, the same bottle of water was subjected to negative thoughts by placing malevolent phrases on the bottle. The same molecules had become distorted after a label that read, "I hate you, and I will kill you!" was placed upon the bottle.
This corresponds to what the Indian sage, Jiddu Krishnamurti, has said about the effects of Truth upon the mind. He claims that it's impossible to come upon Truth through effort. Instead, it's when one sees all the implications of one's state of ignorance that the transformation occurs. This awakening, being effortless, begins to act upon the mind of the individual, setting him free. It's the acceptance and awareness of your repressed Shadow that transforms the old into the new consciousness, and we see this occurring in the Lovers card, setting the stage for initiation into the great Mystery concealed in the magickal Weapon known as the Lamp, which is also a mystery, by corollary, of the alchemical Philosopher's Stone. In the handy book, “The New Encyclopedia of the Occult”, by John Michael Greer, he says this about the Philosopher's Stone:
"The Great Work of alchemy is the production of a substance that brings perfection to matter quickly, by simple contact: "The Philosopher's Stone." The Philosopher's Stone, or Stone of the Wise, is the result of the Great Work of metals; heated together with lead, mercury, or some other base metal, it is held to transmute the entire mass of base metal to gold in a matter of minutes."
Having said all that, let's now look at the relationship between The Empress and the four Threes of each suit of the Minor Arcana:
The Empress/Three of Wands: Here we find the inspiration and enthusiasm to get the most out of our creative endeavors. This can mean the overcoming of "writer's block," as well as the finding of one's niche and growing within it. On another level, this card combo suggests the moral qualities of integrity, empathy, and sympathy, put into proper action. Such qualities manifest themselves as the desire to help, heal, and comfort others, oneself, or the planet as a whole (Three of Cups). It's time to focus upon one's needs as opposed to one's wants, and to dedicate one's total energy to balance and harmony. This demands insight, honesty, integrity, and a commitment to growth and understanding.
The Empress/Three of Cups: Here we have the realm of relationship, especially the relationship between a mother and child. We're reminded of the story of Persephone, daughter of the earth goddess Demeter. Because she swallowed the seed of a Pomegranate (a fruit of the underworld) Persephone was obligated to spend the winter months of each year in the underworld as Pluto's concubine. During this time, the Earth Mother mourns the absence of her daughter by making the earth unfruitful (winter) until her daughter returns to her (spring). A real-life theme would be the adolescent girl who runs off with the town "bad boy," or the lack of communication between a mother and her rebellious teenage daughter. There's obvious advice in this connection to protect and nurture our relationships by keeping the doors of communication open (Mercury in Cancer). There's also a subtle warning here regarding the effects of poisonous emotions, addictions, fantasies, and desires that could lead to mental, emotional, and physical problems.
The Empress/Three of Swords: This pair reminds us not to destroy holistic beauty by dissecting it with the analytical mind. A mind that tries to lay claim to Truth without the light of understanding is bound to be destructive. Truth is synergistic, as is Beauty, and this card combo urges us to appreciate nature, which includes in it the ability to love oneself and others. This combination reveals the Zen formula of “no-mind” as a prerequisite for entering the Tao or any other flow-state. The process indicated here is the appropriation of a proper environment, one that is conducive to healing. Included here also are the wounds of all past hurts, and how they affect one's ability to be receptive in the present. There's also something to be said regarding the Kabbalistic nature of this card-couple. The three of Swords, although entitled "Sorrow," conceals a higher quality. It does so because it exists above the Abyss on the Tree of Life. This higher quality becomes apparent only when considered in its relationship to The Empress. As His Holiness, Karmapa, used to teach: "You must breathe in the sorrows of the world, and breathe out compassion."
The Empress/Three of Disks: This combination suggests, quite literally, the inevitable process of formation, which comes about because of natural laws. This is more an issue of cooperation than of willful intent. What seems to be implied here is that nature itself is intelligent, and this intelligence is in direct relationship with the universal intelligence and is, in fact, an organic part of it. It's in this connection that The Empress represents the realm of sensation more than anywhere else. Translating this to human experience, we see the necessity of developing an integrated approach to reality, one that allows body, mind, and spirit, to move simultaneously in the same direction. This indicates the virtue of "right-mindfulness" in action. Seen as a pair, The Empress and the Three of Disks deals more with creative absorption than on the result. Also included in this combination are the various forms of bodywork, therapies of all sorts, a dynamic and integral code of ethics, and the development of a well-rounded, multifaceted lifestyle.
The element of motherly love is most powerfully symbol
ized in this card by the figure of the Swan Feeding Her Young from the Blood of Her Breast. It was believed by ancient nature-observers that the swan, having found nothing with which to feed her young, would peck herself bloody to nurture them. What actually happened was the mother swan would share her latest kill (usually fish) with her young. Because the swan would reach so far up on her breast with her beak to clean it, it was thought that she was pecking the blood out of her own heart in a desperate attempt to feed her starving chicks. Strangely, if you count the feathers on this swan, you'll see that they add up to the number thirteen, which, in Tarot, is the number of the Death card. The solar disk seen in The Aeon card has the same number of feathers.
The swan has been a symbol for many things in myth and legend, but she's usually solar in nature. Keeping in mind that The Empress and The Emperor are two parts of a whole, we can see a subtle message being conveyed here. If you turn your attention to the lotus in the right hand of The Empress, you'll count exactly four petals. The number four is the number of The Emperor and, according to numerology, is the number of structure, order, law, and limitation. Seen numerological formula (4+3), our sum is the number seven, the number of the unification of the divine Three and earthly Four. It's a number which symbolizes risk and crisis, but also victory over crisis. Also, the stem of this lotus is itself a phallic symbol, which is also a symbol of the Will of the Father (The Emperor=Rajas=Sulphur=initiator of Life.). This all points to the notion that the Father and Mother are one; in fact, they are zero. This is understood once it's seen that death is both the mother and father of all things. All things come forth from death into existence, and to death all things must one day return. This is further indicated by the fact that the Death card is, by cross-sum (#13), the mother of the number four (1+3=4=The Emperor). As we've noted, The Emperor is associated with alchemical Sulphur, or life-energy. All of this leaves us with the abstract phrase:
Predicting The Present Page 6