May Issue, written by Melissa Campbell
An exploration of The Empress tarot card by Melissa Campbell.
“Tarot is of the Devil.”
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been hissed at and shunned with those words… I wouldn’t be rich, but I’d have two horses, a helicopter, and a summer home. As she who’s been interested in and fascinated with the occult since an early age, and a Tarot reader for ~15 years, I can tell you Tarot has never once tempted me to sacrifice babies in the name of Satan.
As a writer of horror and erotica, I have found Tarot to be a useful tool to help me tap into my intuition, and allow me access to that deeper, more sacred part of myself that is so often overridden by the noise and negativity of today’s society.
It’s May. The month of Mother’s Day. The month where we acknowledge and celebrate the energy of receptivity and bearing. I’m honored to be able to share my thoughts with you, and this month I’m going to talk about the Earth Mother of the Tarot -- The Empress. We’ll discuss the horror that lies dormant (or not) inside all of us, why we need it, and when it goes too far.
But first, for those unfamiliar with Tarot cards, let’s adventure into a quick and dirty basics of Tarot card-ology tutorial.
Tarot Card Basics:
Tarot was developed in the 1400’s as a card game in Italy, “Tarot de Marseilles.” Although initially used for playing games and as a status symbol (early cards were used by royalty and the wealthy and were adorned with gold or silver), Tarot’s association with the occult and divination occurred in the late 1700’s. A French occultist, Jean-Baptiste Alliette, writing under the pseudonym M. Etteilla, published a guide to the cards which promised to reveal the lessons and practice of Egyptian magic, “Livre de Thot.” Etteilla was the first person to give divination meanings to the cards, as well as certain spreads, and is often considered the first “Tarot reader.”
There are 78 cards in a Tarot deck. The cards are divided into two main types: 22 Major Arcana, and 56 Minor Arcana cards.
Major Arcana cards = major life lessons. These are the big, foundational life lessons we experience. Those things that happen “to” us and are not necessarily because of any one choice we made, but rather, due to a long history of choices, or choices made completely outside our control. Our card today, The Empress, is a Major Arcana card.
Minor Arcana cards = minor life lessons. Much like the cards in a standard deck of cards, these are divided into suits (wands = clubs, cups = hearts, swords = spades, pentacles = diamonds), and are numbered 1-10. Tarot decks also include court cards, Knights/Jacks, Queens, and Kings, but Tarot also has Pages – that’s why there’s 56 cards instead of the regular 52. Minor Arcana cards represent the day-to-day decisions we make. If you think of a garden path, the big stepping stones would be the Major Arcana (big life lessons), and the little stones that fill in the in-between stuff would be the Minor Arcana (everyday decisions).
Every card has a very specific energy associated with it, and every card has a positive, or “good” side, and a negative, or “bad” side. I use the quotes on purpose because I don’t believe there are “good” cards or “bad” cards. There are positive and negative energies, but the cards can serve as a warning, a revelation, or a “heads up” of sorts for the negative energy.
There are literally thousands of different styles of Tarot decks. I currently have 10 decks, including two horror and one explicitly erotic. For the sake of this post, I’m going to use the Radiant Rider Waite to discuss symbolism and imagery. Its cards are pretty widely recognized, and one of my personal favorites.
Let’s talk about The Empress:
The Empress is the third card in the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot. The energy associated with her is the archetypal Earth Mother. She’s ruled by Venus and represents love, fertility, creativity, beauty, and grace. Her lighter energies include fertility, femininity, abundance, and nature. The darker side of The Empress reveals a time when creativity is blocked, or there is an unhealthy dependence on others. Keep in mind, these are energies associated with the Tarot. Just because this card shows a female, and speaks to femininity, it’s just one representation of that type of energy. An energy that is universal and present in all of us.
The main image on the card is the Empress herself. She’s shown seated on beautiful and luxurious cushions with a plush red velvet throw. She’s a full-figured woman wearing a white gown with pomegranates – white representing purity and pomegranates representing fertility and has a calm peacefulness about her. She has a crown of 12 stars, showing a connection to the 12 signs of the zodiac, and also the 12 months in a year. The stars also represent her connection with the mystical realm.
Our Empress is surrounded by a beautiful, thriving forest with a stream running through it. This represents the Empress’ deep emotional connection with Mother Earth and the rejuvenation found in nature. Water, in the Tarot, typically represents emotions and symbolizes the calmness and tranquility found in her persona. In the front of the card is a field of golden wheat, representing abundance and multiplication of the original seed. A planchet with the symbol of Venus rests beside her.
The Light Side of The Empress:
The Empress calls on us to connect with our feminine energy. This energy can be expressed in many ways – luxury, comfort, nurturing, and sensuality are just a few. She encourages us to create beauty in our life, to invite and welcome abundance, and to be in touch with our sensuality. Now, this can mean sexuality, but you can also explore the sensual nature of touch, taste, or sound as well.
On a literal level, if you draw the Empress card in a reading it can indicate a pregnancy or birth, but on a more metaphorical level she can indicate the birth of an idea, or a new process. Her energy encourages you to bring forth the energies that have been growing inside you.
The Empress encourages you to reconnect and recharge in nature. Allow yourself the calm and peace to really connect with Mother Earth and enter into an abundant state of mind. Instead of an acquisitive attitude, the Universe is encouraging you to share your abundance. To remain grounded here in the material plane but allow yourself to reach higher planes of consciousness through your connection with nature. It’s important to trust your intuition and listen to what your instincts are saying. Listen to that small, still voice inside you and trust what you feel and sense.
As a Major Arcana card, the Empress reveals a time when the Universe and its energy is about to show up in a big way. Whether that’s a career change into a job that is more creative or nurturing, or your financial situation become suddenly more abundant, or even connecting with a partner or potential partner who is very sensual and deeply connected with their femininity and very generous in your relationship.
The Shadow Side of The Empress:
Like everything, The Empress holds good, light, energy, and also shadows and darkness. Since the upright, or positive, side of The Empress represents creativity and fertility, the reversed, or negative, aspect can portray a time when your creativity is blocked, or your nurturing instincts go a bit too far. You can feel indecisive and confused about what direction a relationship is taking. Focusing too much on another’s needs while neglecting your own, or becoming dependent on what another person thinks or feels and becoming paralyzed and unable to make your own decisions.
The negative energies can manifest in your work-life as well. If you feel like something is missing, there’s a scarcity mindset, or you’re trying to find something creative or meaningful but don’t know what, you may be experiencing the negative energies of The Empress. The dark side can indicate a creative block and negative thinking. The dark energies can bring a feeling of being overloaded and frustrated about work being unfulfilling.
The shadowy side of The Empress can tempt us to become overprotective of someone we care for, smothering them with our love. We can over-mother our co-workers, our partners, our friends, and of course, our children. You’ve probably heard about Munchausen by proxy, and how those mothers took the dark energies of The Empress to horrific levels. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a psychological illness where the primary caregivers (usually the mother) seek attention. The way they gain attention is by causing illness or injury to the person in their care.
Perhaps one of the most recently famous journeys into the dark energies of The Empress is the story of Gypsy Rose Blancharde. Gypsy’s mother fed her seizure medication, shaved her head, and confined her to a wheelchair for years – until Gypsy enlisted the assistance of her boyfriend to kill her mom. This begs the question: was it self-defense for all those years of what can only be described as sadistic child abuse, or as simple as a premeditated murder by a young girl who wanted to escape the smothering love of her mother? Regardless, it was a grisly result to Dee Dee Blancharde’s shadowy Empress energies manifesting in a need to over-love her child.
Sometimes the horror of The Empress takes a different, less obvious, form. I have a friend, “Joe”, who’s fallen victim to the negative energies of The Empress. Joe is a provider, and one way he shows his love is by making sure his family has what they want. In his desire to provide for his children, he bought them new cars. Not scary, you say? You’ve not been on the road with them. His daughter totaled her first brand-new car within a month of having it. Thank goodness she’s ok and so is the other driver, but he bought her a second brand-new car right after it was totaled. I can assure you she’s learned nothing from the experience.
Joe’s son recently ran a stop sign, drove into an intersection, and collided with another vehicle - totaling both vehicles. Joe isn’t buying him a new car, but he is paying to have it fixed and letting his son drive his truck while it’s in the shop. His son has learned that he can do what he wants, and Dad will foot the bill. Joe’s actions embody the negative energies of The Empress and, although he sees the error of his ways, he feels helpless to stop. If it were anyone else, he’d say they were crazy for buying their kids new cars when they don’t respect them, but Joe’s desire to provide for his children and to be seen as a “good dad” overrides his common sense to let them learn the lesson of accountability.
It’s difficult for us as parents to watch our children suffer, but there’s a distinction between true suffering and being inconvenienced.
The Lessons of The Empress:
The Empress reminds us to stay grounded and to enjoy and share sensual pleasures with those we love. We, like Tarot cards, have light and dark energies. Sometimes we’re more light, sometimes the shadow wins.
I believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Part of the human experience is our struggle to balance this duality of light and dark, while at the same time realizing we need both to survive. We need to love and be loved. We need to nurture and be nurtured. So, my reader, when it comes to the lessons of The Empress and her sensual and over-dependence energies, I encourage you all to be just the right amount of wrong.
More on the author:
I'm a litigation paralegel by day, but a storyteller at heart and writing as Melissa Gale. Currently working on erotic and horror short stories based on the energies of the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot. I have a couple of flash fiction pieces published in "Worth 1,000 Words," "Itty Bitty Writing Space" and "Flash! A Collection of Short Fiction." Inconsistently publishing to medium.com and have a couple of erotic flash fiction pieces on myerotica.com (@write2unpack). Lifetime horror lover, new to writing horror. Writing is how I unpack my brain.
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