The Tarot of Eli 2: The Rider-Wait-Smith Tarot - Key 3-The Empress & The Animal Totem Tarot-Key 3-The Empress.

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The Rider-Waite-Smith Empress card emphasizes the flow of life. Here she is both Mother Earth and Mother Venus shown by the planetary signs on both dress and love shaped shield with the Venus Astrological sign.

The Cypress trees and pearls in the background are also sacred to Venus while the foreground wheat refers to the figure of the Empress as Artemis.

The crown of twelve stars on her head refers to the zodiac. The crystalline water flowing down from the right represents the water from which Aphrodite is born.

This is a key continuous process whereby the pristine consciousness of the PRIESTESS gives rise to the unconscious-instinctual thought patterns of the EMPRESS. In her right hand is the Orb of the Sun, referring us to 6th Sephiroth on the Tree of Life, Tiphareth, the Sun/Son, who administrates the thought forms of the Empress as a denser and/or coagulated expression which we call manifestations.

Even illustrated on the Animal Totem Tarot the Empress is represented as a Scottish Highland cow (Hathor) relaxing in a fertile field with the mountain pass entrance behind her. This mountain pass represents the Path of Daleth-meaning-Door. THE EMPRESS is also called the "Gate way to Heaven", as She is the transitional state of energy between the above and the below. The effect of this transition is from one into many, so the key to this card is multiplicity.

The Cow has long been used as a symbol of the Divine Mother. She is the giver of milk that nurtures the people and children and therefore a perfect image of the Nurturing Mother Goddess.

The symbol of the cow as a representation of the Mother Goddess is rooted in ancient traditions across various cultures, where the cow embodies nurturing, abundance, and life-giving forces. Many ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Greeks, and Hindus, revered the cow as sacred, linking her to their goddesses of fertility, motherhood, and protection. The cow’s image encapsulates the archetypal qualities of the Divine Mother—nurturing, compassionate, and protective—qualities essential for sustaining life.

Cow as a Totem Animal

As a totem animal, the cow symbolizes grounding, abundance, and fertility. Those who feel a connection with the cow totem are often seen as nurturing individuals who prioritize family, community, and a grounded lifestyle. The cow totem encourages people to seek stability in life and to approach relationships with a caring, nurturing mindset.

Cow as a Spirit Guide

As a spirit guide, the cow offers comfort and reminds us of the importance of caring for others and ourselves. It guides us toward patience, tolerance, and a peaceful approach to life's challenges. The cow spirit can also signify a time of prosperity and the flow of abundance, urging us to trust in the process of receiving. This spirit guide also enhances one's ability to be receptive to higher wisdom, as it is deeply connected to Mother Earth and the divine feminine.

Cow as a Power Animal

As a power animal, the cow brings resilience, strength, and the ability to manifest desires through consistent effort. Those who invoke the cow as a power animal can tap into its steady, grounded energy to pursue goals, especially those related to family, home, and security. The cow's energy as a power animal can be transformative for those seeking to align with their inner nurturing power and harness the perseverance needed to manifest dreams into reality.

In essence, the cow holds a sacred and profound symbolism, drawing from its strong maternal archetype and aligning with the Earth’s cycles of growth and nourishment. This aligns her closely with the aspects of the Divine Mother, fertility, and abundance that many cultures throughout history have revered.

The "doorway" and/or "gate way" to heaven of the Goddess is often shown as the Yoni Yantra that represents the divine feminine principle and is often associated with the goddess Shakti. Here's a brief overview:

1. Origin: The Yoni Yantra has ancient roots in Hinduism and is part of the Tantric tradition. It is typically found in temples dedicated to goddesses like Shakti, Kali, or Durga. The word "Yoni" itself refers to the female genitalia and symbolizes the womb or the source of creation.

2. Symbology:

   • Female Energy: The Yoni Yantra represents the divine feminine energy, the creative power of the universe, and the source of all life.
   • Shakti: It is often associated with the goddess Shakti, who embodies feminine energy, fertility, and the transformative power of the goddess.
   • Union of Masculine and Feminine: The Yoni is often depicted with the Lingam, representing the masculine principle, symbolizing the union of opposites, the balance of male and female energies, and the cosmic harmony.
   • Creation and Rebirth: It signifies the process of creation and rebirth, both on a physical and spiritual level. It is a reminder of the cyclical nature of life and the continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

The Yoni Yantra is considered a powerful symbol for meditation and worship, allowing individuals to connect with the divine feminine energy, foster spiritual growth, and explore the mysteries of creation and existence.

Sheela Na Gig

The Empress is a Door, a gateway, and one may pass through a door in any direction, to pass through her on the Return Path, is to pass into Supreme Darkness. Therefore, the ancients often depicted this doorway as the exposed Vagina of the Great Mother, which is one-way birth and the other way the “Little death” or Petite Mort of the French. Here before her, the worn and often battle-weary dead are ready to “pass over” as she commands power, sincerity, fertility, and reincarnation.

The dual dynamic of the Door, has often been shown as Janua Coeli (meaning “gateway to heaven”) which is derived from the “Yoni gate” (vagina) of the Goddess Juno (later as the Roman Two-Faced god Janus) as a personification, Juno had two faces, each face looking in opposite directions. One face looking in the direction of birth and the other in the direction of death. In fact, the Latin word janua means door and the goddess Janua was reinstated by the Romans, as male and to have presided over communications and the affairs of men it was a customary practice to reinstate the mystery of feminine power as a male power. Yes, like they can give birth?!

Here then, as the Empress, Janua/Janus resided over the passage of ideas and affairs of a man. Originally, Janus was a Solar Entity, and THE EMPRESS is the Mother of the Sun, so the comparison is not only viable but pertinent as well. Thus, anything that can be said about Juno/Janua/Janus can be said about THE EMPRESS as well, even though she is often now anthropomorphic in form as Venus-Aphrodite- the Womb of life and death.

All that is Life on Earth and elsewhere is the providence of THE EMPRESS, as she builds life forms around the Spirit or Spiral Frequencies of Life, establishing the Laws of the Universe that have to do with restriction and formation. She is the Supernal Female Force. She is also Venus-Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. Love is the Law. She is the one all males seek and Love and hate, for she is the core of their life and their greatest desire and the Life-Death of all forms. Be it dream, idea, goal or pregnancy the Empress is the one to guide you through all stages of physical manifestation.

The Archetype of Mother is very pivotal to the process of self-understanding, especial to a male. "Mother", is the extension of the Anima qualities; as Empress she is the nurturing qualities of Mother. She is Isis, wrapped in the robes of nature. She is the Ocean Mother of Consciousness.

Symbolically, there is nothing but 0=2 and/or Father and Mother and through their interaction they produce the Son (Soul or Solar Self) who is the perfect balance of their "opposites" and who is the "Perfected Self". This can be confusing for those who expound upon sexual separation, for the "Son" in Western Hermetic Qabalah, is a Divine Hermaphrodite and not the sexual gender usually applied to the word "son". In Qabalah, the Sun/Son is seen as Adam Khadmon-The Heavenly Human.

In the Western Hermetic Qabalah, Tiphareth represents the "Son" within the supernal family structure of the Tree of Life and resonates with solar symbolism as it is assigned to the Sun (Shemesh, שמש) and holds the number 6. This correspondence connects Tiphareth to the central divine force that embodies both balance and beauty, much like the Sun’s role as a harmonious, sustaining force in our solar system.

However, the Hebrew words for "son" (בן, ben) and "sun" (שמש, shemesh) are not the same. They are separate words with distinct meanings and spellings. In the Qabalistic tradition, though, Tiphareth is indeed associated with both, symbolizing the divine "Son" in the archetypal family and acting as the spiritual and central force represented by the Sun's qualities of harmony, life, and radiant energy.

Here’s a bit more detail about why both "son" and "sun" align with Tiphareth:

• The "Son" in Qabalah: Tiphareth as the "Son" represents a synthesis of the higher and lower aspects of divinity on the Tree of Life, bridging the supernal and terrestrial realms. This reflects the archetypal role of the "Son" as a unifier or mediator—qualities embodied in many mythological and religious figures, like Christ in Christianity or Osiris in Egyptian mythology. Hence, the Soul or Solar Self is both genders.

• The Sun and Tiphareth’s Energy: As Tiphareth is associated with the Sun, it radiates qualities of life, illumination, and balance. In the same way the Sun is central to life on Earth, Tiphareth is central to the Tree of Life, harmonizing the structure by drawing from the energies of the sephiroth around it. Hence, it is also aligned with the concept of nurturing Mother.

This duality of "son" and "sun" in Tiphareth emphasizes both the divine lineage of the "Son" and the sustaining, illuminating force of the "Sun." In the Western Hermetic Qabalah, this symbolism also implies that spiritual realization in Tiphareth embodies both a divine heritage and the central, life-giving nature of the solar energy.

The encounter with the Empress-Mother Archetype is inevitably emotional and direct, especially since we must honestly consider our own relationship with our physical mother. Although cultures have described this archetype in the most cryptic of language and/or graphic symbols, it is only by understanding and evaluating honestly, our unconscious materials relating to interactions with our own mother-both good or bad- that we begin to arrive at insights into the mysteries of "Mother". Such a transition of focus is often achieved through Meditation. One learns true love, through the adoration of Isis/Empress.

The images represented in THE EMPRESS card are an attempt to convey the concept of pure fruition. As an exercise towards this goal of understanding, the initiate must try to conceive of pure emotion, which is a feeling which has no subject or object, neither love nor hate, but which is the raw material of both, a kind of Lust without need of result. Armed with such an understanding, the initiate may begin to understand something of the Great Binah, The Great Mother Isis, Hathor as THE EMPRESS, who is the Illuminating Intelligence or Birth Mother of Ideas through transitional state of Understanding.

All that is Life on Earth is the providence of THE EMPRESS, as she builds life forms around the Spirit of Life, establishing the Laws of the Universe that have to do with restriction and formation. She is the Supernal Female Force. She is also Venus-Aphrodite-Isis. the Goddess of Love. Love is her Law. The Luminous Intelligence of Chokmah, becomes the Illuminating Intelligence of THE EMPRESS, inferring filling up and emitting Light, thus bestowing the title of Mother of Light on the Great Mother.

The Cow image that is presented on the Animal Totem Tarot-Key 3-Empress is used in many ancient mythologies, the cow was a powerful symbol associated with the Mother Goddess, often depicted as a nurturing figure whose milk was believed to create the Milky Way galaxy. This idea appears prominently in ancient Egyptian and Norse cosmologies, as well as in Hindu mythology.

Egyptian Mythology

In ancient Egypt, the cow goddess Hathor was closely linked to the nurturing qualities of the Mother Goddess. Hathor was often depicted as a celestial cow, with her milk flowing to form the Milky Way. Egyptian mythology viewed Hathor as a maternal figure, a goddess of fertility, love, and joy, who nourished both gods and humans. Her role as the cosmic mother whose milk sustained the universe extended to the stars, symbolizing her as a source of life and celestial connection.

Norse Mythology

Similarly, in Norse cosmology, the primal cow Audhumla nourished the giant Ymir with her milk. According to the Prose Edda, Audhumla emerged from the ice of Ginnungagap (the primordial void) and produced rivers of milk to feed Ymir, the ancestor of the giants. Audhumla herself symbolizes the motherly source of nourishment and cosmic creation, foreshadowing the later association of cosmic milk with the Milky Way.

Hindu Mythology

In Hindu mythology, the divine cow Surabhi (also known as Kamadhenu) was a celestial being whose milk was said to nourish the gods and provide sustenance for the world. While the Milky Way galaxy is not directly linked to her milk in Hindu texts, the idea of a cosmic cow whose milk brings fertility, life, and abundance parallels similar motifs.

Across these traditions, the cow’s milk as a symbol of nurturing cosmic energy represents the Mother Goddess’ role as a universal source of life and creation. The Milky Way itself, viewed as a river of stars or milk, is seen as an extension of this divine, nurturing presence that sustains and connects the cosmos. This cosmic image of the cow remains one of the most enduring and archetypal representations of the Mother Goddess across cultures.

As always, words make the reality of their meanings seem so simple, but in truth, the simplest words are the most subjective, such as IT, or I. One must cross the emptiness of want, of sense, of sight, before one can visit the Great Mother, who creates the I Am of us all. She is the greatest mystery and yet the most loved of all deities.

When the Empress card is thrown:

• The querent is experiencing the principle of wise love.
• The power of owning your own inherited maternal and loving nature that resides within.
• There is an opening to all sensuality and delighting in luxury of the senses, as does a child, before they are taught to fear them.
• One finds comfort among the natural, having no need for control. 
• A surge of Creative imagination, as imagination is everything in our reality, this promises achievement and success in our goals.
• The querent may experience a high dedication to healing and nurturing. 
• Overall, THE EMPRESS represents happiness, stable relationships, growth, and fertility.
• Hard work pays off. 
• Love of luxurious things.
• Pregnancy and birth.

If ill defined by surrounding cards or reversed, it implies:

• Motherhood issues.
• Dissipation.
• Luxuries.
• Sensuality.

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