The Empress
Growth that comes from care.
Care, comfort and growth are available. Tend what you love and let it flourish.
- nurture
- abundance
- creativity
Traditional association: Venus
What the card shows
A woman in a flowing gown patterned with pomegranates sits on cushions in a field of ripe wheat. She wears a crown of stars and holds a sceptre. A heart-shaped shield with the symbol of Venus rests beside her, and a stream and a forest lie behind.
Three is the number of growth and first results. Wheat, water and forest show nature at its fullest. Venus, her usual planet, points to love, pleasure and the senses.
▲Upright
Nurture, creativity and enjoyment: things grow where they are tended.
What in my life needs tending rather than pushing?
▼Reversed
Care is blocked, overdone, or neglected, including care for yourself.
Am I giving from fullness, or from habit?
The Empress in a reading
In love
Warmth and care, giving and receiving; learning to let yourself be looked after.
Reversed: Care is blocked, overdone, or neglected, including care for yourself.
At work
A creative project ripening, caring for a team or a process.
Its shadow side: smothering, overindulgence.
As a Major Arcana card
Life's big themes and turning points. A Major Arcana card points to a bigger theme than the everyday cards around it.
Related cards
The Minor Arcana cards that share the number 3.
Three of Wands
Three of Cups
Three of Swords
Three of PentaclesRead it with other cards
Questions about The Empress
What does The Empress mean in tarot?
Nurture, creativity and enjoyment: things grow where they are tended. Keywords: nurture, abundance, creativity.
What does The Empress mean reversed?
Care is blocked, overdone, or neglected, including care for yourself. Blocked: a creative dry spell. Excess: over-giving or smothering. Fading: your own needs left last.
What does The Empress mean in love?
Warmth and care, giving and receiving; learning to let yourself be looked after.
What does The Empress mean for work?
A creative project ripening, caring for a team or a process.
What question does The Empress ask?
Upright: What in my life needs tending rather than pushing? Reversed: Am I giving from fullness, or from habit?
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