Beyond Keywords: The Empress Tarot Card Meanings In context
Learn how to interpret The Empress in any tarot reading (Rider Waite Smith deck).
To help you move beyond keywords towards mastery of The Empress, it is helpful to understand the empress across various contexts.
So in this article:
A.E. Waite’s Original Keywords (from The Pictoral Key To The Tarot, 1911)
Upright Empress: Meanings in Context
Reversed Empress: Meanings in Context
Journal Prompts for Personal Reflection
The Empress in Key Card Combinations
Controversies & Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
The RWS Empress at a Glance
Keywords: Nurturing, Abundance, Fertility, Creativity, Motherhood, Nature, Beauty, Joy, Empowerment/Liberation, earthly wisdom, priviledge, mature Feminine.
Reversed Keywords: Smothering, Complacency, Neglect, Dependence, Stagnation, Emotional immaturity or abuse, femme fatale.
Element: Earth
Planet: Venus
Yes/No: Yes
A.E. Waite’s Empress Card (Rider Waite Smith Deck)
A.E Waite’s Empress card shows a serene, maternal figure seated comfortably on a throne in a lush, natural setting. She wears a crown of twelve stars, representing the signs of the zodiac and her dominion over the cycles of the year. In her hand, she holds a sceptre, signifying her power, and she rests on a heart-shaped shield bearing the symbol of Venus. The field of ripe wheat at her feet and the verdant forest behind her are symbols of fertility, growth, and abundance. The entire scene depicts the generative power of nature and the principle of creative nurturing.
Waite’s Divinatory Meanings of The Empress
In his 1911 book, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, A.E. Waite gives the divinatory meanings for The Empress as follows:
"Fruitfulness, action, initiative, length of days; the unknown, clandestine; also difficulty, doubt, ignorance. Reversed: Light, truth, the unravelling of involved matters, public rejoicings; according to another reading, vacillation."
Upright RWS Empress: Meanings in Context
In Life Areas
Generally: A successful harvest in your garden, the birth of a new creative project, a period of comfort and security, feeling cared for by a maternal figure.
In a Love Context: Taking care of a partner, the decision to move in together, a pregnancy, expressing love through physical affection and acts of service.
In a Money/Career Context: A successful business launch, receiving a generous salary or bonus, a flourishing creative career, a supportive and nurturing work environment.
In an Intellectual Context: Brainstorming a creative project, writing poetry, the successful completion of an artistic thesis, finding inspiration in nature.
In a Spiritual Context: A profound experience during a walk in the woods, the practice of selfless service, honouring the creative principle of the universe, the nurturing aspect of the Divine Soul.
In Common Spread Positions
As Advice: Smile. Spend time in nature. Dress to impress. Relax. Express gratitude.
As (Ultimate) Outcome: A successful creative project, a loving relationship, a period of prosperity.
As Obstacles: A smothering influence. A sprawling, unfocused project. Stagnation from too much comfort.
As Hidden Energy: An untapped potential for growth, creative inspiration or abundance.
As Resources/Alliances: A mother figure, a supportive female boss, a strong and independent woman. A creative collaborator. Abundant financial support.
Reversed RWS Empress: Meanings in Context
In Life Areas
Generally: Stalled creativity,
In a Love Context: Neediness, disrespect or contempt, self-neglect, abusive partnership.
In a Money/Work Context: Failed business, procrastination, budget restraints, toxic workplace culture.
In an Intellectual Context: Pessimism, uninspired, procrastination.
In a Spiritual Context: Asceticism, overgiving, ineffective spiritual practice; spiritual consumerism and commercialization.
In Common Spread Positions
As Advice: A warning against neglect or control. Address a creative block. Give the situation space to grow.
As (Ultimate) Outcome: Despair. Literal or metaphorical infertility or bad soil (e.g. failure due to poor timing or comedy made for a different crowd).
As Obstacles: Dependency, unconducive environment, damaged relationships, etc.
As Hidden Energy: The coming winter, impending downfall. Ignorance.
As Resources/Alliances: Patience, timing, resilience, resourcefulness.
The RWS Empress in Key Card Combinations
Combinations with Major Arcana
The Empress & The Hierophant
The Empress (↑) & The Hierophant (↑): A traditional marriage. A creative project that follows established rules. A nurturing and conventional teacher.
The Empress (↓) & The Hierophant (↑): A creative block within a traditional institution. A smothering mother who insists on conformity. A rejection of conventional family values.
The Empress (↑) & The Hierophant (↓): A nurturing and unconventional spiritual path. A creative project that breaks all the rules. A mother who encourages her children to question authority.
The Empress (↓) & The Hierophant (↓): A creative block caused by a rejection of all structure. A family that is both neglectful and dogmatic. A failed project due to a refusal to follow any rules.
The Empress & The Devil
The Empress (↑) & The Devil (↑): An obsessive, all-consuming creative project. A passionate but potentially co-dependent relationship. An addiction to luxury and material comfort.
The Empress (↓) & The Devil (↑): A creative block caused by addiction. A relationship that is both smothering and toxic. Neglecting your health due to materialism.
The Empress (↑) & The Devil (↓): Breaking free from a co-dependent relationship through self-care. A creative project that helps you overcome an addiction.
The Empress (↓) & The Devil (↓): A creative block caused by a fear of your own shadow side. A relationship that is both neglectful and free from addiction.
Combinations with the Suit of Pentacles
The Empress & The Four of Pentacles
The Empress (↑) & The Four of Pentacles (↑): A successful business that is being run too conservatively. A nurturing mother who is overly controlling with money. A creative project that is being held back by a fear of spending.
The Empress (↓) & The Four of Pentacles (↑): A creative block caused by a scarcity mindset. A smothering relationship that is also financially controlling.
The Empress (↑) & The Four of Pentacles (↓): A generous act that leads to financial abundance. A creative project that is funded through an act of charity.
The Empress (↓) & The Four of Pentacles (↓): A creative block caused by a fear of both success and failure. A relationship that is both neglectful and financially unstable.
Controversies & Notes
The Earthly Mother
Novice readers may wonder how to distinguish The Empress from The High Priestess. While both are powerful feminine archetypes, The High Priestess represents spiritual, hidden wisdom (the Virgin). Meanwhile, The Empress represents manifest, creative, and nurturing power in the material world (the Mother). She is not the keeper of secrets; she is the creator of abundance. Her wisdom is not found in silent temples, but in the cycles of the natural world.
The Esoteric Meaning of the Empress: Lucifer
The heart-shaped shield bearing the symbol of Venus is a key to the card's esoteric meaning. Venus is not just the planet of love, beauty, art, and harmony. In Western Occultism it is Lucifer, the morning star/lightbringer. In exoteric Judeo-Christian traditions, Lucifer is equated with pride and evil. But in Western Occultism, he is reinterpreted as a saviour figure, come to help humanity overcome ignorance of it’s Divine nature.
Frequently Asked Questions about The Empress
What does The Empress card mean as a 'yes' or 'no'? As a card of abundance, growth, and positive material outcomes, The Empress is a very strong indicator of 'yes'.
What is The Empress's elemental correspondence? In the RWS system, the primary elemental correspondence for The Empress is Earth. This links the card to things like the material world, fertility, nature, and abundance.
Is The Empress always about pregnancy? No. Putting aside the ethics of predicting pregnancy, I will say this. While she can represent a literal pregnancy or motherhood, she more broadly represents the principle of fertility in all its forms: the birth of a new idea, the growth of a business, or the nurturing of a loving relationship.
