This week we will look at The Empress card from the Silver Witchcraft Tarot. Different from the traditional seated position of The Empress, this card’s image portrays her standing on a platform, looking to her left, where the sun is shining. She is wearing a reddish brown dress, a yellow-golden shawl and she has an ornamented tiara on her head. A pink ribbon binds her hands together and there is an eagle to her right and three different coloured bunnies sit by her feet.
The Empress in this deck says that if some things grow too wild, then other things don’t have enough, she understands the ebb and flow of life. She is associated with abundance, motherhood, love, fertility, creativity and generosity. Her hands being tied with a pink ribbon indicates she is loyal and will keep her promises, she is not a fleeting person who leaves when the hardships arrive. Therefore she awakens our innate feminine leadership skills but reminds us that they are matched, and not opposed to, masculine powers, represented by the sun and the eagle. The bunnies by her feet, depicted in the sacred number of three, refers to The Empress cycles of being the Maiden, Mother and Wise woman.
The Empress card is associated with Venus in the Tarot, and with Venus being the ruler of Taurus, this card wants us to pause and to reflect on the delights we have accumulated. We are now truly in the Oxen season, with the new moon in Taurus just passed, which Flavia discusses here, these weeks bring us an earth-based way to reflect on what we are undergoing at the moment. In addition, with Venus in Gemini until 6 August, we have time to think about what our personal delights may mean for us. In her retrograde phase from 13 May to 25 June, Venus in Gemini may activate forgotten and suppressed areas relating to love, pleasure and receptivity, and offers a healing time to take inventory of your own personal and material effects. In her pregnant state, The Empress is a reminder that our creative gifts are currently growing and that they will fully materialise at the full moon in Taurus, 31 October 2020. Overall, the Empress card reminds us to nurture ourselves as the female leaders we are, and trust that we have the gifts to bring healing and nurture to our soul-community.
Meditation with The Empress
Try this meditation with The Empress
Sit down in a quiet space. Take a few deep breaths and relax.
Look at the image of The Empress and observe how she is regally standing on a platform, she is in control but flexible, softly knowing that her mind, psyche and moods can bend and flow like the pink ribbon. Look closer and see what you are drawn to in the card. Is it is the three playful rabbits by The Empress feet or the eagle flying in the sky? Maybe the sun and her rays are comforting your soul’s path and warming your skin? Let your mind gently drift as the strengthening image of The Empress is bringing you a personal message.
Stay in meditation for 5 to 10 minutes.
After the meditation, journal about the below questions.
How can you shine like the sun?
In which area of your life do you need to express your Empress qualities?
Additional practice – replenishing soul nectar with Honey Calcite
Honey Calcite has the colour of amber, with a translucent mass and a waxy surface. It is a calcium carbonate mineral from the trigonal crystal system, and has a direct, yet gentle healing energy. Honey Calcite has a warming vibrational frequency, which fills up the body, mind and soul with nurture and comfort. It has a deep cleansing action, and being connected to the Sun it gives a spark of joy. Honey Calcite strengthens self-worth and confidence and promotes communication with your higher-self and your guardian angels. It provides energy to those who feel depleted and it enhances and balances the third eye, solar plexus and sacral chakra.
For the healing ceremony, lie down in a comfortable position. Place the Honey Calcite on your solar plexus. Take a few deep breaths and relax. Sense how the Honey Calcite is calming and gently cleansing your solar plexus and providing a deep sense of peace. Then feel how the amber coloured energy of the Honey Calcite is travelling down to your sacral chakra, your root chakra, the knees, feet and toes, and connecting you to Mother Earth. Feel how the Honey Calcite’s energy is going upwards from your solar plexus to the heart chakra, the throat, the third eye and the crown chakra and connecting to the Sun in the sky. Sense how the cleansing and comforting energy of Honey Calcite is making a connection with all your chakras, linking them with a nectar like liquid, which spreads out into your whole body. Stay in the warming and calming energy of Honey Calcite and feel how your soul is receiving the nectar rays of the Honey Calcite. Note any messages you receive at this point.
Take a deep breath and say thank you to Honey Calcite and its’ healing gift. You can repeat this practice anytime you want to nourish your soul with the amber coloured nectar of Honey Calcite.
Mirasol