View Full Version : EMPRESS - Thoth Study Group
MystiqueMoonlight
08-01-2003, 19:08
"This is the harmony of the Universe, that love unites the Will to create with understanding of that Creation: understand thou thine own Will. Love and let love. Rejoice in every shape of love, and get thy rapture and thy nourishment there of." (Aleister Crowley)
Correspondence:-
Colour: Green
Herb: Rose
Astrology: Venus
Rune: Berkana - the symbol of growth (birch tree) and describes the great Goddess. New beginnings based on existing roots established.
Hebrew: Daleth - the numerical value of 4. The archtype of physical existance. The glyph of nature, divisible and divided, expressing every idea that proceeds from the abundance born of division.
Analysis:
The white and red colours prominant on this card represent love in it's giving and receptive apects. The green and blue represent creativity, growth and understanding. The opening lotus held in her right hand in front of her heart chakra is phallus like by it's stem and indicates creative male procreative power which is unified with female surrender as indicated by her open left hand.
The pelican is feeding it's young with it's own blood showing unconditional maternal love. The double headed white eagle on her shield is transformation generated from the unified diverse aspects of one's own personal being. (Note how this corresponds to the red eagle of the Emperor). The Moon (unconscious emotion) and Earth (visible manifestation of that emotion) are united on this card and it can be used consciously as shown by the blue flames. The Maltese Cross only emphasis this. When this type of intergration exists in a person, he/she draws people to them by that sense of security. The Empress is looking to the future (towards the dove), looking away from the past (the sparrow).
Mystique: Could she also be looking into the unknown or unconscious, represented by the crescent moon? There is the suggestion of scrying, as if with a crystal ball. The crescent moon at either elbow also seem suggestive of "support" of inner vision/understanding.
I do not mean to jump ahead, but I cannot help noticing that The Empress & The Emperor are depicted as opposing or opposite aspects by their posture, colours & symbols. She is turned to her left, representative of the unconscioius, intuitive, spiritual; he is turned to his right, representative of the conscious, logical, physical/material. Her colours suggest harmony with nature; his, an active, firey nature.
isthmus nekoi
13-01-2003, 18:34
Meewah, that's what struck me at first about the Empress - how similar she was to the Emperor. I thought they looked like they were looking at each other.
I'd be interested in what the double headed falcon? phoenix? on the sheild symbolizes. Perhaps it has some alchemical significance. The pelican is a very important alchemical symbol. The idea of the pelican feeding its brood w/its blood comes from the manner in which the mother would regurgitate food, giving the appearance of self sacrifice. More info here: http://www.levity.com/alchemy/alcbirds.html
I'd also like to know about the use of the fleur de lis (sp?), if anyone knows. The only thing I know is that it's on the flag of Quebec :P
The Empress wears a belt w/the zodiac pointing to totality and universality. It's also interesting b/c it's Waite's (Cancer ruled) Chariot that wears the zodiac belt, so there is another connection b/w astrology and the feminine.
The bees (also on the Emperor's clothes) are very spiritual symbols. My memory on this is rather fuzzy, but I recall there was some kind of Masonic relation. Other things coming to mind are bee 'language', the primacy of the bee queen, the hive/honey as feminine symbols, the 'perfection' of the honeycomb structure.
Isthmus: Yes, I noticed they seem to look at each other. Almost like mirror images of each other. Offhand, I know of no other deck where The Empress & The Emperor appear in this fashion.
I also see the pelican feeding her young with her own blood as part of the process of motherhood. It involves sacrificing the self interests in order to care for one's young. Suggests priorities or prioritizing, too. Thanks for the link; shall check it out.
MystiqueMoonlight
13-01-2003, 23:18
Now you two have patience :) All will be revealed next week
I have no idea about the fleur-de-lys...I hadn't even noticed it before you pointed it out. What I find strange about this card is that there's so little nature here...she reminds me more of a Marseilles or Oswald Wirth Empress than the Smith-Waite.
There are a lot of faces turned away from the onlooker in the Thoth deck, but the Empress is the only place where it bothers me...shouldn't we be able to see her face?
coldsuns
02-03-2003, 05:02
What does the 2 birds (small and big) on each side represent?
mybe frida harris was more the high pristess kind of a woman and looked as empresses as a dull state
Hi everyone, just bought my first Thoth deck a week ago, and I must say, I really like this deck!
As for the Empress, I have noticed on the shield, a symbol that is on many of the cards. It is the circle with the dot in the center. This can have many meanings. I have read that the dot represents the Fool, and the circle, the rest of the Majors. To me it implies a universal outlook. The fact that it is on the shield would imply it is towards her protective nature. Any other thoughts on this?
Coldsuns, this is just speculation, but in reference to the birds, perhaps they represent thoughts. I know they appear often on sword cards in many decks. I am really not sure of this though. I do notice they are not flying. Maybe her thoughts are in the present? Like I said, not sure, just a theory.
Mimers
Fleur-de-lys - royalty, illumination. it also appears on the Emperor. the crown is symbolically similar (and try saying that three times fast!).
the fleur-de-lys can also represent the unity of mind, heart and spirit.
it's all the birds in this card that fascinate me.
generally, anything with wings represents spirituality, and there are many here!
the swan, in particular, is transformation. the Empress is looking forward towards a dove (wisdom, the soul), but behind her head is a sparrow (history, the past).
and the Phoenix is, once again, transformation. the two heads facing each other (as on the Emperor's shield) represent a sense of history AND future... completion.
the shield itself is a symbol of defense.
the 'dot' in the center of the circle is actually a crecsent moon (feminine). it being encircled with the heads of the Phoenix (transformation) symbolise to me the nurturing aspects of motherhood. we see this also in the way the swan is nurturing her young.
and the bees (more winged creatures!), also seen on the Emperor, are interesting.
the Egyptians saw the bee as the 'giver of life', and therefore a symbol of life, death and rebirth. the Greeks saw them as immortality. the Great Mother (Cybele) was also referred to as 'Queen Bee'. in Greece the bee was also associated with the Oracle at Delphi, and so may symbolise prophecy here (that 'looking forward to the future' thing again).
i LOVE this deck!