The Empress vs. Queen of Pentacles

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Arnnaria	27 Jan 2005
I have difficulty reading these two cards separately. What makes them different? What makes them similar? Help!

caridwen	27 Jan 2005
Which Tarot deck are you using? The first major difference is the Empress is Major Arcadia and the Queen is Minor Arcadia. Majors tend to deal with large issues, archetypes etc and the minors are smaller passing issues that are less profound. The Empress is the Third Major Arcadia in the Rider Waite deck: she is the archetypal mother and feminine principe as you can see by the sign for female at the base of her seat. She is mother nature, a nurturer all that is natural, fertile and abundant. She is Three: birth, life, death - the natural cycle. The Queen of Pentacles is a minor arcadia card and as such, could represent an element of the situation, a characteristic or actual person. If the client is a female is could be her or, her friend, sister etc

Fudugazi	27 Jan 2005
caridwen wrote: The first major difference is the Empress is Major Arcadia and the Queen is Minor Arcadia. Majors tend to deal with large issues, archetypes etc and the minors are smaller passing issues that are less profound. I think you mean Major and Minor Arcana, Caridwen ;) - but I do like Arcadia! It goes well with the earth principle of the Queen of Coins, and the creativity of the Empress. Et in Arcadia Ego - I think that when looking at the RWS or the Robin Wood queens and empresses, certainly. I don't agree with your division of Major and Minor Arcana however. I don't think Minor Arcana deals with smaller, less profound issues than the Major Arcana, not in my experience or my meditation practice either. Rather, they approach the issues in your life - the practical, the creative, the sexual and the spiritual - from a different angle. The best analogy I saw for that is the difference between major and minor keys in music - one is not more important than the other: but they sound different, and the atmosphere they convey is different. The Majors are more affirming, in your face, very clear archetypes. In music, the major key is more brilliant and positive in colour and sound. The Minors are more subtle, let you think and meander around the question, and, alone or in combination, can show some very powerful and long-lasting effects but that enter more at a tangent. In music, the minor key convey more melancholy atmosphere, or more questioning. But a tune in minor key will work its way in your mind in a very powerful way, almost despite yourself. An Ace of Cups can mean the love of your life, after all :) For me, the difference between these two cards is articulated around these differences between majors and minor. The Empress is the feminine creative principle at its most active and powerful. It is very much a card in major key. The Queen of Coins is more quiet, her force and creativity are hidden in mundane doings and cares, but they are powerful nonetheless. I would always advise someone studying tarot to spend a lot of time on the minors - they are the secret key to the Tarot. The power behind the throne in Arcadia, if you like ;)

Rosanne	27 Jan 2005
Excelent advice Helvetica. When I first started, the Majors although exciting and dramatic, were somewhat self evident to me, but the minors.. they took lots of time. They have been like far away music that is familiar yet not quite namable. I have drawn closer and closer over the years and it has been worthwhile for all the effort. Now to the thread.The Empress is a Trump Card and conveys a strong symbolic meaning- for me that is motherhood,passion,abundance for example. The Queen of Coins or Pentacles is a Court card of a Suit and portrays personality or a type of recognisable energy or element in this case coins- earth. So maybe I see in the Empress-the Mother Goddess and in the Queen of Coins- my sister.Regards Rosanne

Arnnaria	27 Jan 2005
I came to the realization last night that the Empress embodies all aspects of the Queens. So, for the mathematically inclined, the Empress = Queen of Wands + Queen of Chalices + Queen of Swords + Queen of Pentacles. The fact that I can't separate the two shows me that I see the Queen of Pentacles as the "most important" part of the Empress. This makes sense as the Queen of Pentacles reminds me a lot of my mother in many ways.

caridwen	27 Jan 2005
"I think you mean Major and Minor Arcana, Caridwen " It doesn't look like I know what I mean LOL I don't know where that came from...blushes and bows out;)

WalesWoman	27 Jan 2005
I found a really good thought about the similarity between the Empress and the Queen of Pentacles in Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom. Both represent fertility, protection of life and growing things, steeped deeply in nature & sensuality. Where the Empress is largely emotional, sort of mindless nurturing and loving acceptance, the Queen of Pentacles is more practical and independant. Basically, she has self awareness that the Empress does not. She is the accumulation of experience but retains her individuality, where the Empress seems to be more subjugated to her role as mother and provider as her whole purpose and being.

firemaiden	27 Jan 2005
I think this is an excellent question, they are very often depicted in quite similar ways - sitting in a bountiful garden. Perhaps the Empress sits in the garden of Paradise, whereas the Queen of Pentacles Garden is here on earth. We could wonder too, what is the difference between and Empress and a Queen. There are many queens and many kindgoms. Perhaps there is only one "Empire".

The The Empress vs. Queen of Pentacles thread was originally posted on 27 Jan 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.