herself
Thirteen said:Yes! And what a unique and amazing idea to give the Empress a mirror. We often imagine certain other cards might have a mirror in them, but the Empress? And yet how perfectly it works. Of course the Empress, who also relates to Venus and beauty, would have a mirror. But what a mirror for a card about creating--one that deconstructs! One which lets us see ourselves at our most naked, without even flesh to hide the truth.
What would it mean, then, to have a double mirror? I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that this card's playing another trick on us (though I'm not sure what exactly, yet). If you look at her reflection, she appears to be facing towards a wardrobe of some kind, with a mirrored front to it. I think, rather than looking at us, the skeleton, the Empress is looking at _herself_ in the mirror?
What's more, there's something dark in the second reflection (that we see as a reflection inside of another reflection) - and _this_ is also what the child is gawking at. If our reflection shows a skeleton, then what does the reflection of the Empress' herself look like?? If only we could step into the card and see over her shoulder....