Magical Forest - Empress

karen0205

from lwb:

III - The Empress
The ears of wheat grow, the flowers bloom, and all the animals celebrate and frolic. Beauty and pleasure are the aims of nature. "I hereby decree that today shall be a day that all the animals of the forest shall be happy and carefree and love each other!" says the Crowned Piglet.



There's quite a different mood on this card than the High Priestess. The Piggie, the Empress, is smiling and is blending with a bright pink/orange sunset. Even she is pink, her dress is pink, the typical color for girls. Her septor is very small, maybe because she's still growing as a woman, still working on it. She's on a day bed or fainting couch as I've seen them called which sort of makes her feel delicate or fragile. Is that a veil besides her? She seems very happy and pleasant. The red on the bed indicates that maybe there's a stronger side to her yet that's beneath the surface? There are 9 gold flowers on the bed and the number nine symbolizes things coming to an end and preparing for something new. What does the color red usually apply to?
 

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GryffinSong

She sure is happy! She looks really round to me, and I get the feeling that she's very cheerfully pregnant. Sitting around, growing her baby, with all that wheat/grain growing in front of her. I get the feeling of feminine abundance. At first I saw her as delicate, but then I got the sense of pregnancy, and that she's just tickled pink about it. Not so much helpless, as fully embracing her future-mother role. Red often represents passion, which perhaps is about sex that leads to pregnancy? And the pattern on the bedspread reminds me of dancing or flying.

All in all a very perky card. I can't say that pink, upturned noses, pigs, or pregnancy are anything that I've ever been drawn to. But in terms of an archetype, she's kind of sweet. ;)
 

karen0205

Yes, she does appear very sweet. I like this card. What do you think about the veil off to the side? What's the purpose of that?
 

r0sered1ster

Magical Forest- Empress

It looks like the veil might be attatched to the back of her dress...as if she could bring it around at will and contain the feminine mystery behind it. Her face almost looks as if she has knowlege of something but isn't telling, "I've got a secret" expression. All in all, I see her as welcoming, warm and approachable. Earthy and connected to the natural world around her.
 

Pandora MoonRaven

Hi Guys,

Well this deck closely follows the rider-waite and that is actually not a veil from what I can tell, but the classic water/stream in the empress card that signifies emotions and intuition as well as water by the wheat to me is also expressing abundance and feeding in to the abundance but mostly my understanding and feeling is that the water is closer to symbolizing her embodiment of emotion/love and intuition. :eek:)
 

Ruby7

I think this is the happiest Empress I've ever seen. I find the colour of the sky very relaxing/soothing, I like what is written in the LWB:

"The ears of wheat grow, the flowers bloom, and all the animals celebrate and frolic. Beauty and pleasure are the aims of nature. "I hereby decree that today shall be a day that all the animals of the forest shall be happy and carefree and love each other!" says the Crowned Piglet"
 

Quester

This Empress looks happier than I remember from other decks. She seems very content with what is happening around her.
 

mando

The empress has just done something naughty, or is planning too.. (naughty in a very nice kind of way!) She looks like a real girlie girl, and dare I say - even seductive! To me her pose, the couch thing she is lying on (with the female symbol carved into it), the huge smile on her face, her clothes (it looks like she is wearing pajamas) all reinforces the air of femininity and sexiness. The outdoor scene, with the stream, wheat, grass and trees just makes it all perfectly natural and out in the open - nothing to be embarrassed about. This card has a very positive, light and happy mood for me and gives me a feeling of encouragement, fertility, care and love. Perhaps there could be a danger of being seduced by appearances, or blinded by love (or lust!).