The Llewellyn Tarot-The Empress

Rhiannon sits on a throne with a bird sitting on her right shoulder and two others flying in the mist. There is nature and berries around her. The swans form the shape of a heart on her sheild. In the story she falls in love with a mortal and has difficulty bearing children. Whe she does bear a son he mysteriously dissapears. She is set up and blamed for the death of her child and is punished by carrying people on her back. Later her child is found and he becomes a great leader. I see the meaning of this card behind the story. There is a bit of mystery in the empress involving her abundant beauty and relationship with nature. She often does appear goddess like in many decks. She represents the bearing of fruit and the harvest. In the story of Rhiannon what seems to be true (about her killing her child) is found to be false and the real truth comes out as the child grows and is discovered. It's as if her harvest comes late when her son is found. I can also relate this story to how we have treated the earth-our mother. We often don't see how she has cared for us and carried too heavy a load until we see the damage and how she has been mistreated.

Rhiannon was often depicted riding a horse which we see a stylised image of on the back of her throne. She was also thought of as a shapeshifter which relates beautifully to her image as a woman of the land. She is the muse for artists and poets and I feel that fits nicely with her image, almost as if these forms of art are a growing living thing aswell. She is all about manifesting your dreams into reality, harvesting of intent in the real world. Where the magician speaks of manipulating forces, she brings intent into reality, grounding it in the real world.