Liber T - Empress

[BrightEye]

I'm interested in the image of the pelican in the card. A quick tour of google revelas that according to ancient mythology, the pelican was a bird which used to feed her young from the blood that issued forth from the wounds which she inflicted on her own breast. Apparently, historically this was a symbol of selfless and self-sacrificing love, especially the love that exists between mother and child. Would you agree?

This is such a beautiful Empress, and she somehow doesn't come across as self-sacrificing. I'm interested in this symbolism because I drew the card as advice in a love situation.

 

[PeterS]

I think it is a pelican

I believe that it is a pelican because of research you have done and what I have found as well. I do love this card.

There is a lot of great stuff on this card Thoth Study group if you haven't found it yet.

 

[WolfyJames]

This card is one of the mutiple reasons why I prefer the Liber T over the Thoth. Harris' art can be sometimes quite beautiful but other times it's bad and there are way too many details and she made mistakes as well. This is one she made mistakes with this card. On the Thoth, she put a swan when it should have been a pelican, the colors are off too. With the Liber T, the art is better and clearer, mistakes are corrected, the characters on the cards appear more majestic, grander.

I guess the pelican means that a mother would do everything for her children. The pelican makes itself bleed but there are other exemples found in nature where the mother can aggressively defend her youngs and even fake being wounded to distract the predator from the nest (I don't remember the name of that bird). So it's not necessarely about making sacrifices but being capable of anything for your children, from the best to the worse.

The Empress is about nurturing... something or someone. It could mean to be more nurturing and supportive, but reversed, could mean as well that you are smothering and don't let your "baby" grow.

To know more about that card and the little details, which is a Thoth clone, there is the Thoth Study Group here:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=27324

 

[WolfyJames]

Here is the Empress à la Liber T Tarot of Stars Eternal:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/wolfyjames/decks/libertbig/major03.jpg

 

[Emily]

This is really more of an observation than anything else - I've always liked this Empress and I decided to write down what I like about it and after I'd finished one thing stood out. The fact that she isn't heavily pregnant - but her hand curls around her stomach pointing to the fact that she is fertile.

The 5 Goldfish in the bottom of the picture (I know in Chinese culture the Goldfish is considered lucky), the Pelican giving her lifeblood to her chicks, the wheat, the butterflies on the Empress's dress.

I don't feel I'm finished with this card yet so I might post again on it.