Bean Feasa
This Empress has a beautiful, serene and open face. She looks warm and caring, and this seems to be emphasised by the way her hands hover around her heart which is shown as part of the gold pattern on her red robes. The fact that she’s portrayed in mosaic makes me think of Byzantine art, and of religious art in general, which is fitting since the Empress is, to a large extent, an aspect of the sacred feminine.
A striking mantle falls from her shoulders, royal blue patterned with gold, red, green and orange; it curves down through the card, ending in a rich spill of fruit and foliage in the foreground – a colourful cornucopia. There’s an intriguing repeating pattern on this cloak – hearts, and intricate, squarish designs like mandalas. It reminds me a bit of the all-over pattern of the bedspread in the RiderWaite 9 of Swords, and of the old man’s robes in the 10 of Pentacles in the same deck. In all three cards somehow the pattern seems somehow to add magic and mystery to the scene. In the case of the Empress I imagine it could represent the intricate workings and complexity of Nature.
The billowing monochrome picture behind the Empress is a nice foil to the brittle colourfulness of the mosaic. It’s a tender depiction of the joys and cares of motherhood. I like the detail of the bird too, it reminds me of the bird who often appears in the 9 of Pentacles, who perhaps reminds us that the woman can combine a mental life (I’m taking that from the association with the element of air) with the life of the body. The card's double-portrayal method seems a good pictorial way of showing how an archetype need not be one-dimensional, but can encompass different aspects.
A striking mantle falls from her shoulders, royal blue patterned with gold, red, green and orange; it curves down through the card, ending in a rich spill of fruit and foliage in the foreground – a colourful cornucopia. There’s an intriguing repeating pattern on this cloak – hearts, and intricate, squarish designs like mandalas. It reminds me a bit of the all-over pattern of the bedspread in the RiderWaite 9 of Swords, and of the old man’s robes in the 10 of Pentacles in the same deck. In all three cards somehow the pattern seems somehow to add magic and mystery to the scene. In the case of the Empress I imagine it could represent the intricate workings and complexity of Nature.
The billowing monochrome picture behind the Empress is a nice foil to the brittle colourfulness of the mosaic. It’s a tender depiction of the joys and cares of motherhood. I like the detail of the bird too, it reminds me of the bird who often appears in the 9 of Pentacles, who perhaps reminds us that the woman can combine a mental life (I’m taking that from the association with the element of air) with the life of the body. The card's double-portrayal method seems a good pictorial way of showing how an archetype need not be one-dimensional, but can encompass different aspects.