Tarot Working, The Empress

I am finding that my experiences with the cards, so far, have been different with each one. I don’t know why I should be surprised by this. I guess I was under the impression that there would be more of a consistency to the experiences. After 4 weeks it is becoming apparent that each of them will interact with me differently. Which is how I introduce my experience with the Empress.

The Empress.

The Empress is hard for me to characterize. She didn’t come to me in the same way as the other previous three cards. There was very little direct contact. But from Friday morning after the lay down/pick up ceremony the world took on a singular beauty, the weather became unseasonably warm this week where I am, and I was the recipient of way more flirty attention from members of both sexes.  I also have renewed energy for a few projects that had drifted toward the back burner. It is really tempting to attribute these phenomena to a Venusian correspondence with the Empress but I think I’ll hold back just slightly to say that the Empress has these connotations that Venus seems to also have. I want to take the tarot on its own merits without trying to force it into other models, like astrology.

On a related, yet slightly off topic note, my magical practice in general has really felt more robust since the turn of the year with this week being quite accelerated.

By Wednesday I was feeling like I was getting slack because I hadn’t had a direct conversation with the Empress. I decided to get up early on Thursday morning, the last day, to try a scrying session before heading off to work. I lit the candle lantern and I sat with the Empress.

After a short time of calling I had an impression of a fountain and a basin of refreshing water behind her. And I saw her raise her robe slightly and her foot is a cow’s hoof. I ask her, “how can I use your energy in my life”. In response she appears to move as if settling a white mantle across her shoulders and two jets of white energy extend from the sides of her head resembling horns.

I ask, “what does your shield indicate?”

“Growth of the nation.”

Her head then changes to resemble an octopus with its tentacles on her chest and shoulders. Then it changes to a young woman with deer antlers. She opens her arms to me invitingly, like an adult to a child.

I ask, “what is your message to me?” In response she laughs and gestures toward the sky. I can’t tell if she is being dismissive or if she is indicating the sky.

I ask “what does your staff indicate?” She responds, “the ability to create.”

Then her image changes to a great monument, still in her form but large and stone. A pair of women’s breasts appear behind her as if a larger woman were standing behind the monument. Then her image splits into two of her and she tells me “I can go where I wish yet seem not to move.” Then the monument changes into a naga shape, a snake with a woman’s head, then turns back to the Empress on her throne.

I ask, “what are the lessons you can teach me?” She smiles with an excited expression on her face, stirs as if getting comfortable, but then says nothing.

I ask, “do you have any children?” She is quiet for a long time then says, “countless.” And as I get ready to ask another question I am suddenly hit with a strong need to use the restroom. With that the session ended.

The thing I found the most striking about my work with the Empress is how much influence she appeared to have on me outside of the context of the tarot card. I felt her in my entire world.