III: The Empress: Nurture and Nature

The Empress is a beautiful card.   Meditating on it was interesting.  Last nite, meditation consisted of staring at the card thinking how peaceful and pretty it was.  Today, however, while I was laying in a tub of hot water trying to ease the pain, I was struck by how I was floating in the water, giving my pain to it, and feeling the kind of comfort and ease that comes when you feel safe and warm.  Like the embrace of a mother's arms, or the warm embrace of fluids within the womb.  We are born, and yet we still wait to be born.  A cycle of renewal and discovery as gentle as that as shown in the Empress.  

This card was distinctly feminine.  And even though I am female and identify as such, femininity and maternal feels are uncomfortable subjects for me.  I have a child, but I never really felt a strong maternal instinct and often wondered if something were wrong with me!  I watched my friends nurture their children, while mine was given the necessities of life.  I view the Empress as embodying those aspects that are missing (or under developed) within myself.

So, The Fool bounds on to the scene a utterly blank canvas.  His eyes are wide and empty, he is ready to experience Life.  The Magus teaches him what the experiences mean - he understands cause and effect now.   The Priestess tells him that there is more, much more, than just what he can see and experience with his physical senses.  There is Mystery.  But perhaps The Fool isn't ready to experience Mystery.  The Empress shows him the meaning of Life, and how it comes to be.  Maternal love with its selfless giving and eternal embrace prepares him for what lies ahead...