The Empress in tarot is a beautiful card and like many cards in the tarot, the meanings associated with the card vary with more knowledge, experience, and context. In many decks, The Empress is expressed visually as a woman who is pregnant and because of this, she can symbolize the creation of life (actual pregnancy), new ideas, new chapters, or new beginnings. I recently received this card in a reading for myself and it did not directly represent something new on the horizon.
When I considered the implications of the pregnant woman on the card, I imagined a woman who is dreaming of the baby and the life to come. She is literally creating life while preparing for the changes to come. No matter how excited or prepared she is, she is forced to wait. This card is not the card I usually associate with waiting but as this card came up in a reading for myself, this interpretation is actually the most fitting. Despite how excited I might be for the future, how much I want to get started, how ready I might think I am, or how slow things might be at the moment, I am currently in a period of waiting. Waiting, but also not waiting. The mother-to-be Empress is waiting but also creating behind the scenes. She is simultaneously growing life and waiting for it. Likewise, though on the surface things might not look very different, the gears of life are turning behind the scenes.
How did I know that the card was meant to be interpreted as waiting and not something else? Generally, I use a pendulum to confirm cards and interpretations of those cards. However, in this case, I received further confirmation during two different reiki shares, through different people over the span of months. I was informed that life comes in seasons and currently, I’m in a season of waiting, rest, and preparation.
I understand and appreciate the messages I received. I value the opportunity to mentally, emotionally, and physically prepare myself for whatever might come next. I might not know what I’m waiting for exactly but perhaps what I need is to consider the dreams or future I wish to create during this gestation period.
Can you think of times in which you were in a season of waiting?