The Empress is card no. 3 in the Major Arcana. A woman sits by a field of wheat and a river, her gown decorated with pomegranates. In many decks, she is depicted as being pregnant. She is the ultimate mother figure, who teaches us that we can create and grow through nurture, devotion, love, patience, generosity.

 

By the Empress' feet lies a heart-shaped stone with the symbol of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. But the combination of wheat and pomegranates on this card also reminds us of Demeter, the ancient Greek goddess of the harvest and the cycle of life and death. When her daughter Persephone was abducted to the underworld by Hades, Demeter was so distraught that the seasons halted and everything began to die. Hades finally agreed to release Persephone, but gave her a pomegranate to eat which would bound her to him for a season a year. Every year Persephone is forced to descent to the underworld, and everything dies. Only in spring, when her daughter returns again, Demeter brings the world back to life.

 

The wheat in itself reminds us again of the patience we must have, waiting for our crops to ripen, and understanding that we only reap what we sow. Water in the tarot deck is a symbol of emotion and love. Simultaneously, water brings fertility to parched lands.

 

With the Empress, one plus one is more than two. This is also reflected in all the Threes of the Minor Arcana; they're about what we create - for good or for worse - when we allow things to come together.