Bring in the May and bring in the Summer! Technically Summer does not begin until June 21 but May often makes us feel like Summer, and all of its festivities, has arrived. May can be a wonderful time of year, with great weather, outdoor events, and riotous flowers in bloom. May and the summer can also be a season of work.
The Empress Tarot Card
In my mind, the month of May can be compared to the art and meaning of The Empress tarot card. The Empress card represents the Earth Mother in tarot – the Goddess and Divine Feminine personified. She is nature, around us but also within us, the ever-unfolding source of life-giving power. The Empress card typically shows a woman surrounded by abundant nature, sometimes she is shown as the earth itself. The green earth, the flowing water, and the flowers that may be on The Empress card remind us that The Empress rules over material wealth. The fact that The Empress card is associated with the planet Venus tells us that The Empress also rules over love and families. The Empress is at home in the sensual, life-sustaining energies of the natural world. This card is associated with nurturing in all its guises: anything from literally mothering a child, to tending a garden, to cultivating a creative project. The Empress breathes life into the world around her.
The Emperor card in tarot, The Empress’ counterpart, deals with law and order, discipline, and the goals of the empire. You might say that The Empress rules over the emotional aspect of the empire, focusing on relationships, families, and security while The Emperor handles more of the logistics and technical aspects of the empire.
The Empress is About Working Hard
My hometown, Memphis, is known as the city of grit and grind. We work hard, we play hard, and The Empress is here to support us in our work and our play. She can appreciate those of us who are motivated, who work smart and hard to make a good life for our loved ones.
The Empress acknowledges our work. She is a mother, she understands the work it takes to raise a child or the energy it takes to work, the time it takes to build something. The Empress card represents that period in our lives when we must nurture something so that it can grow enough to survive on its own. But why do we work so hard? Why do we suffer the grind if there is no pay off? Remember all the abundant nature and beautiful scenery of The Empress card? That is why we grit and grind. The Empress doesn’t only stand for hard work, but also the abundance and success of a job well done, and a life well lived. The Empress also represents luxurious abundance of all kinds. She offers a cornucopia of delights, especially those of the senses – food, pleasure, and beauty. She can suggest material reward, but only with the understanding that riches go with a generous and open spirit. The Empress is the loving Mother of tarot after all.
The Empress in Tarot Readings
If you are getting a tarot reding and The Empress appears in regard to your love life, she has good news for you there too. The Empress in a love question can herald a serious, committed relationship. The prospective partner represented by the card will likely be loving, nurturing, and caring, have financial security and/or be a lover of fine material things. If The Empress shows up in a reading about your career, expect work to be more pleasurable for a while. Typically The Empress means that you are being supported at work, and perhaps your career is getting a boost. Harness your creative talents at work when The Empress shows up and let her grow your future.
Be The Empress This Summer
This can be a good time of year to put on your creative hat and begin planning for the future you want. Schools will be letting out soon for the summer if it hasn’t already. Seniors are graduating. Family vacations need planning. Everyone has been working hard and the energies of May invite us to play and enjoy ourselves. As a representative of the lighthearted vibes of the month, let The Empress into your life. Let her show you to harness your energies so you play as hard as you work, and so that you enjoy the fruits of your labors. There is no point in running the rat race, if we do not get to get off the wheel and enjoy the things we’ve worked for.
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