Major Arcana - The Empress

It's time to meet your mother, the Fool has now grown quite a bit already and the next person he meets on his journey is his mother. The Empress. She symbolises Mother Earth, she's warm, loving and nurturing. She's the world of nature and sensation, her sceptre and shield represents power and spiritual strength coupled with intuition. She's fruitful and personifies Venus, temptation and truth. Venus was the Roman Goddess responsible for grain and crops among other things.

She's number 3 in the Major Arcana and that's a number of fertility and procreation. It's also a number of memory and represents past, present and future. 

This card of the Arcana reminds us of our collective relationship to and responsibility for Mother Earth. It asks us to look at ourselves and our needs, our attitudes and demands. Maybe it's time we stop ransacking the Earth out of greed and profit. 

So when is The Empress there to help you? When you're trying to live a more earth-centred life, that's when she'll be there, connect with her energy by going back to basics, spend time in nature, watch the night sky, do some gardening, become attuned to the seasons and spend time around animals. Let these activities become your meditation....