The Empress

What the card means

Upright

What grows is what is tended, not what is controlled - and that is the whole card. The abundance here is not the result of effort but of patience: planted, watered, left to grow. It often speaks about the body, about the house, and about things made by hand.

Reversed

Care that has turned into control: the plant is watched so closely that it is being got in the way of. Sometimes the reverse - the tending stopped altogether and everything went over. And sometimes simply the tiredness of whoever looks after everyone.

Love and relationships

Upright

Warmth, generosity, a relationship in which somebody is physically well. Pregnancy - literally, or as an image of something that has already begun and is growing. A good sign for anything that takes time.

Reversed

Care that has become close quarters. Or a relationship the tenderness has left, leaving the service behind.

Work and business

Upright

It grows if it is not pulled at. A good time for what bears fruit late: training, reputation, a craft. Creative work comes easily.

Reversed

Micromanagement. Or a project that stopped being watered and whose drying out is somehow a surprise.

Money

Upright

Sufficiency that arrives slowly and stays. Money into what grows: the house, health, a skill. What goes on comfort is not begrudged.

Reversed

Spending more on other people than you have. Or saving so carefully that the money stops doing anything.

The card's advice

Give it time and tending rather than pressure. Make something with your hands. And check whether you are confusing care with keeping everything in them.

As the card of the day

A day for the body and the house: food, sleep, order, something pleasant for no reason. Work will go if it is not hurried. Good for talking to anyone younger.

What is depicted

A woman sits among cushions in a field of ripe wheat, woodland and a stream behind her; the sign of Venus on her shield, twelve stars in her crown. She is neither standing nor walking: it is all growing already.

Zodiac sign and correspondences

Venus - what draws, and what feeds.

With other cards

• The Empress + Nine of Cups — contentment you can put a hand on.
• The Empress + The Emperor — care and order together - the rare balance a household actually stands on.
• The Empress + Ace of Pentacles — a beginning with soil under it.