The Empress

The Joy of Tarot it that takes you to all sorts of interesting places because there are so many ways to interpret a card.

I often pull a ‘card for the day’ because it always adds food for thought. 

Sometimes the card gives you the perfect advice for how about to go your day and other times, the card requires a bit of introspection.

An example of that, was a couple of weeks ago, when I pulled The Empress.   

For me the Empress epitomises abundance, creativity, fertility, and so my first instinct was hmm.. how do I put those qualities into action today?  

Pondering this question from a deck chair overlooking the most beautiful view (my first holiday away for two years) left me a bit blank as I couldn’t see what I could do!  

As I pondered the meaning of the card, it occurred to me that The Empress perfectly describes the natural world, Mother Earth.  And here she was all around me as I took in the river, the sky, the birds, wild life, the warmth of the sun, the light, the sounds…. Perhaps I was being reminded to take a holiday from DOING and spend some time appreciating this abundance. 

So being asked to just be grateful for all this loveliness around me sounded like the perfect piece of advice. But, wasn’t as easy as it sounds on day two of my holiday. I just couldn’t relax. Bits of restlessness kept creeping in (without the ‘to do list’) and so I couldn’t just be grateful …..and then I felt bad about that!   So unsuccessful the first day I carried the Empress and her message on to the next day…. and the next and the next and ended up having one of the most joyful and relaxing holiday’s I can remember!

It did occur to me that spending time sitting in that deck chair taking in the wonder of Mother Earth and the incredible world we live in, can be an act of gratitude that does contribute to the world because the more we grow our appreciation the more we will want to take care of her; a daily act of gratitude does makes a difference.   And that felt good also.