Please note that this series of interpretations is intended to assist specifically in personal healing and shadow work. There are many incredible websites that offer traditional meanings and correspondences.
The word “mother” induces a host of different emotions in all of us. There are no more complicated relationships than those with our mother and father (or guardians in parental positions). Many of us spend our entire lives untangling and making sense of those relationships. Despite that personal relationship, The Empress carries many positive connotations.
In The Empress, we meet the full embodiment of both the mother archetype and the concept of Mother Earth. She also represents healthy abundance and is known to give birth to our ideas and our creative endeavors, bringing them from a concept into life! The Empress can be a symbol of our sexuality and sensuality which may be a suggestion to explore that side of ourselves. In our busy lives it can be easy to neglect that part of ourselves, yet nurturing our erotic selves is fuel for our creativity and our ability to bring our full selves to those around us. In this case, The Empress asks us to examine and release shame or guilt that you have carried forward with you in this regard.
What was the response in your belly when you read the word “mother?” What images came to mind? Did you think about the mother you wish you had, the mother you hope to be, or were you flooded with wonderful memories of your childhood? Sit with these feelings. Whether good or bad, allow these feelings to happen. Allow them to stir you up, but do not give them permission to shut you down.
Journal about these feelings and the immediate images that come to mind when you read/hear the word “mother.” These are vital insights and can be so helpful. If your relationship with this concept, or with the figure of motherhood in your life is too challenging, feel free to save these activities until you are in a place to do this work.
On our healing journeys, and especially those in shadow work, it is integral that we are constantly listening to ourselves and practicing self-care, which includes knowing when we do not have the capacity to work through the really tough stuff.
“But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.”
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ApotheCarrie Tarot 