Mystical Cats Tarot - The Empress III

Onaorkal

I can't be 100% sure, but I believe the Empress is a Turkish Angora cat. Her overall appearance and the Ottoman Empire feel of the card made me think so.

So, let's say a white Turkish Angora cat is lying on a big red and gold cushion, feeding her babies. 4 kittens appear to be drinking, while one is standing, facing and looking towards the reader. The mother has her eyes closed and looks peaceful. She is wearing a head crown seemingly made of silver and gemstones. The cats are situated inside a purple tent. There is a band of golden fabric at the junction of the ceiling and the wall, a pink cushion on the floor and 8 roses scattered around the cushions. The tent is placed on what looks like grey stone and through the opening one can see trees not too far.

Colors : Red/pink, gold, purple.

In the book, much praise is given to the Empress for the unconditional love and devotion she has for her kittens. One possible message this card can have for us is that care and support are now available. "This may come in the form of material wealth or nurturing help [and] it is given with love and without expectations or conditions." Then you can give back yourself. It's the "cycle of love".


Now onto the symbols I found in the card. (My favorite part!)

Turkish Angora cats : This breed is known to be elegant, graceful and affectionate.
Fun fact : Duchess, the well-mannered and devoted mother cat from the Disney movie "The Aristocats" is a Turkish Angora!

White cats : Associated with good luck, happiness and purity.

Closed eyes : Denotes well-being, relaxed state, trust, passiveness, rest.

5-pointed star jewelry : Symbolizes connection with Earth.

Diamond : I guessed the teardrop-shaped jewel might be a diamond, since it's the gemstone associated with Venus. (And Venus being the planet and goddess associated with the Empress card)

Silver : Metal associated with the feminine energy.

Number 5 (for the 5 kittens) : Balance, marriage.

8 roses : There are different symbolic messages depending on the number of roses you gift someone. The message associated with 8 roses is "Grateful for your caring and support."

(Red) roses : Flower associated with Venus, love, beauty and devotion.

Tent : To be under a roof gives a sense of security, a 'home' feeling.

Purple fabric : In the old times it was associated with nobility and luxury, since it was one of the most difficult dye to get/make.

Gold and red fabrics : Symbols of abundance and prosperity.

Pink color : Associated with nurturing, compassion and unconditional love.

The tassels : I counted them for fun and guess what? There are 22 of them! Like the number of trumps. 19 of them are hanging from the wall and 3 are attached to the cushions.
Also a lot of symbolism is associated with the number 22, but I haven't looked into it.

Trees : Symbol of life and connection to Earth.

Grey (stone) : Associated with stability, maturity and responsibility.


*Bonus information for people who have an interest for genetics*
I looked at the Emperor cat and he's a big orange cat. I then reviewed the basics of cat genetics because I was a bit rusted and I'm pretty sure the litter of 5 kittens shown on the card is a legit possible result of the breeding of those 2 cats.
Orange is a very dominant gene. So it's not impossible for them to get a black kitten if the orange cat carries the black gene. The kitten facing us might be cream-colored, which is the dilution of orange. Same for the grey kitten being a dilution of black. The calico is a female having the genes for orange and black and the spotted white gene many cats carry. Finally you have a probably male (80% likely) orange kitten looking just like his father! No all-white kitten like the Empress, since the male doesn't carry the gene for white color and both black and orange are dominant over white.
There you go, hope I didn't confuse anybody even more! :)
 

Onaorkal

OK so while writing about the Emperor today I thought about something.
They had 5 kittens, from what we can see on the Empress card. 4 are together, very close to their mother. The last one looks a bit more independant and very curious. He looks at us straight in the eye, showing no fear.

What if this kitten is the future Empress or Emperor, while each of the 4 other kittens represent the 4 cat clans?
I took out the 4 kitten cards from the deck and dang, it does seem to work out except for one!
The Kitten of Sky is grey, the Kitten of Sea is calico (tricolore) and the Kitten of Earth is black.
But the Kitten of Fire is...brown? Unless he's red/orange but appears brown because he's pretty much in the dark except for his tiny candle?

Let me know what you think, but I'm pretty excited about this (even though the Fire one might not work)