Book of Thoth Study Group - The Empress III

CreativeFire

Thoth Study Group - The Empress III

I thought I would take the opportunity of starting this weeks thread on the Thoth Empress as I have been focusing on this card after a recent reading. I also noticed from the previous High Priestess thread that closrapexa may still be a bit busy with his new job.

So please jump in with your thoughts and ideas on this card.

The lotus with the four petals connects for me to the first chakra (root chakra) - our connection to nature, grounding, fundamentals of survival and life.

I note here that I would not have picked the bird at the feet of the Empress as a pelican, but as a swan - as it doesn't seem to have the pouch / bill of a pelican in the drawing?

The odd left hand position of the Empress had me intrigued until I read the following:

She is holding a phallus-like lotus stem, representing the masculine procreative power, with her right hand; the left one remains softly open as it if would embrace an invisible child.

The soft colours used in this image have a very feminine feel, the pink and green of her dress - pink for love and green for nature, peace. The blues of the background for water / emotions. All very "mother" aspected.

It would be interesting if someone had some info on the fleur-de-lys - as to what this symbol represents. The two headed eagle also is curious, particularly as there is a circle around the heads and it looks like one of them is holding something in its mouth like a waxing moon maybe??

Look forward to reading your posts on this card.

Cheers
CreativeFire


PS. Have attached an image of the card for easy reference.
 

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Diwha

Thanks for posting CreativeFire, I'd like to add this

The Daughter of the Mighty Ones. Daleth. Venus.

The Empress. Venus. Daleth. The Empress is seated in the traditional posture symbolising alchemical Salt. This is woman in her all-embracing receptivity, incarnate womanhood, holding the lotus, wearing the belt of the Zodiac, surrounded by her Venus birds, the pelican of self-surrender and the heraldic white eagle of salt.

She is seated in traditional posture. This posture represents salt, the inactive principle of nature. The lotus typifies the feminine or passive power. The Bees on the robe may be compared with the Fieur de Lys, suggesting the French origin of the symbol; the belt is the Zodiac. The Pelican may be identified with the Great Mother and her offspring. It represents the continuity of life and inheritance of blood uniting all forms of nature. The White Eagle typifies Alchemical Salt, and the White Tincture, of the nature of silver.

Love. Beauty. Happiness. Pleasure. Success. Fruitfulness. Good fortune. Graciousness. Elegance. Gentleness. Ill-dignified: Dissipation. Debauchery. Idleness. Sensuality.
 

Diwha

Thanks for posting CreativeFire

The Empress is ruled by the elemental, Water. This defines Her essence as that of female energy, accepting, giving, nurturing. Whereas The Priestess seems to represent the ethereal female qualities, virginal, and transcendent of mundane sexual advances, The Empress is the embodiment of the archetypal Mother. She is the nurturer, the life giver, as water itself nurtures and gives life to all creatures.

Venus is the planetary ruler of The Empress. This is Venus in its highest expression. Here it seeks to bring beauty and elegance, balance and harmony, into whatever environment it appears.

The representative Hebrew Letter is Daleth, which means Door. it is one of the seven Double letters, signifying the contradictions of existence. On the glyph, the Door can be seen positioned behind the Empress, and is known as the "Gate of Heaven."

The Numerological Correspondent is Three. This is represents growth through imagination. The Infinite Formlessness was 0, the God power, omnipotent and omniscient. The number 1 represented the conscious mind, communication, but not production. The number 2 was the subconscious mind, reflective, receptive, but lacking reasoning. It takes the number 3 to combine the single numbers of 1 and 2 into something that is concrete. In this respect, the three can be seen to represent the Christian Trinity as well as the Wiccan Trinity of Light, Life, and Love. In the Tetragrammaton, the way of the Empress, the Number Three card, is the direct path uniting the Mother and the Father. This can be seen in examples all around us everyday. Neither a man nor a woman alone can produce the child, but the combining of each can produce a third, which is a mixture of both parents (hence, a uniting), yet separate unto itself.

Overview
The Empress represents the highest of spiritual qualities, and the lowest of the material. She is symbolic of the deepest kind of unconditional and nurturing love. This is illustrated in the card by the mother swan feeding her young with her own blood. She is the ultimate expression of all that is feminine, mysterious, receptive, and magnetic. To her arms is where we all long to return for safety, security, love, and comfort.

Symbolism
Blue Flames: Symbolic of the Empress' birth from Water
Lotus: Represents the feminine, passive power
Revolving Moons: Represents the need for opposition to maintain balance
Pink Coloring: Perfection of Love
Mother, Young Swans: Symbolic of the nurturing qualities of the female
Green Dress: Represents the ability to make ideas manifest
Shield: Protective of all those under her sphere of love
Moon Throne: Emotionally involved with all; intuitive
Double Eagle: Transformation
Maltese Cross: Union of the spiritual with the material
Dove and Sparrow: Bird of the future; bird of the past


Interpretation
DIGNIFIED: Can presage a birth (look to other cards around it for verification). Fertility, material success, abundance. Can indicate a marriage (depending on the cards around it). Great creativity manifested for the good of the group. Can also indicate an evolvement and acceptance of the feminine principle within the person.

In reference to the position of others, indicates that someone close needs nurturing, love.


ILL-DIGNIFIED: Domestic instability; poverty, infertility, sterility, promiscuity, unwanted pregnancy. Can indicate a smothering, overprotective personality. Repressed or blocked creativity.

This card is very important in psychologically knowing the individual. It can indicate a conflict concerning childbearing; a conflict in acceptance of the feminine side of the personality. It can also indicate unresolved mother-child conflicts.
 

TheoMo

I had trouble with this card, and I can't really figure out why. My general method in studying a card is putting it right in front of me, clearing my thoughts, closing my eyes, and concentrating on the image. Then I'll study the card in my mind and see what thoughts arise. So far it's been quite a fruitful technique, but I drew nothing but blanks for the Empress. I'll try again maybe in a few days, but for now I have nothing to add...ah well ;)
 

Parzival

empress

I appreciate Diwha's concise,specific numerology;his description of the empress as " growth through imagination" is inspired-- the empress is birthing art and offspring.The eagle, phoenix, and eagle symbolize sublimation,but not solid to vapor-- vapor to solid ( the meaning goes in both directions ).Spirit and life,foetal or artistic,enter this world through the empress.She is not the high priestess in her reflecting of truth; she is the birth-giver of beauty.Two is moon, three is venus.
 

CreativeFire

So that we don't miss out on any of the excellent information and input of members from previous Thoth Study groups in this forum, I have put a link to The Empress thread that was posted some time ago.

It has info on the Fleur-de-lys that I was curious about! :)

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10494

Cheers
CreativeFire
 

linabeet

The beautiful Mother in all her unlimited love. I've always loved the way she sits, curved comfortably, so flexible and lithe. Venus, Earth Mother, Demeter.

More from Angeles Arrien -
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The large crystalline bubbles touching each other on the card represent the unity of mind and heart....(she)faces the dove or kiwi bird, both are prophetic birds....She brings with her the precious memories of the past (the small sparrow or bluebird that sits to the back of her head).

paraphrasing - the swan is the western symbol of transformation, the phoenix is the eastern, doubled to say we change internally and externally.

quote again -
Bees are found on the robes of the Empress, Emporor and Art symbols. They represent ways of seeing or varied forms of perception....The Fleur-de-lis, the three petaled flowers located at the bottom...is also found on the Emperor...associated with royalty and leadership. In Tibet and some Eastern cultures this same symbol is often referred to as the "three pronged flame" representing union of mind, heart and spirit.
---------------------------

Does anyone know what the blue cloth/waves are that hang from the birds? Also, I couldn't get the links to the book of thoth in the old threads to work, does anyone know of an active online source for the book of thoth?
 

RedMaple

The dove is traditionally associated with Venus/Aphrodite, who was originally the great mother, "Winged Night" who was impregnated by the wind and laid the World Egg in the midst of Chaos. It is from this egg that everything in the world was born. So that little dove means quite a lot.

The sparrow is known as a bird that will fight to the death to protect its nest and young. It is extremely courageous.

I see the shield as showing two eagles mating in mid-flight - reminding us that the earthiest of moments is sublime, that is, ties us into the spiritual energies of the universe.

I know everyone seems to agree that the big white bird is a pelican, but really, it doesn't look like a pelican at all. I see it as a swan, also a reminder of Aphrodite.

The fleur-de-lis is an Iris, a very female flower that grow by water.

I love the curves of her body, I want to nestle there. Having been a child, a mother, a grandmother, I know these shapes well.

I like to think of lotus as a reminder that spirituality grows out of the material world, these bodies our spirits wear are also sacred.

I have never been able to see motherhood as passive. I know men need to feel included, but that moment of passion, the spark, is surely not the same as creating a child out of your own flesh. That always seems both active and receptive to me. :)
 

RedMaple

More on the fleur-de-lis.

It means "lily flower" but actually refers to a yellow iris that grows near water.

An interesting legend says that it was formed from a dove that flew to earth (!); another says it sprang from the tears of Eve. It has been associated with purity.

I love the association to water, the female, and the dove - just beautiful, and easy to understand that the flower is both by the side of the water and in what appears to be a stream in the center bottom of the card.

The association to Venus is so strong, and the association between Air (the impregnating wind) and Water, in which the World Egg was laid, will be one I won't forget. This is truly Venus as the Great Mother, Great Aphrodite, not the one birthed from the seashell, a much later image, but "the one of whom even noble Zeus stood in awe" as Robert Graves put it.

For more on these stores, check out Robert Graves The Greek Myths, volume I. The creation stories begin the volume.
 

CreativeFire

RedMaple said:
More on the fleur-de-lis.

It means "lily flower" but actually refers to a yellow iris that grows near water.

An interesting legend says that it was formed from a dove that flew to earth (!); another says it sprang from the tears of Eve. It has been associated with purity.

Thanks RedMaple, for the info on the fleur-de-lis, I had no idea that it actually meant 'lily flower' and interesting that is a member of the iris family - which always connects for me to the Goddess of the Rainbow and the Temperance card.

CreativeFire