MAAT Study Group- The Empress

juliecucciawatts

Full Moon Cycle of Scorpio (April 20-May 20)
The Empress

Planetary ruler Venus

In its conception the “Merry, Merry month of May” was dedicated to Mother Mary. The Full moon in Scorpio with its ancient lunar secrets occurs during the month that contains the holy-day Beltaine. This lunation is sexually charged. All the birds in Mother's flowering garden are filling their nests with eggs. The trees are flowering like bridal bouquets and the ground in the Northern Hemisphere is ready to be seeded. The cross quarter day Beltaine which is the opposite of Samhain/Halloween (the doorway to winter ) now opens the doorway back to summer, the earth is fertile and ready for sex, and the Mother Earth is newly pregnant.

Examples of this symbol can be found in the story of the Goddess of Desire. Aphrodite, who rose naked from the sea and first set foot on an island called Cythera, went on to Peloponnese, and eventually ended up at Paphos in Cyprus. As she walked, grass and flowers sprang from the ground. Aphrodite, meaning 'foam born,' rose from Chaos and danced on the sea. During the Spring her priestesses bathed in the sea and rose again symbolically renewed. She was worshipped in Syria and Palestine as Ishtar or Ashtaroth. Aphrodite is also called the daughter of Dione, Goddess of the Oak tree in which an amorous dove nested. Doves and sparrows are known for their lust and passion. According to Roman myth, Zeus claimed to be Aphrodite's father after he seized Dione's oracle at Dodana thus making her Aphrodite's mother.

The dove associated with the Christian Holy Spirit is a thinly masked Virgin Mother goddess. The written Latin texts for Holy Spirit is clearly a female-gendered word though it quickly loses its femininity in modern translations. Today, even our modern pop-culture “Hallmark Holidays” honor Mother's Day during May.

Bird goddesses date back to Neolithic times. The posture of these goddess figures carved in stone have wings with upraised arms assuming a welcoming gesture. This gesture is repeated in the images of other ancient goddesses from Crete, Greece and Egypt. Goddesses depicted with this gesture include the butterfly goddess and the bee goddess. This symbolism can be seen in the Egyptian ankh (meaning life and looks like the symbol for Venus and female). The upraised arms of the Egyptian hieroglyph Ka represents the individual's greater soul. The Ka’s responsibility is to welcome and greet the soul (BA) of the dead person. The Ka takes the form of the bennu bird, or phoenix, and was sometimes called mother. Images of the knot of Inanna 3000BC Sumeria, the Sacred knot 1500BC Knossos Crete, and the buckle of Isis all resemble the ankh with the out-stretched arms of the goddess. The buckle of Isis, representing the Yoni, carries the attributes of fidelity, fertility and growth with sacrifice.
Other names: Tethys; Thetis; Mary; Mari; Isis; Ishtar; Ashtaroth; Demeter; Venus; Gaia; Maia

Symbols: Creatrix; Snake; Great Mother; Great Goddess; Flowering earth; Dove goddess

Attributes: Passion; Lust; Friendship; Attraction; Love; Growth; Fulfillment; Maturation; Nurturing; Sex

In a Reading: This card represents a strongly sensual woman. She is a committed and passionate partner as well as a devoted and nurturing mother. She enjoys nature and gardening. She loves to be the center of the social circle and enjoys orchestrating elaborate functions.
 

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annik

I like the stars in a circle, making a halo around the woman's head. The white bird and flowers makes me think of purity and honesty. The chair seems to be really comfortable!
 

SolSionnach

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juliecucciawatts

balancing cards for the Month of the Empress

Balancing Cards

Empress(April 20-May 20)-Death(Oct 23-Nov.-22)
The moon of fertile/ flowering Earth- a month for planting gardens and seeing life return/The last Harvest the end of the growing season.

The Lovers (Beltaine May 1st)-Judgment (Samhain/Halloween Oct 31)
The Doorway to Summer- The Doorway to Winter
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Balancing moons of the same sign
5 of Cups(new moon in Taurus)-Princess of Swords(full moon in Taurus)
A young girl's despair and shock when faced with the reality of the cycle of life/The Huntress in search of what bounty the Earth has to offer her. She understands gain and loss in the cycle of life.

6 of Cups-( first quarter moon in Leo)-7 of Swords(last quarter moon in Leo)
a card of nostalgia, the relationships or influences from the past that influence the present the external world adds to internal world vs. the message of warning to guard against the external world stealing energy or material from the querant.

Queen of Cups (full moon in Scorpio)-5 of Swords(new moon in Scorpio)
The beginning of something wonderful and important with unseen complexity vs. a situation where trickery may be involved and things are not as they appear. The deck is stacked in the favor of someone else.

7 of Cups(last quarter moon in Aquarius)-6 of Swords (first quarter moon in Aquarius)
A situation where there are too many decisions to be made vs. a situation that can only be remedied by fleeing to a more peaceful place.
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Balancing moons of the same phase
5 of Cups(new moon in Taurus)-5 of Swords (new moon in Scorpio)
A young girl's despair and shock when faced with the reality of the cycle of life vs. a young boy who may be cheated in a game of chance.


6 of Cups(first quarter moon in Leo)-6 of Swords (first quarter moon in Aquarius)
a card of nostalgia, the relationships or influences from the past that influence the present for positive or negative/a person place or thing that reminds us usually in a positive way of our past vs.a situation that can only be remedied by leaving the past behind and traveling to a more peaceful place.
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Queen of Cups(Full moon in Scorpio)-Princess of Swords( full moon in Taurus)
The beginning of something wonderful and important with unseen complexity vs. The Huntress in search of what bounty the Earth has to offer her. She understands gain and loss in the cycle of life.

7 of Cups-( last quarter moon in Aquarius)-7 of Swords(last quarter moon in Leo)
A situation where there are too many choices and you must decide on one thing /the act of choosing something new vs. a warning that something could be taken from you and exploring the many layers of self.

Your comments, thoughts and additional information welcome,
Julie
 

crazy raven

Julie, when looking upon the Maat Empress, I felt confused and a loss for words. It was if I had to get to know Her and what She symbolically stood for before starting here.

It was through this realization that we can feel confused before meeting her. After all we were in dire straits, in a moral dilemma before we found ourselves groping forward in the dark, step by step, to the door of this ‘room’ or cave buried in dark layers of soil and stone. Dare we enter? This woman’s determined look is intense, sharp…..she doesn’t mince words, she tells it like it is. If crossed, she could become manipulative, jealous and sarcastic…..the dark side of Venus’ mirror.

Entering into an expanded state of consciousness is difficult when the body and mind have not been prepared to do it. Many of us are out of touch with the lower half of our bodies. We long to shake off and blast free of the restrictions placed on us through past conditionings. The door to this room is almost shut, perhaps telling us we have closed ourselves off from our sensuality. Like a tree that is barren, our roots cannot interconnect or entwine with others.

It does seem that a spiritual initiation of some sort can crumble and crack our old foundation. When this happens we are forced to acknowledge that we have an immense hunger to explore different possibilities of our potential. We desire to bring something of our own into being. To do this we must sit and discover what we are capable of and be honest with ourselves. Compassion forces us to consider the implications of our actions as well as our limitations. When we are truthful to ourselves only then will our old shape and old boundaries melt away. This is when She will willingly descend us into the warm blue-green waters. There we are like a baby in the mother’s womb…..we feel loved, nurtured content and have come home to our self.

The creative process has begun and we become aware of far-reaching interconnections with many others who share our desires and passions.

Patience and endurance nurtures the unborn child.
 

juliecucciawatts

crazy raven said:
Julie, when looking upon the Maat Empress, I felt confused and a loss for words. It was if I had to get to know Her and what She symbolically stood for before starting here.

It was through this realization that we can feel confused before meeting her. After all we were in dire straits, in a moral dilemma before we found ourselves groping forward in the dark, step by step, to the door of this ‘room’ or cave buried in dark layers of soil and stone. Dare we enter? This woman’s determined look is intense, sharp…..she doesn’t mince words, she tells it like it is. If crossed, she could become manipulative, jealous and sarcastic…..the dark side of Venus’ mirror.

Entering into an expanded state of consciousness is difficult when the body and mind have not been prepared to do it. Many of us are out of touch with the lower half of our bodies. We long to shake off and blast free of the restrictions placed on us through past conditionings. The door to this room is almost shut, perhaps telling us we have closed ourselves off from our sensuality. Like a tree that is barren, our roots cannot interconnect or entwine with others.

It does seem that a spiritual initiation of some sort can crumble and crack our old foundation. When this happens we are forced to acknowledge that we have an immense hunger to explore different possibilities of our potential. We desire to bring something of our own into being. To do this we must sit and discover what we are capable of and be honest with ourselves. Compassion forces us to consider the implications of our actions as well as our limitations. When we are truthful to ourselves only then will our old shape and old boundaries melt away. This is when She will willingly descend us into the warm blue-green waters. There we are like a baby in the mother’s womb…..we feel loved, nurtured content and have come home to our self.

The creative process has begun and we become aware of far-reaching interconnections with many others who share our desires and passions.

Patience and endurance nurtures the unborn child.

Hi CR!!
I like this, your being "lost for words". Don't we loose our words as we enter
a new body, a fresh brain, free of cultural and other associations, biases?
The stuff we love sticks we'll remember it, the stuff that hurt us could also
trigger us, but the details of the pain are gone. She's our "second chance" (third or more) to begin again and to pick all our favorite things again. Her sexuality brings us life and for once sex equates with life and not with death...as it should be. "I desire" tells us what we want next it's a direction to go in.
Thanks again for sharing this is fun!
Julie
 

Kimber

I e-mailed Julie my questions about this card before realizing there was still some activity (?) on this thread....so I'll share here as well!

I totally get this card, except for the crescent. It appears that the twelve stars (I assume for the zodiac) combine with the crescent to form a lemniscate, but I’m missing the point of the crescent. Is it meant to represent the nascent, germinating fertility that has yet to come to life?

Kimber