The Empress III in the Rider Waite Tarot
Table of contents
Table of contents
See another card
- The Fool
- The Magician I
- The High Priestess II
- The Empress III
- The Emperor IV
- The Hierophant V
- The Lovers VI
- The Chariot VII
- Strength VIII
- The Hermit IX
- Wheel of Fortune X
- Justice XI
- The Hanged Man XII
- Death XIII
- Temperance XIV
- The Devil XV
- The Tower XVI
- The Star XVII
- The Moon XVIII
- The Sun XIX
- Judgement XX
- The World XXI
- Ace of Wands
- Two of Wands
- Three of Wands
- Four of Wands
- Five of Wands
- Six of Wands
- Seven of Wands
- Eight of Wands
- Nine of Wands
- Ten of Wands
- Page of Wands
- Knight of Wands
- Queen of Wands
- King of Wands
- Ace of Cups
- Two of Cups
- Three of Cups
- Four of Cups
- Five of Cups
- Six of Cups
- Seven of Cups
- Eight of Cups
- Nine of Cups
- Ten of Cups
- Page of Cups
- Knight of Cups
- Queen of Cups
- King of Cups
- Ace of Swords
- Two of Swords
- Three of Swords
- Four of Swords
- Five of Swords
- Six of Swords
- Seven of Swords
- Eight of Swords
- Nine of Swords
- Ten of Swords
- Page of Swords
- Knight of Swords
- Queen of Swords
- King of Swords
- Ace of Pentacles
- Two of Pentacles
- Three of Pentacles
- Four of Pentacles
- Five of Pentacles
- Six of Pentacles
- Seven of Pentacles
- Eight of Pentacles
- Nine of Pentacles
- Ten of Pentacles
- Page of Pentacles
- Knight of Pentacles
- Queen of Pentacles
- King of Pentacles
The Empress Rider Waite Smith : meaning and interpretation
Major
Earth
Venus
The Empress is the archetypal mother, creator and protector. She embodies fertility, abundance and active gentleness. The third major arcanum, she is the natural extension of the wisdom of the High Priestess, but turned towards concrete action. The Empress speaks of growth, of projects coming to life, of a period when nature – both inner and outer – is generous and fertile. She invites you to welcome this prosperity with gratitude, to honour your creative power, whether artistic, emotional, professional or spiritual. It’s a card full of beauty, sensuality and radiance. It also reminds us that for life to grow, it must be nurtured, cared for and protected. If it appears in a draw, it’s a sign that you’re in a phase of conscious creation, that your ideas can materialise if you give them a fertile environment. The Empress is a gentle, earthy and powerful blessing.
RWS Tarot : Arcana The Empress readings
Love / Sentimental reading
with the card The Empress
The Empress is a particularly favourable card in the sentimental domain. It embodies nurturing love, sensuality and emotional fertility. If you are in a relationship, it reflects a harmonious, abundant relationship in which everyone can flourish in safety. It can also indicate the birth (symbolic or real) of a child, a joint project, or the strengthening of emotional ties. It is a maternal energy, generous, but also very embodied: it speaks of tenderness, shared pleasure and complicity. If you’re single, you’re likely to meet someone warm and sincere, someone stable and caring, often connected to the earth or the arts. The Empress likes to build, but she also likes to feel, to touch, to create a bond through her presence. She invites you to love yourself fully, because it’s from this inner abundance that outer love is born. If you’re stuck in love, she can also ask you about the place of femininity or motherhood in your love life.
Professional / Work reading
with the card The Empress
Professionally, the Empress symbolises creativity, productivity and the realisation of ideas. She indicates that your projects are taking shape, that you are in a fertile phase where your efforts are beginning to bear fruit. It also represents professions linked to creation, aesthetics, nature, teaching or guidance. This card can also evoke an influential woman in your professional life, a protector, collaborator or mentor with gentle yet powerful energy. If you’re in a phase of launching or growing your business, this card is an excellent omen: your ideas are good, and you have the resources you need to make them flourish. She also reminds us of the importance of taking care of the work environment, making it pleasant and fertile in the broadest sense. The Empress encourages you to trust your creative instincts and cultivate patience: what is well nurtured always flourishes in the end.
Financial / Material / Money reading
with the card The Empress
In financial matters, the Empress evokes growth, abundance and material security. She is often associated with improved resources, an influx of money or a period of prosperity. It’s not a question of rapid or unexpected gains, but of a natural development linked to good management, well thought-out investments or a project that bears fruit. It invites you to adopt a generous but conscious attitude: sharing, yes, but without emptying yourself. It also reminds us that money can (and should) circulate to nourish life in all its dimensions: family, beauty, comfort, creativity. If you’re going through difficulties, it encourages you to reconnect with your power of creation, not to remain in a state of lack, but to plant the seeds of your future abundance today. It is the promise that the earth you cultivate with love will respond to you with richness.
Family reading
with the card The Empress
In the family sphere, the Empress embodies the nurturing mother, unity and warmth of the home. It indicates a period of gentleness, fertility and benevolence between family members. It can signal a pregnancy, the arrival of a new child, or a flourishing family project. It’s a card that speaks of listening, caring and harmony within the domestic circle. It can also encourage you to strengthen family ties by cultivating emotional communication and small everyday gestures. If you are a parent, she will encourage you to provide a reassuring and loving environment, and to encourage everyone’s creativity. The Empress can also represent the mother figure in your life: her protection, influence and energy. In the case of family tensions, she invites you to use gentle, concrete gestures to calm conflicts, to nurture the bond rather than trying to understand everything immediately. Here, love is lived out in the balanced gift of self.
Spiritual reading
with the card The Empress
Spiritually, the Empress is linked to the body, to nature and to the consciousness of incarnation. She reminds you that the spiritual path is not only lived in the heights of the soul, but also in the flesh, in matter, in the living. It invites you to honour your body as a sacred temple, to take care of yourself, to rediscover a deeper connection with the Earth, the lunar cycles, the seasons, the sacred feminine. It can suggest a return to natural or intuitive spiritual practices: rituals, artistic creations, forest walks, mindfulness gardening, body meditation. It reconnects you to healthy pleasure, to the feeling of abundance that comes from a life aligned with the beauty of the world. It also symbolises the ability to give life: not just biologically, but also spiritually, by giving birth to projects, ideas and visions in line with your essence. It invites you to welcome, to receive, to nourish the spirit through the heart.
See another card
- The Fool
- The Magician I
- The High Priestess II
- The Empress III
- The Emperor IV
- The Hierophant V
- The Lovers VI
- The Chariot VII
- Strength VIII
- The Hermit IX
- Wheel of Fortune X
- Justice XI
- The Hanged Man XII
- Death XIII
- Temperance XIV
- The Devil XV
- The Tower XVI
- The Star XVII
- The Moon XVIII
- The Sun XIX
- Judgement XX
- The World XXI
- Ace of Wands
- Two of Wands
- Three of Wands
- Four of Wands
- Five of Wands
- Six of Wands
- Seven of Wands
- Eight of Wands
- Nine of Wands
- Ten of Wands
- Page of Wands
- Knight of Wands
- Queen of Wands
- King of Wands
- Ace of Cups
- Two of Cups
- Three of Cups
- Four of Cups
- Five of Cups
- Six of Cups
- Seven of Cups
- Eight of Cups
- Nine of Cups
- Ten of Cups
- Page of Cups
- Knight of Cups
- Queen of Cups
- King of Cups
- Ace of Swords
- Two of Swords
- Three of Swords
- Four of Swords
- Five of Swords
- Six of Swords
- Seven of Swords
- Eight of Swords
- Nine of Swords
- Ten of Swords
- Page of Swords
- Knight of Swords
- Queen of Swords
- King of Swords
- Ace of Pentacles
- Two of Pentacles
- Three of Pentacles
- Four of Pentacles
- Five of Pentacles
- Six of Pentacles
- Seven of Pentacles
- Eight of Pentacles
- Nine of Pentacles
- Ten of Pentacles
- Page of Pentacles
- Knight of Pentacles
- Queen of Pentacles
- King of Pentacles
5-Card spread
The Empress and its positions in a 5-card draw.
Want to better understand how to interpret the card The Empress according to its position in a cross drawing? What does it symbolise as a situation, obstacle, resource, piece of advice or way out? Explore its many facets and find a detailed reading of the card The Empress in every position of the 5-card cross spread Rider Waite.
