Major Arcana · III
The Empress — tarot meaning
abundance, nurture, fertility
Upright
Abundance and nurture. Creation in its most earthy form — growth, comfort, and care that makes things flourish.
Reversed
Creative block or over-tending — neglect of the self, or smothering what you love.
In the Papus Tarot, 1909
L'Impératrice — The Empress · Hebrew letter ג Gimel
Papus: the Word made productive, the divine trinity repeated in nature. Martinists call this the reintegration at work — spirit consenting to enter matter.
In the Oswald Wirth Tarot, 1889
L'Impératrice — The Empress · Hebrew letter ג Gimel
Wirth sees in her the creative imagination — the intelligence that clothes ideas in images, standing between the pure will of the Bateleur and the ordering hand of the Empereur.
Shown from the 1909 William Rider & Sons deck (public domain). A card is read in relation to the question and the cards around it; these meanings are a starting point, not a verdict.