The Pictoral Key to the Tarot Type: Educational PAGE: 10 SELECT PAGE TO VIEW Contents Preface PART I - § 1.--Introductory and General PART I -§ 2.--Class I. The Trumps Major, otherwise Greater Arcana. PART I -§ 3.--Class II. The Four Suits, otherwise Lesser Arcana. PART I -§ 4.--The Tarot in History. PART II -§ 1.--The Tarot and Secret Tradition. PART II -§ 2 --The Magician PART II -§ 2 --The High Priestess PART II -§ 2 -- The Empress PART II -§ 2 -- The Emperor PART II -§ 2 -- The Hierophant PART II -§ 2 -- The Lovers PART II -§ 2 -- The Chariot PART II -§ 2 -- Strength, or Fortitude PART II -§ 2 -- The Hermit PART II -§ 2 -- Wheel of Fortune PART II -§ 2 -- Justice PART II -§ 2 -- The Hanged Man PART II -§ 2 -- Death PART II -§ 2 -- Temperance PART II -§ 2 -- The Devil PART II -§ 2 -- The Tower PART II -§ 2 -- The Star PART II -§ 2 -- The Moon PART II -§ 2 -- The Sun PART II -§ 2 -- The Last Judgment PART II -§ 2 -- The Fool PART II -§ 2 -- The World PART II -§ 3. Conclusion as to the Greater Keys. PART III -§ 1.--Distinction between the Greater and Lesser Arcana. PART III -§ 2.--Wands - King PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Queen PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Knight PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Ten PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Nine PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Eight PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Seven PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Six PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Five PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Four PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Three PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Two PART III -§ 2.--Wands - Ace PART III -§ 2.--Cups - King PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Queen PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Knight PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Page PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Ten PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Nine PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Eight PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Seven PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Six PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Five PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Four PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Three PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Two PART III -§ 2.--Cups - Ace PART III -§ 2.--Swords - King PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Queen PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Knight PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Page PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Ten PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Nine PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Eight PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Seven PART III -§ 2.--Swords - Six PART III -§ 2.--Swords – Five PART III -§ 2.--Swords – Four PART III -§ 2.--Swords – Three PART III -§ 2.--Swords – Two PART III -§ 2.--Swords – Ace PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – King PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Queen PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Knight PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Page PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Ten PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Nine PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Eight PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Seven PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Six PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Five PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Four PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Three PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Two PART III -§ 2.--Pentacles – Ace PART III -§ 3.--The Greater Arcana and their Divinatory Meanings PART III -§ 4.--Some Additional Meanings of the Lesser Arcana PART III -§ 5.--The Reoccurance of Cards in Dealing PART III -§ 6.--The Art of Card Divination PART III -§ 7.—An Ancient Celtic Method of Divination PART III -§ 7.—An Alternative Method of Reading the Tarot Cards PART III -§ 7.—The Method of Reading by Thirty Five Cards Bibliography

III

The Empress

A stately figure, seated, having rich vestments and royal aspect, as of a daughter of heaven and earth. Her diadem is of twelve stars, gathered in a cluster. The symbol of Venus is on the shield which rests near her. A field of corn is ripening in front of her, and beyond there is a fall of water. The sceptre which she bears is surmounted by the globe of this world. She is the inferior Garden of Eden, the Earthly Paradise, all that is symbolized by the visible house of man. She is not Regina coeli, but she is still refugium peccatorum, the fruitful mother of thousands. There are also certain aspects in which she has been correctly described as desire and the wings thereof, as the woman clothed with the sun, as Gloria Mundi and the veil of the Sanctum Sanctorum; but she is not, I may add, the soul that has attained wings, unless all the symbolism is counted up another and unusual way. She is above all things universal fecundity and the outer sense of the Word. This is obvious, because there is no direct message which has been given to man like that which is borne by woman; but she does not herself carry its interpretation.

In another order of ideas, the card of the Empress signifies the door or gate by which an entrance is obtained into this life, as into the Garden of Venus; and then the way which leads out therefrom, into that which is beyond, is the secret known to the High Priestess: it is communicated by her to the elect. Most old attributions of this card are completely wrong on the symbolism--as, for example, its identification with the Word, Divine Nature, the Triad, and so forth.

Related Articles The Tarot The Tarot of the Bohemians The Symbolism of the Tarot