My Role Model ~ ''The Empress''

Empress - Goddess Deck

If I could be anybody I wished, I would have all the qualities describing ''The Empress'' in the Tarot Cards...

The Empress
This Arcanum from ancient times portrays the Great Mother, (her title in the Revolutionary Tarot.) She is Nature, the unfolding miracle of life. This is the ancient, aboriginal pre-Christian Goddess, for whom the Priestess serves as handmaid. In medieval Europe, the Empress was a representation of whatever Queen currently ruled the land, which may have satisfied the Inquisitors. But the scholars of the Renaissance and beyond would have had no doubt of her inner identity, although she could not be shown as the "woman clothed with the sun" until after the French Revolution.
The Empress produces bodies for human beings, is the engine of fertility for the planet, feeds us all, delights us with flowers and fruit, and terrifies us when her mood swings wipe out our plans with heavy weather and plagues. She is the Mother of Embodiment, source of Natural Law, She who recycles us when we die, whom we upset at our own peril.

The 12 positional aspects of The Empress:

• Those around you seek after your warm and generous presence.
  The Empress symbolizes harmony, comfort, creativity and wisdom. This Great Mother beckons us with her life-giving support. She is the abundant matrix from which we draw vital life and out of which we individuate. She exemplifies health and natural joy in the body, the healing arts, music, and all things good, true and beautiful. We learn our highest ideals from her. The Empress in this position indicates that you personify something generous, warm and nurturing.
• A magnetic soul draws others with beauty and abundance.
  A charismatic individual in the environment is attracting people like bees to a flower. This person helps us see and feel the truth of an inspiring ideal. Naturally this is a valuable person to have around. Such a person creates and spreads boundless love and acceptance for everyone to be nurtured by. Seek to emulate people who manifest creative harmony, inclusiveness and warm acceptance.
• When using your power to please, be careful about boundaries.
  The Empress in this position challenges you to avoid using seduction as a way of achieving harmony or agreement. The Empress makes better use of the drawing power of attraction. Because of her regal attractiveness, everyone likes her and feels comfortable with her. She can pretty much get what she wants. You now have an opportunity to influence others through sheer personal magnetism. There's not need to overstep boundaries or promise more than you truly want to deliver.
• A model of unwavering generosity and love provides you a source of strength and wisdom.
  The Empress suggests that at some time in your life you were exposed to an inspiring model of female dignity, generosity and love -- someone who was steady and supportive. How fortunate you were! This experience taught you to go within and find the source of right action and clear thinking within yourself. Even if this person is no longer available to you, the learning you received can continue to provide a strong, reliable foundation.
• Compassionate support and generosity have touched your life.
  The Empress in this position points to a brush with the Goddess. She is the archetype of compassionate Nature who supports humanity with her wisdom and love. Perhaps you recently felt inspired by some experience of the generosity and healing power of the divine feminine. You were reminded that you are not an orphan, but cherished and protected. Meditate on your relationship to this caring Force. The remembrance that there is love for you will help you face the world with greater confidence.
• Let yourself be inspired by the nurturing feminine.
  The Empress symbolizes an ideal or cause that comes from the compassionate universal mother. Whether it's Kuan Yin or Isis, the great archetypes of the ancients, she represents a nurturing feminine, dispensing love, wisdom and abundance. Let the light shine within you. The Empress requires that we surrender to her. Let her guide you through chaotic circumstances. You can relax in her embrace and trust her. She is doing what is best for all, and you are one of her own.
• You deserve the benevolence about to be bestowed on you.
  The Empress in this position indicates that spirit is about to intervene in your life. It may be just enough to give you a glimpse of the miraculous; it may be more. You may or may not know who bestows such good fortune, but the care and nurturing that will result come as no accident. You will come to see that you are not alone, that you are being watched over. What appears to be coincidental good luck may actually be the result of a series of good choices you have made. It's your turn to have things work out, to be blessed and nurtured. Relax in the knowledge that you are in good hands and that you are worthy of receiving this loving embrace.
• Don't allow fear of the unknown to overtake you.
  The Empress in this position indicates that you may be forgetting how sharp and intuitive your natural intelligence is. Make a conscious commitment to listen to the wisdom of your body and take good care of it. Focus on how well the material plane has served you. You have nothing to fear -- you are in good hands with the Empress.
• A compassionate person who is pleased to champion your best efforts nurtures you.
  The Empress here suggests the presence of a powerful role model -- a person with a warm, embracing demeanor who thinks expansively and inclusively. She or he is happy to help you nurture your genius, develop your creativity and locate the resources you need to complete important projects. This feminine spirit -- so soft, warm and magnetic -- makes things easy and enjoyable. She models an attitude of confidence in Nature, a feminine form of strength who gives people permission to ask for and receive what they need. The conciliatory and openhanded style you are learning from her creates enjoyable relationships that bear fruit for everyone.
• Don't be hard on yourself for not measuring up; your positive influence has in fact facilitated favorable outcomes.
  The Empress in this position advises you to trust in the good sense you have shown up to this point. Recognize your good intentions and your steady performance of responsibilities as a compassionate human. You are capable of demonstrating the finest aspects of your personality -- caring actions, a forgiving and generous attitude, and wise understanding of others' needs and struggles. Bring a healing influence to the current situation. And give yourself credit for the supportive part you play.
• The most highly evolved intentions produce the best outcome.
  The Empress in this position indicates great potential for love, wisdom, harmony and abundance. Do your best to hold to high ideals and promote whatever will support a spirit of cooperation within your extended family or group. If you hearken to the most creative part of yourself, you will be blessed by good results and widespread appreciation for your contribution. Continue in this direction and beautiful blessings will shine upon you.
• You are called to the mothering role of nurturer and supporter.
  The Empress in this position calls upon you to serve as a resource for spiritual or emotional nurturing. World-weary souls may seek you out in their need for solace, care and support. The Empress is depended upon for all that it takes to grow up and become competent in the world. There are times in our lives when we are asked to serve in this way. This is not a punishment or a tax; it is a calling. If you give it your best when it is your turn to do so, the rewards will be great.
• When the Empress card is drawn reversed, she is angry: "You can't fool Mother Nature" is the saying that best describes her, unfortunately. I wouldn't want her responsibility if I put her in this position. ~
  Because the Empress represents Nature, when she is reversed she has tremendous natural power to correct her heedless children. Volcanoes, tsunami, hurricanes and the like symbolize violent emotions triggered by ignorant or foolish humans. If you feel like being corrective, you are probably justified, but set limits on how punitive you allow yourself to be. You don't want to go too far and destroy all you have taken so much delight in.

''La Emperatriz'' - Rider-Waite Deck

''The Quality of Temperance is not Strained''

Temperance - the "Gran Esoterico" deck

The female figure of ''Temperance'' is a reference to the Soul. She is mixing up a blend of subtle energies for the evolution of the personality. The key to meaning in this card is its title, a pun on the process of tempering metals in a forge.
Metals must undergo violent handling, extremes of temperature, endless folding and pounding, but the end product is infinitely superior to the original ore, fresh from the earth and utterly unrefined. In this image, the soul volunteers the ego for a cleansing and healing experience which may turn the personality inside-out, but which brings out the gold hidden within the heart.
The 12 aspects of Temperance:

• The time is ''Now'' for self-healing ~ You are able to take responsibility for getting well, no matter what it takes. The quest for health could be on a physical, emotional or mental level, or it may have to do with paying off "karmic dues." In any case, the work is to clear up past dysfunction and address entangled emotions. The process will purge the toxic waste of unfinished business that disables you. When you are ready, mix your powerful medicine. This is the right time to start healing yourself.
• The Situation's call for transformation or awakening is being answered ~
  The Angel of Healing has been called in and the medicine is being mixed. Everyone intrinsically understands that healing will bring revolutionary change, including letting go of old views and timeworn styles of adapting. The problem has been largely associated with clinging too closely to the past. But past issues will be laid to rest when the problem is resolved. Significant objectivity will result as the group raises its awareness.
• You are challenged to assimilate changes need to be made steadily but gradually ~ Temperance in this position challenges you to gradually phase in changes in lifestyle and outlook, while letting go of old behaviors and thought forms. When we plant new varieties in a garden, we also clean out some of the old. It's not all accomplished in a day.
  Healing is a process, not an event. Be patient and persevere. Blend the medicine with careful attention to detail. Focus your will. Repeat the solution. Remember that too much is as bad as too little. Keep things in balance as you slowly and steadily change the composition of your energy from the old to the new.
• In your roots, history, you have evidence of transformation that others cannot even imagine ~ Temperance in this position suggests that in the past you either witnessed or experienced spontaneous healing or a supposedly impossible regeneration. You have been imprinted by a radical reformation from a fallen or a diseased state to a healthy, upbeat, creative and progressive one. This is a tremendous resource to draw upon. Evoke that role model from your personal history and use it to strengthen yourself whenever healing is called for.
• Given previous opportunities, you have mixed your own medicine and brought about your own healing ~ With Temperance in this position, you are now on the far side of resurrection. You navigated well through a transformative experience. You have demonstrated this card's essential message: "Physician, heal thyself." Aggrieved by the poison of the past, you created an elixir to neutralize it and help you rise above its negative effects. Good job! Now you can use your own skills and abilities to stay healthy, happy and holy. You have experienced wonderful rites of passage.
• Your Divine Master asks you to transform victim psychology into victory by bringing power to change out of the self ~ Temperance calls upon you to find healing power in the heart of the wound and transform your woundedness in the process. Such a process enables us to finally discard the attitude of helpless victim and become an active and dynamic force. We take responsibility for the impact our experience has on us, and we work with the experience until we extract its value. We skim out the dross, concentrate the essence and pour ourselves into a new shape. This alchemical process is not easy or necessarily enjoyable. It is, however, inherently redemptive.
  In order to develop the virtue of Temperance, prepare for some serious personal work ~ With Temperance in this position, it appears that an opportunity will come to speed up your evolution, but don't expect it to be fun. This process will force you to deal with blocked feelings until you break through the denial and resistance that keeps you stuck. Undertake this process with the courage of a good heart. It will help you free yourself from old resentments, self-pity and the secret list of grudges you keep. You deserve the purified consciousness that lies on the other side of this process. Seize the opportunity when it comes along. The benefits will be abundant.
  Don't allow fear of change to inhibit, block or paralyze you from liberating growth ~ We all feel a need to change yet are fearful of doing anything about it. We get stuck. It's important to remember that nothing you can lose is truly yours, and what is truly yours never will be lost for long. Your essential nature, your eternal identity, your basic quality of being is unique and permanent. No amount of change will rob you of who you really are. Release your attachment to appearing any particular way to yourself or anyone else. In turn you will free yourself to go through what is in front of you and gain the benefits.
  When you decide you are ready, a transformational advisor always appears to offer to work with you ~ ''When the student is ready, the Master appears.'' ~ Temperance in this position suggests that a highly developed individual is opening a door that will greatly speed your evolution if you let yourself go through it. If you do, you must be willing to strip away denial, defense mechanisms, excuses and resistance to change. When you shake yourself loose from your emotional armor, you will be free to accept this extraordinary offer. If you are immobilized and rigid, this potential ally will move on without you ~ the need for transformation is great and the time is short.
  Identify and acquire the ingredients that will most help you complete your mission; leave the rest behind. ~ Temperance in this position advises you to identify and seek the missing ingredients in your life. In addition, you must marshal your known skills and abilities and do what needs to be done to complete your mission. Prepare to use whatever practices, studies, lifestyle changes or community efforts that can assist you in this quest. A tremendous amount of benefit is available if you can organize yourself and be disciplined at this time.
  The world hungers for role-models who choose to heal and grow beyond their previous boundaries. ~ You have already familiarized with Temperance and have displayed the potential to become a healer. You are already displaying relevant skills in your chosen medium, music, to catalyze all manner of enablement ~ physical, emotional, mental and even psychic. The greatest test of all, however, is the ability to heal oneself. Choose to develop yourself consciously, and model what a restored and regenerated body-mind looks like. Humanity depends upon certain pioneers who choose to cultivate themselves and model what is possible.
  You are called to sacrifice pretense and posturing ~ "Practice what you would preach." ~ Temperance in this position requires that you take the healing potion yourself before you prescribe it to others. In order to heal or guide others, you must first overcome the demons in yourself. Make sure that you are living in alignment with your beliefs and philosophies.