Empress: The Tarot Card for Artists
The Empress Tarot card from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.
Last week, I was doubting my creative vision. I recently launched Divine Muse Academy, a 3-month online program for artists seeking community and occult education. When I shared it online, my friends and followers were thrilled for me. I received congratulations, compliments and was even told by some that it was inspiring to see me assert my creative vision into the world.
But a few days later, the doubt started to creep in. What if no one joins? What if I can’t sustain a longer container space? What if I fail?
This was around the time of the total lunar Eclipse in Pisces on September 7th, 2025. Eclipse season stirs up a lot of big emotions and can tends to have chaotic energy. This is because the luminaries — the Sun and the Moon — are not functioning as they routinely do. In a lunar eclipse, the Earth moves in front of the Moon and blocks the Sun’s light. The Moon turns a dusty shade of red, similar to the planet Mars.
Linear time falters in the chaos of eclipse cycles. There are lot of witches on the internet who say that eclipse periods are not a good time for starting new projects or doing manifestation work.
I launched Divine Muse Academy a couple days before the lunar eclipse. Sure — I could have waited. But I felt an urgency beckoning me to just put it out there before I lost my nerve, before I let the doubt wrap its thorny tendrils around the beating heart of my dreams.
But the doubt arrived anyway. So I did what any witch would do when they feel overwhelmed: pull some tarot cards. The card that stilled my anxiety was Empress, a card that always connects me back to the reasons I create in the first place: to express myself, to relieve tension, to materialize the world I want to build.
Empress is the third card in the Major Arcana. She precedes the responsible authority of the Emperor and follows the mysticism of the High Priestess. She is living out the abundance first imagined by the Magician.
I see Empress as an authority on creativity. She lends her soft gaze to our artistic endeavors, not as a critic but a guide. She's the kind of teacher to give the advice to create from the heart. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that she chose to make herself known when I was doubting myself.
Just like the natural world can wash away our worries, so does Empress know that connection is the salve for all ailments. Connection to oneself, to others, to the natural world.
Empress also knows creativity is cyclic, just like the seasons. She's surrounded by nature — wheat, trees, a waterfall. She's usually depicted lounging on a throne covered in comfortable pillows and fabrics. A heart with the Venus symbol rests by her side.
Empress is the embodied archetype of Venus's rulership of Taurus. Sensual and connected to nature's fertility, she is the patroness of reproduction. She is the energy to call forward when you want to birth something new, whether a child, a relationship, a project or idea.
Despite the associations with fertility, Empress does not need to be strictly interpreted as female or as a woman. The figures on the Major Arcana cards are not actual people; they’re archetypes, energetic signatures. Anyone of any gender identity can embody the creative abundance of Empress.
When you are feeling blocked, Empress will remind you that creativity flows like a river. When you're afraid to be vulnerable, she will tell you that open hearts receive the most love. With Empress as your significator card, there's nothing you can't create with a little time and devotion.
Are you curious about working with Empress as a significator card but needing more guidance? I offer a PDF custom reading called Empress Activation, a three-card tarot reading for artists. So far, I’ve helped artists with podcasts, tarot decks, installation projects, and music projects. Empress can offer advice to creatives of all mediums.
You can learn more my Empress tarot card reading below. You can also check out these other sources to learn more about the Empress tarot card:
🌹 The Empress Tarot Card Meanings by Biddy Tarot
🌹 Symbols in The Empress Tarot Card by Janet Boyer
🌹 Radical Receiving with The Empress, Tarot for the Wild Soul with Lindsay Mack
