Empress as a Person (Upright & Reversed) Tarot Card Meaning

The Empress is the card of abundance, fertility, marriage, and unconditional love. She is Venus, ruling over all matters of the heart: love, relationships, sexuality, affection, desire, beauty, luxury, and art.

The Empress is as generous as she is sensuous. As the mother of all creation, she believes that everyone deserves to be loved. She provides, nurtures, and cares. Her love is everlasting. 

Upright Empress as a Person

If the Empress appears in a Tarot spread as a person, that means that this person is nurturing, kind, and earthy. It is astrologically associated with Venus, the planet of love and abundance. Because Empress is a feminine sign, this card carries a passive, receptive energy. We all have a little bit of both energies expressed in a balanced way, regardless of which gender we identify as. Because this is a Major Arcana card, some of these defining traits make up a major part of their identity. So, for example, being a nurturer will play a major role in who they are, or how they view themselves. Note that they may not reveal this side to you at the beginning stages of your relationship, to others, or ever.

For physical characteristics, the Empress as a person represents someone who enjoys being a human embodiment of Venusian and earthy energy. This may be translated into the person wearing loose-fitting, flowy, or floral clothing. Or, they may love minimalistic neutral tones inspired by nature. They love what is good for the environment. Even their sartorial choices nurture Mother Earth and treat its inhabitants ethically. If you’re inquiring about somebody who identifies as male, they’re very comfortable embracing their feminine side, which means they’re secure in their sexuality, and hold healthy views on gender issues. This may reflect in their personal style.

For emotional characteristics, the Empress as a person represents someone who is what you would envision when you hear the term “Divine Feminine.” They are kind, caring, but not a doormat. They have an air of feminine authority and grace to her that demands respect. This is a person who’s mature regardless of her age, has learned what’s truly important in life throughout their many past lives, and chooses their battles wisely. If you are involved with this person romantically, do not play games with them. If you make them jealous on purpose, they will gladly walk away, because they would never fight over a person or agree to be a person to string along on the sidelines. She is firm yet gentle, respectable yet down to earth.

For careers, the Empress can represent someone who works with nature, nurture, or culture. With nature and nurture, this could mean that they’re caretakers for animals or a country house, or they may work in childcare or healthcare. Influenced by Venusian energy, this person may also work in the cultural and arts field, so for example they could work as a classical artist, work in an art gallery, auction house, fashion, winery. There is usually something very refined about her tastes, and people value her opinions. Because of their Venusian influence, they may be somebody who capitalizes on looking beautiful, for example they could be a model, an online influencer, or a stylist. The Empress energy tends to be somebody who enjoys mentoring younger feminine energies, they encourage people under their charge to probably embrace their feminine energies.

The Empress as a person represents someone who makes you feel comfortable and nurtured. Although she is the polar opposite of the militaristic and protective Emperor, she will always make you feel safe. Her very presence in itself is a “safe space.” They tend to be the human embodiment of unconditional love, because traditionally the Empress is the mother archetype, who is often depicted as literally being pregnant. This is the type of person who derives pleasure from what they can give and contribute to others, rather than what they can gain or receive from a situation. She’s not judgmental, but don’t expect her to let you get away with being the bad guy in a situation, she will show you tough love if she deems necessary.

Empress Reversed as a Person

If the Empress reversed appears in a Tarot spread as a person, that means that this person is not somebody you would consider a Divine Feminine. She can be exceptionally selfish and power hungry. Whereas the upright Empress derives pleasure from giving, this Empress’ joy can only be sparked by taking from others. Because this is a Major Arcana card, some of these traits will be inherent aspects of their identity. Good or bad, nobody is perfect and people can change, if they choose to.

For physical characteristics, the Empress reversed as a person represents someone who is uncomfortable being in their feminine energy. Alternatively, this may be somebody who can be guilty of toxic femininity. They may be unsupportive toward other women, even overly competitive. They’re jealous, envious, and spiteful. This person may also have an overly negatively biased opinion of masculine energies, and are either hellbent on destroying masculines or exploiting them. They may also be indifferent toward caring about environmental issues, to the point of selfishness.

For emotional characteristics, the Empress reversed as a person represents someone who is emotionally manipulative. They can be jealous, possessive, and smothering. If they’re a parent, they can be very controlling with their children, because they live vicariously through their children. In the reverse, this can also represent a “mean girl” queen bee kind of energy. This is somebody who may have power or clout, but they misuse it. She is uncreative and unproductive but craves success, so she may take a few shortcuts along the way.

For careers, the Empress reversed can represent someone who may aspire to build a career in culture, nature, or nurture. However, they lack a nurturing, empathetic side, if they aspire to work in a form of caretaking. If they aspire to work in culture and arts, they may lack a natural artistic sensibility. Because this card is astrologically associated with a planet Venus, which rules personal money, whatever their career of choice, they will be primarily motivated by money. Or, they may be lured in that perceived glamor of certain industries or needing a boost in their self-esteem. But they will lack passion in what they do.

The Empress reversed as a person represents someone who makes you feel frustrated. In numerology, the number three is a number of co-creation and cooperation. Drawing the Empress reversed in a reading may indicate that you are dealing with somebody who is not a team player. Their approach to being non-team-player is through emotional manipulation, guilt tripping, or abuse of authority. Toxic is an understatement. If you are romantically involved with this person, this person may try to procreate with you for all the wrong reasons. They might do this to get you to stay, to supposedly “save” a relationship, or to gain some sort of financial gain. This is not somebody you will want to have a lifelong commitment with, especially not co-parenting.

Conclusion

For love readings, The Empress is queen. She speaks to the unbounded, unconditional love each one of us deserves to cultivate and experience. At its highest, love is infinite. She also warns of the difficulties of putting love into practice. Love is a verb and best shown through actions.  

If you find yourself needing further clarity in your relationship matters that go beyond reading for yourself, Sibyl offers unlimited tarot readings on love & relationships, as a neutral and objective third party.