Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. Today’s post is my ranking of my five favorite Empress Tarot cards from different decks I work with for this Tarot Tuesday. I thought this would be an ideal companion post to yesterday’s post about High Queen energy! The ranking will feature the name of the deck where each Empress card is found. Without further ado, let’s get to the Empress card ranking!
Number 5: The Crow Tarot by MJ Cullinane
~I just had to place this Empress card on my list, as I adore this Crow-themed Tarot deck. Plus, who does not love a Crow as their Empress? It is such a sweet card with the expected Empress card iconography but with a Crow instead of a human on the card! The crow is in flight, which adds to the power of the Empress energy, in my opinion.
Number 4: The Llewellyn Tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson
~In this deck inspired by The Mabinogion, each Major Arcana card is represented by a figure from the tales. The Empress card is represented by Rhiannon, who is gorgeously depicted on the card! I love all the greens and golds within the image, as they are both colors that scream Empress energy to me.
Number 3: The Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan & John Matthews
~I adore a Celtic Woodland deck, and this has got to be one of the best out there. The Empress card is the Green Woman, a counterpart to the Green Man, and it is a lovely interpretation of the Empress as the Divine Feminine of the Wild Green Woodland made manifest in physical form!
Number 2: The Arthurian Tarot by Caitlin & John Matthews
~Of course, I had to have this one very high on my list. I adore Guinevere representing the Empress, as she holds so much of that energy both as May Queen and High Queen. She is truly a Great Goddess as well as a Faery Queen! In this card, she is seated beneath a tree in full bloom, and she is working with a spindle (spinning cloth was historically considered the domain of women, so this represents the ideals of feminity). There is a White Cow in the foreground, or more aptly, a bull given the horns. White animals are traditional symbols of Faery and signal the presence of the Fae, which marks Guinevere’s nature as a Faery Queen!
Number 1: Le Tarot arthurien by Claire Duval
~So, yes, my number one is yet another Guinevere as Empress card. In this French Arthurian deck, she is not sitting beneath a tree like in the Matthews deck. Instead, she is riding past trees in full bloom at Beltane on a White Horse! I prefer the White Horse to symbolize sovereignty found in this image versus the White Cow (or Bull) in the foreground of the other Guinevere Empress card. Either way, both are gorgeous, and both embrace the energy of the Empress better than any other cards, in my opinion! This image of Guinevere also has the bonus of featuring a White Bird perched upon her hand, which I interpret as another marker of Faery energy. I also adore all of the White found in this image, as Guinevere’s name in its original Welsh translates to ‘White Phantom’ or ‘White Fae’!
~I hope you have enjoyed this countdown of Empress cards. What is your favorite Empress card? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a picture I took of the five cards discussed in this post in ranked order from fifth to first place, left to right!
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