The primal force of the Empress

The Empress, to many she is seen as a mother figure. So I thought I would consider the physical; process of being a mother.

Mother- lets strip away the psychological a and social. Lets reflect on the basic physical act of birthing and feeding a baby,- and see how this help us to understand the Empress.

#1 Wonder

Whether a baby is expected, hoped for, surprising, or a potential burden I argue every pregnancy carries a sense of awe and wonder.

How can our bodies create a living being? How can we have a person growing inside us? How can all this be happening with out our conscious bodies being in control?

Breathing is an unconscious process, our heart beating, we get used to that magic. But creating a person? Awe and wonderment has to be there somewhere.

· To me there is a sense of wonderment in the Empress, natural magic, abundance. A sense of flow and creativity that seems un-ordinary.

Lack of control

The first big wake up call for me in pregnancy was that I felt less in control of my own body. I had got used to myself being a certain way. Now hormones raged, and I wept with out reason. My favourite foods now made me vomit, yet I craved mashed potatoes (and I don’t even like them!!!!)

My body was in control, demanding that I pay attention. Will power, conscious thought, decision making was secondary.

I felt fully engaged with my body, and my body was in control. I was a force of nature, more animal than human. Primal.

· And that is very much how I see the Empress, a primal earthy, physical force. Whether it is food, art, creativity, love or sex- she is fully connected with whatever it is in a primal way. Useful at times, but not always!

· For me the Empress is very linked to our earth, Mother nature, the Venus of Willendorf. Do not underestimate the raw power of this card- and never seek to control her!

Timing (linked closely with lack of control!)

Oh the biggest issue with pregnancy, birth and babies is time. And it is not your time!

Babies will be born when babies will be born. They will cry when they choose and I guarantee they will need nappy changing and feeding at the worst of times.

In our plastic 24 hour society we have got used to having our needs met when ever we want them met. Well when pregnant or nursing a baby you are no longer working to your needs, or your time frame. You are working to the babies.

The free flowing water, the corn ripe in the field. Nature has a rhythm that is not set to mans timing. I often think when the Empress turns up in a reading that you need to realise there is a time and tide for everything- and it may nor be your choice of timing!

Transition (change!)

The two biggest changes we ever have to go through are birth & death. Both our own, and our loved ones.

I have read stories of woman who gently breathe their way through birth, but I think most woman find the last stage of birth- transition- totally terrible.

I have given birth four times, each time I knew the moment I hit transition. I lost all sense of myself, yet was more deeply within myself than I have ever been. It is the moment you truly let go.

I see this so often with clients, they have planned for, worked at, built towards a change. Yet the moment it starts to happen they resist this change. Fear overcomes, they loose trust, and they start to self sabotage.

· Time and again I am drawn to the fast flowing water and the whet growing in the field. Our life will change time and time again. Like the seasons in the year, or the ever flowing water.

· Life is change, change is life. Accept that rhythm, abandon yourself to the change when you see the Empress and trust.

Adapting to circumstances.

Pregnancy, birth, nursing a baby are soul consuming, time consuming, and take more effort and energy than one would think possible.

For a significant period of time that little bundle of joy “should” be the centre of your life, the focus of your total adoration, rescued from any possible hurt by the mother.

However- if that little bundle of joy still has you jumping to get drinks at all hours when he is 9, or 12, or 35 then you have done your job badly (assuming of course there is no underlying health issues)

The Empress undiluted, centre of stage for too long is a very destructive force. The over controlling dominatrix of a mother. Ruling her children, demanding adoration, nobody daring to question a single command.

The empress is a wonderful card, a delightful primal energy. But there is a balance needed- time for boundaries to be re-established. Rules to be put in place. A time to move on to the Emperor.

My days of sleep deprived mother madness are passed, though still children my babes are growing.

Perhaps the deepest meaning of the Empress is to love each precious moment of life. For everything changes in time. all that we love will be lost in the end- through our death, or theirs, or some other twist of fate before that time.

But here for the record are the four bundles of joy that dominated my body, mind and soul for the brief moments they were babies.