BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Tarot Empress represents only platonic love?

Hi all, I just did a 3 card spread to try and answer the age-old question, "how does XX *feel* about me"? Past and present made much sense, but future came up as the Empress. While I see that as a very positive card, (nurturing, inspirational to an artist) it has me wondering if many people have found that it mainly represents platonic love, as in sisterly/motherly, as opposed to the more "physical" which I hope for with this person? I so hope it does not indicate something more sisterly/motherly... And btw, I'm beyond childbearing age and he does not have any apparent desire to father children, so I doubt any literal meanings of pregnancy are applicable here.

I'm no expert, but I've always thought of the Empress as a very sensual card - mature, woman of the world, experienced, and very sexy! So I wouldn't take it to mean only platonic feelings, but this is just my personal interpretation.

Wow, thank you for the insight Grace. I had actually posted the same question on a different Tarot forum also, and a couple of people there seemed to feel that as well, so perhaps within certain contexts that platonic aspect would be more indicated, but in others it would be more of a Woman (with a capital W!) as you interpret :). I have not had much experience with this particular card, so good to know.

The Empress doesn't represent only platonic love. She represents nurturing, caregiving, putting the needs of others as a priority. She also speaks of sensuality, sexuality, and often represents more mature women who are comfortable with themselves and are expressive. In a question regarding how someone feels towards you, the empress would suggest you are seen as someone who is nurturing, giving, expressive, and quite alluring.

Which deck are you using? The Rider Waite deck Empress has lots of symbols of romantic love, such as the roses on her dress, and the positioning of the pillows behind her. Not to mention the implication of the shape of the grain!

What other cards were around it for context? When I learned to read the cards the main message of this one was connected with the libido in all its' aspects.

In the Mythic deck The Empress is the Earth Mother with similar meanings.

It was the Ryder-Waite deck. I'll have to look at the shape of the grains more closely! The "past" card was Page of Cups, "present" was Page of Swords, and "future" was Empress. So I am now actually a bit stumped by the present card, because at first I had taken it to mean he felt that I was a fairly intuitive, discreet person, tho now I am reading all sorts of meanings of that as being a source of gossip, slander, etc, but from all his actions towards me, that seems absolutely off the mark, so I'm not sure what to think.

Humm- My feelings on this are that the two pages represent the new growth of feelings (page of cups) then almost ready to act, but holding back as shown by the way the sword in the page of swords is n't fully revealed. Also the 'dithering' positioning of the feet and the slightly uncommitted grip on the sword hilt. Pages are usually 'beginning' type cards that you might expect to see at the early stages of entering a relationship.

The positive bit of the present card is that the Page of Swords is looking at the pair of trees in the lower left of the card and is wearing less elaborate clothing, suggesting he is ready to show more of his true self.

The Empress is a Major Arcana card, showing a key moment which suggests that, in his own time, he will come to see you as an aspect of the Divine feminine.

Hope that helps

What is interesting to me in this spread are the two pages. Pages often represent youthfulness and sometimes immaturity (not necessarily in a bad way) It could be more literal, in that your partner is younger than you, but typically it is symbolic of being in a different place emotionally or mentally (wands/cups).

The Empress, representing the maternal, can be viewed to be older or wiser in comparison. I would think maybe this spread is also pointing out that when it comes to relationships that perhaps you are the wiser or more mature partner. Maybe this man is not very confident in relationships or has some growing to do in this area. Again, this isn't a bad thing - just that you may be in different places. Perhaps you find it easy to open up and be the giving, generous person in a relationship (empress) and he is still kind of learning how to do that. Pages often represent learning opportunities or an area where growth is taking place.

Thank you so much, very very interesting, all this insight is much appreciated! I had come to the realization that with all the meanings I've seen associated w/the Page of Swords as *needing* to be vigilant, tread carefully, keep private info private, etc, that this could also indicate he either feels HE needs to do that in relation to me, or that he feels that *I* am doing that, or being secretive somewhat. But the idea of holding back, waiting for the right moment to take action could apply too, and certainly the interpretation of him being more immature in relationships and me being the more mature and more "giving" one in relation to him. Every card just seems to grow and grow in meaning the more I study and think about it!