The Empress Tarot Card Meaning
Major Arcana card III · Care, creativity, and plenty
The Empress: 3
Meaning
You are warm and giving. You help things grow, whether it is a home, a garden, a family or a creative project. People feel looked after when you are around.
Guidance
Make something with your hands or your time this week. Look after your own body too: good sleep, real food and some rest.
Shadow
Giving so much that you forget yourself, or caring for others in a way that holds them back. Too much comfort can also turn into laziness.
In Love
In love, you are warm, loyal and giving. You like a home full of comfort, and you show love with food, time and care.
In Work and Career
At work, you help things grow and you look after people, in a team, a business or a creative field. Your steady, patient way helps projects bloom.
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About The Empress
The Empress is card III of the 22 Major Arcana. Its main ideas are care, creativity, and plenty. In tarot, the Major Arcana show the big themes of life, and The Empress is one of them.
If this is your birth card, it is a symbol to think about, not a rule or a prediction. Read the meaning, the guidance and the shadow side, and see which parts feel true for you.
How To Get The Empress As Your Birth Card
Your birth card comes from the digits of your birth date. Add every digit of the date (year, month and day). Here is how that leads to The Empress, for birth dates from 1900 to 2099.
- Tarot Birth Card method: you get The Empress when your digits add up to 30.
- Digital Root method: you get The Empress when your digits add up to 12, 21, 30, 39, 48.
- As a root card: The Empress also shows up next to your main card when that card is The Hanged Man (12), The World (21).
Do not want to do the math? Our free Arcana Calculator does it in a second and shows every step.
Quick Facts
| Card | The Empress |
| Number | III (3) |
| Group | Major Arcana |
| Main ideas | Care, creativity, and plenty |
| Element | Earth |
| Planet | Venus |
These links follow the Rider-Waite-Smith order, where Strength is VIII and Justice is XI. The card picture is a scan of the original 1909 deck, drawn by Pamela Colman Smith.
More Cards
Read about the other Major Arcana cards:
The Empress FAQs
What does The Empress mean as a birth card?
You are warm and giving. You help things grow, whether it is a home, a garden, a family or a creative project. People feel looked after when you are around.
What number is The Empress in the Major Arcana?
The Empress is card III (3) in the Rider-Waite-Smith order of the 22 Major Arcana cards.
Which element and planet go with The Empress?
The Empress goes with the element Earth and the planet Venus. These links come from the tarot and astrology tradition and are symbolic.
How do I find out if The Empress is my birth card?
Use the free Arcana Calculator on our home page. Enter your birth date and it adds the digits for you, shows every step, and tells you which Major Arcana card is yours.