The Empress Path 14 on the Tree of Life

The Empress walks Path 14, called the Path of Daleth (Dalet) on the Tree of Life which connects Chokma (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding) on the Tree of Life.

The Empress’ journey through the Tree of Life represents bringing ideas and concepts into manifestation, nurturing them with care and attention, and allowing them to grow and flourish. She reminds us to embrace our creative potential and to bring our ideas and concepts into manifestation with care and attention. She also represents the balance between feminine and masculine energies and the importance of finding harmony between understanding and action.

Benefits: Fertility, illumination of potentials, revelation of the hidden, devotion, birth, love and sharing, belief in the impossible.

The Hebrew letter representing this path is Daleth (Dalet).

Daleth is the pathway of dimension and is also sometimes seen as the path of humility and receptiveness.  Daleth relates with a door and embodies the concept of shape and the idea of going through.  A door is a gateway through a solid object like a wall.  Esoterically a door is a special kind of void so to speak, that you can pass through from one state to another.  This is a place on the Tree of life where we now have dimensions moving between states where before we only had pure energy and its expansion.  To us Daleth represents the nullification of the ego in the presence of the spirit and how to return to the source.

In her book Kabbala Pathworking, Sandy Anastasi suggests some of the areas Path 14 can helps us work on include: Gaining inner peace, joyousness, elation; Increasing energy and the healing warmth you emit; Increasing sensory perception and sensation, and your ability to interpret what you receive; Meditation; cleansing and clearing blockages in yourself and others; Union of the male and female within you; Feeling the parts of yourself as fragmented sections of a whole that you are learning to bring together; Ability to experience total freedom with self-responsibility; Enhancement of creativity and wisdom; Pregnancy – the ability to create life, or give life to your dreams; Acceptance of responsibility, especially for the power of your own mind and will.

Andy Matzner, in his book Tarot for Transformation, Using the Major Arcana to Discover Your Best Self and Create a Life Worth Living says of The Empress:

Let food be your medicine, and medicine be your food. Hippocrates.

It’s not what you’re eating, it’s what’s eating you.  Janet Greeson

He says of the Empress: The symbolism found on the Empress card emphasizes strong connections with feminine energy.  Fertility.  Sensuality.  Creativity.  Generativity.  Growth.  Compassion.

He goes on to say: A cornerstone of our health – and quality of life – is the connection we have with food and eating.  He recommends that we feel compassion and gratitude for our bodies and shares information about the miracle our bodies are.  He also says: Your body exists to serve you as best it can.  How you eat is a way to demonstrate your gratitude to your body.  In addition to the Journal prompts he suggests to help deepen our relationship with our physical selves, the rest of this chapter is around our digestion and our relationship with eating.  Which can also be looked at as how we nurture ourselves.

In his book The Soul's Journey, Finding Spiritual Messages in the Tarot, James Ricklef says of the Empress:

The Empress represents both motherhood and Mother Nature.  Consequently this card can have a range of meanings including nature and creativity, motherhood and nurturing, and beauty and luxury.

One of the ways he suggests one might wish to use his book is to do a daily draw and review the basic messages and then consider one of the messages for the card as a lesson or insight to keep in mind throughout the day. In the case of The Empress the messages to chose from are: The springtime of renewal; Beauty; Motherly wisdom; Motherly love; Luxury and spirituality.

Do any of these speak to you right now?

While both Andy Matzner and Sandy Anastasi focus only on the Major Arcana, James Ricklef also has information on the Minor Arcana. Since I chose a card for each of the Sephirot I thought I'd share some of his information on these too.

Five of Swords: This card can indicate arguments, bickering, personal attacks, chaotic or disorder thought, and an egoistic urge to prove yourself right.

His messages to consider with the Five of Swords are: Finding the truth in our ‘enemies’; Divinity in our ‘enemies’; Pulling ourselves up by pushing someone down.

Two of Cups: “Without love, we are birds with broken wings.  Morrie Schwartz.  This card deals with romantic attraction and relationships, choices about relationships, and the healing power of love.

His messages to consider with the Two of Cups are: Choose love every day; Love: a verb and a feeling; Love is a communicable disease; Believe you are lovable and divine; Icons of devotion; Healing a relationship through love; Soul Mates.

Where will your journey take you?