For the 2023 Tarot-themed show, I chose the Empress card for my solo piece. Here is a little background regarding the card.
Key Points:
The Daughter of the Mighty Ones
Translation: door
Card number: three
Numerical value: nine
Rulership: Venus
Hebrew letter: Daleth
Mythological: Venus, Aphrodite, Hathor, Freya. All goddesses of love. All goddesses of agriculture. All gods and goddesses portraying the attraction of the positive for the negative. Numerology: Card Number Three "The number three represents the simplest manifestation of form or shape; the triangle, as well as the concept of self-expression. The number three resolves the tension that is inherent in the duality of the numbers one and two; and this is the number of creation, birth and fruitfulness." What the Empress represents in a Tarot Card Reading:
Upright Interpretation: fertility, abundance and material wealth. Domestic stability and material care. Creativity in all things. Security and growth. Marriage and sometime pregnancy.
Reversed Interpretation: domestic upheaval. Sterility and sometime unwanted pregnancy. Possible poverty. Stifled or blocked creativity. Infertility or promiscuity.
"The Empress literally translates to mean “she who sets in order," which is another reference to the form making capabilities of feminine energy. The Empress is the supreme woman of the land she inhabits."
The Empress is a woman seated in the center of an outdoor landscape. "The trees in the background of the picture are cypress trees, which are sacred to Venus. In the foreground, is a patch of ripened wheat, which is sacred to Venus, another mother goddess. The stream and pool reinforce the concept conveyed by the number three; the reconciliation of the duality inherent in the numbers one (the stream: masculine, formless, positive and active energy) and two (the pool: feminine, negative, passive, form making energy)."
She is the archetypical figure, representing the Great Mother goddess; a woman in her most fruitful and life-giving aspect. The Empress holds a scepter in her right hand; on top is a globe, "representing dominion over material conditions." She is crowned with both a myrtle wreath and 12 stars. Myrtle is yet another connection to the goddess Venus; also a mother goddess, not just a goddess of love. The 12 six-pointed stars represent the signs of the Zodiac, as well as time itself, and her dominion of the both the microcosm and the macrocosm. She is adorned with a seven-pearl necklace, also associated with Venus, "as are the pomegranates with their astrological sigil on her down. The same astrological sigil is repeated on the cushions against with the Empress is leaning, and yet again on the heart shaped shield on her feet."
When I asked my friend who reads the tarot which card she felt that I best represent, she chose the Empress because the Empress is the eternal mother. The Empress is shown as pregnant, the utmost symbol of creation.
In my choreography, I chose to pull in the flame of the cosmos, the light that brings life to us all.
You can watch the Tarot show on Tuesday, February 14th online here: LINK
SOURCES
Understanding and Using the Tarot by Emily Peach
The Witch's Tarot by Ellen Cannon Reed