The Empress is seated on a luxurious-looking couch liberally supplied with pillows. The couch is in a field of grain, surrounded on all sides by abundance. There is a stream of water that flows over a waterfall.
The Empress herself looks luxurious. She may be pregnant; in any case, she is plush. She has not missed many meals.
She wears a diadem containing twelve stars. This number might refer to the twelve signs of the zodiac, though I don’t see anything to confirm this idea. The number twelve corresponds with the number 3. Twelve is written as 12; and 1 + 2 = 3. This is the number of the Empress card.
The general idea of the Empress is fecundity, abundance, nurturing. At her side the Empress has a heart-shaped pillow with the sign of Venus on it. Venus was the Roman goddess of sexual love, beauty, and fertility.
The Empress is the material, sensual embodiment of the feminine, as the High Priestess is the spiritual one. They are complementary, not contradictory.
Keywords: Fertility. Fecundity. Abundance. Fruitfulness.