The perfect child of the heavens above and the Earth below the seas upon which she ride. Her nakedness reveals her to be a woman with the first blush of youth behind her.

The scepter in her left hand indicates that she is in power and confident of her rulership and oversight: she is in charge of her life. The snake in her right hand and poised above her breast is symbolic of both transfigurement and glorification. Transfigurement, in that as the snake sheds its skin its outwards appearance changes; glorification as the snake is seen in many cultures as either holy or as evil. This Empress is glorifying herself in her fearless grasping of the serpent and letting us know that she has mastered her demons, she is transfigured by her mastery.

The Crescent Moon in which the Empress floats symbolizes intellect. Intellect can be defined as that ability to critically examine information and to judge its worth and then to use the worthwhile information as her own.

The water of the sea represents the waters from which we are all born and from which our flesh and blood and bone are composed. The vastness of the sea reminds us that there are innumerable opportunities for us to be emotionally and spiritually revived and regenerated. The Empress provides contact with the land beneath the waters and for nourishment that is broader than that provided for the body.

The sigil of Venus graces the waters demonstrating the joy, the beauty, the desirability of being transfigured and revived.

The Empress wears a simple band around her forehead, but there is nothing simple about the prismatic star that hovers over her crown. She is wreathed in starlight; she contains the stuff of stars...

To her right there is an open door topped by an elaborate arch. Emanating from the doorway is a brilliant circle of white light: the white light of religious fervor and devotion. She looks not at this light, but looks away from both the door and the light. Her concerns are firmly centered elsewhere. Mid-sky is an eye embedded in a pyramid. This is an ancient symbol of temporality and orientation.

This symbol is a potent reminder that all there truly is in the moment, what came before this moment is but how we arrived here. The past is not who we are; it is not fair play to use the events of the past as an excuse for how we are in the moment; it is not fair play to blame events from the past for our shortcomings or our problems. Our orientation needs to be centered on self and our temporal dimension needs to be the present.

The Hebrew letter Haindl associates with this Empress is Daleth, bountiful, plentiful nourishment, womb demonstrating that we in effect are not only capable of, but are required to, give birth to the self we desire to be. The rune is Thuriaz, thorn. The TH rune is that part of brute nature that is reactive: it is the clash of polarities and the energy released with that clash. Harnessing our polarities, our powers, can lead to regeneration and transformation. This is the rune of crisis, the catalyst for change: change can be brutal and brutalizing.

With the Empress we are presented with the opportunity and the impetus to "birth" ourselves. As one of the attributes given to the Empress in both modern and post-modern decks is fertility/fecundity/ pregnancy/ birth we are presented with the eventuality of presenting ourselves in any manner we care to don.

This is apparent in Haindl's deck by not only the nakedness of the Empress ,but by her physical appearance: she is woman, not girl, not maiden, she is nearly past the time of "ripeness" and woman she is, rather than goddess or symbol for she has an umbilicus. Through the womb of woman are we made corporeal.

Haindl has portrayed the Empress as expressionless, or as a friend says, "vapid". It is OUR job of work to provide the animation, the liveliness, the INTEREST to this face, for it is our face.