The Empress and The Emperor together
The Empress and The Emperor together put care and structure side by side: nurture needs a frame, and the frame needs warmth. The reading wants both.
The Empress
abundance, nurturing, creativity, fertility
The Empress is life making more life. Everything in the picture is growing, flowing or ripening, and she sits in the middle of it entirely at ease.
Reversed: The field goes dry or overgrown.
Yes or no: Yes upright, Not yet reversed
The Emperor
order, authority, structure, protection
The Emperor is the structure that lets other things happen. He makes the rules, holds the borders and sits very still so that everyone else can move.
Reversed: The stone throne becomes a cage, for him or for everyone else.
Yes or no: Yes upright, Not yet reversed
When one follows the other
The order matters. Read as what is passing and what comes next, as in a past, present and future spread, the pair tells two different stories.
The Empress behind you, The Emperor ahead
A period of creativity, abundance and sensual ease is receding. The harvest has come in. What follows asks you to work with what grew rather than keep planting.
A time of structure and authority is coming, when rules matter and someone, perhaps you, must hold the line. Prepare to lead or to work within a firm frame.
The Emperor behind you, The Empress ahead
A period of structure, discipline and firm leadership is receding. The borders have been set and the rules established. What follows can afford more flexibility.
A fertile period is coming: creative flow, abundance, a birth or a flourishing of something you have tended. Prepare to enjoy it rather than manage it.
Related pairs
Draw your own cards
If both of these turn up in your reading, the summary points the pair out.