The Empress - Three

Tarot of Marseilles

Traditionally, the Empress is depicted as a woman sitting on a throne, holding a shield and sceptre. The eagle eblem on the shield represents the Holy Roman Empire, which developed during the Middle Ages. Modern decks portray her with a starry crown, a Venus glyph, a waterfall and vegetation. As the number three, she represents what Pythagoreans called "the first true number" as it is the first time a geometric shape can be created, the triangle. The symbol of a triangle with an eye in the middle, known as the Eye of Providence, represents the Supreme Being.

In Buddhism, the number three signifies the ways of understanding the nature of the Universe. Three represents an awakening to the true reality. The three ways that a Buddha becomes awakened are by understanding the nature of past lives, of karma, and the noble truths. Three types of Buddha are recognised; those who reach enlightenment by following the teachings of the Buddha, those who reach enlightenment without the aid of spiritual guides and teachers, and those who reach enlightenment by their own efforts and wisdom and teach it skillfully to others.

In Hinduism, the number three signifies the Trimurti of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. These three deities represent the ever renewing cycle of the Universe. Three is also the number of the gunas, which are the fundamental operating principles of Mother Nature. Sattva guna is the principle of pure existence, a state of mind in which is steady, calm and peaceful. Rajas guna is the principle of movement or transformation, associated with activity, creativity, change and impermanence. Tamas guna is the principle of darkness, stillness, and solidity. These are the three cosmic modes of being, by which particles move rhythmically, chaotically, or inertly.

Three is a sacred number in many cultures. It represents the three realms of Land, Sea and Sky, the three planes of under, middle, and upper, and the three dimensions of past, present and future. Plato associated the number three with the triangle, the simplest spatial shape, and considered the world to have been built from triangles. Other symbols of the number three are the triskelion (or triple spiral) and the triquetra (or trinity knot). Three is also associated with the moon, which is shown as waxing, full, and waning. To me, the Empress represents Mother Nature, or Prakriti in Sanskrit.  She is described in the Bhagavad Gita as the "primal motive force".The driving force of the Universe, also known as Shakti meaning "power". She is sometimes referred to as The Great Divine Mother in Hinduism. Shakti is the agent of all change, the dynamism of cosmic energy. In Shaktism and Shaivism, Shakti is worshipped as the Supreme Being. This is why I see her as the enthroned Empress.