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Writer's pictureDana Morgan

Women in Tarot Cards

Updated: Nov 18, 2020

Women are such a powerful force in tarot and more often than not when you call one of our phone tarot readers most of our readers are highly talented women. So we thought we would take the time to explore their meanings.


women tarot readers

What makes up the Feminine Tarot Cards, who are the women that feature on our decks. We thought it would be helpful to better understand them and what they are telling you in a tarot reading.


When you are experiencing a reading you can often see important people in your life and be able to associate them with a specific card that is read. But how can you fully understand what they mean? The obvious answer is to study each card and learn what they stand for and what their story is. After this your intuition and life experience can do the rest.


When reading Tarot, you almost always see specific people pop up. A mother, a brother, a friend. You find yourself warning your sitter about a colleague or telling them to listen to a woman in their family. But how do you find information about this person? The first step is of course to study each Tarot figure and learn what they stand for. Understand who they are, what’s their story. Your intuition will do the rest.

The first thing to understand is that there are eight feminine figures in the major arcana. Just like there are 8 male figures. The other six are gender neutral (a possible male or female energy can be established sometimes depending on your deck, but they should remain open).

Women and Feminine Figures in Tarot (Major Arcana):

The Empress

The High Priestess

Strength

Justice

Temperance

The Star

The Moon

The World 

In addition to them, there are four Queens in the minor suits: The Queen of Wands, Cups, Coins/Pentacles and Swords. Each of them is as fascinating as informative in any spread.


The Female Figures of the Major Arcana


The first female character that comes to mind in Tarot are normally the Empress and the High Priestess, of which we have posted about before if you would like to learn about them in more detail.


The feminine energy in Tarot can be very ambiguous depending on the decks. Women were long associated with the night, with the element of water, with the Moon and everything mysterious. Whereas masculine energy is all fire and light, the feminine one has always been considered more complex if not simply dangerous.


Looking at these cards makes us see that even tarot has sexist origins, hard to believe in this day and age. It is important to look past these issues and understand all the nuances of the female figures of Tarot, we sometimes need to dive back into the darkness of essentially sexist Medieval times.


The High Priestess


The very essence of feminine intuition, motherly love, patience and ancient sacred knowledge all lie in this card. She is a woman who’s already lived a lot. She does not represent a young girl. To become the High Priestess, one has to go through many experiences and different phases of life, love and health.


When this card appears it suggests that you need to apply your intuition and open your eyes to the real potential of your abilities. If you have a hunch or get a feeling about anything in your life don’t ignore it, the process of believing in your inner guidance is calling to you, listen to your dreams see what they are trying to tell you. The answers to questions will be better answered by you rather than somebody else.


Overall this card asks you to listen to your own inner voice, to delve into the deeper spiritual resources of the universe, to seek understanding for your life and purpose. To learn how to connect with your higher power and the higher powers that be.


The Empress


The Empress is all about the female mind. She rules over her Empire in a pragmatic way.

She thinks, plans ahead and is never short on ideas. Two words best describe the Empress: Creative Intelligence.


The Empress reigns over the bounty of nature and the rhythms of the Earth. She is a symbol of new life in all its forms. She offers a cornucopia of lavish delights, especially those of material rewards and abundance, especially those that please the senses. Embrace all of this, but remember to be generous and kind and keep an open loving spirit. Too often these delights can create shallowness in a person, so keep your feet firmly planted in the earth and lets not forget our roots!


Justice

Justic as an image today as a direct heritage of the Roman Empire and most of out laws are based upon this. Not forgetting the Greek Goddess: Themis the first wife of Zeus and would always be by his side when crucial decisions were made because she was truly impartial and constant. This is why, and to this day, Justice has always been represented by a woman. Goddess or allegory, she is always female and so is her energy.


Qualities associated with Justice that can help you identify someone in a spread. Justice speaks of the righteous order of things and balance in life. She also naturally is the card you expect when discussing legal matters. Upside, she is usually favourable to your question.


Strength


Strength, shows the power of the woman taming a creature with no violence or weapons. Something that we can all identify with. The strength represented by this card is more subtle , which brings better results. Generally, the kind of strength developed by women who were not allowed to fight or carry weapons. Strength in Tarot is the exact opposite of aggression.


Temperance


The figure of Temperance in Tarot is not an actual woman or Goddess but an angel. In most traditional representations she’ll wear wings and the sky embraces and surrounds her. But before turning female and becoming the reassuring angel we know, she was a man inspired by the legendary figure of Ganymede. He was a hero and the official cupbearer of the Ancient Greek Gods.


The Moon


The energy of the moon always was and remains entirely feminine. The kind that was long misunderstood and feared. The cycle of the Moon is the same as one of a woman and both are therefore naturally, spiritually and culturally linked. This is true in most cultures. The Moon stands for the darker side of feminine energies. It is therefore the card of witchcraft and mystery. The Moon is the card of intuition, dreams and motherhood. Like the High Priestess, it speaks of secrets known by women only. Secrets that came with a price, It is also the card of memory and growth.


The Star


The Star pours water that is hot and purifying. It brings back life, hope and balance. Once again, this very feminine figure is directly linked to the Water. She is a card of harmony and good luck.

She is the opposite feminine energy to the Moon: she’s a healer, a good witch, a nurse or a friend.


The World

This is one of the very best cards in the deck with a slower more constant energy. She is a goddess of life and fertility standing in perfect balance with the elements.


The Queens of the Minor Arcana

There are four Queens to lok at, they are mostly good and powerful, but also more complex.


Queen of Wands

Symboliese a well balanced personality that is active and represents success. The most positive of the Queens, she is a good friend, a caring mother, a faithful wife or a helpful colleague.


Queen of Cups

This Queen is emotional and spiritual, representing motherly love and maternal instincts.


Queen of Coins

She is one most feminine figures are associated with Water and the Earth. The Queen of Coins is a woman of influence and power. She can be her own master but she is also deeply passionate, often ambitious and jealous.


Queen of Swords

This Quuen is not the easiest one to approach nor to understand, she brings hope through her own story: pain and suffering also bring true wisdom. Her message is that we can overcome anything through strength, perseverance and prudence.


We hope that you find this guide helpful to take with you through your phone tarot reading. There are some powerful women here who can bring strength and positivity to your life whether you are looking at love, career or family life we have a phone tarot reader to guide you.



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