March 12th, 2024
The Empress III
Week 3
Bonnie Tarantino
I was not sure who I was going to pick for the Empress but then I saw this Mia Thai in my hand and my feet up on a chaise lounge by the pool with the Gulf of Mexico shimmering out in front of me and realized I had a lot to say about her.
Nothing will put you more in the Empress chair than a luxurious weekend away or an all-inclusive vacation.
By luxurious I mean you don’t cook, clean or act as social chair. Often our family vacation includes renting a house by the beach somewhere, endlessly grocery shopping and me cooking most meals. While you all know I love to cook for my family, cooking on vacation puts me in a different seat than the throne of the Empress. However, when we are in a more resort-type vacation mode, I embody her fully. I have requirements. It starts even before we book the resort. I scan the restaurant reviews on various websites scrolling till the truth comes out. I look to see if the pool is big enough for laps. How far the beach is from the stage where they play loud music? Scott does not even consider a mountain view anymore because he knows I will call the hotel back and negotiate an ocean view. Even before we arrive at our destination The Empress kicks in. She is a meticulous packer and starts packing days before the trip so that she has all she needs to feel comfortable, warm, cool. casual, elegant and practical. She unapologetically brings more shoes than she needs. She arrives to the airport early to have a full breakfast at the diner. The scrambled egg skillet with organic turkey breakfast sausage and potatoes and hot black tea will hold her for hours and provide enough protein so she can handle any travel debacle. She buys Fiji water at the gate and fills her thermos up before heading on the plane as she doesn’t like to wait for the drink cart. When the flight attendant arrives to take her drink order, she simply requests hot water because she has brought her own soothing herbal tea bag in little silk zippered pouch. The person sitting next to her will love the smell of the cinnamon tea and the empress will push the service button and request a second cup of hot water so she may share the tea and spoil a perfect stranger. She downloads a movie before her flight, she does not like to settle for the ones offered by Southwest. She does not like to waste her time on subpar entertainment. She carries an eye mask, inflatable neck pillow, lotion, and hand sanitizer. She has yet to fly first class or fly on a private jet but trust me she will. She prefers to sit by the window when she can because she delights in looking down on all the little houses, villages, and towns so she can bless them with Reiki bombs. She is very generous with her blessings. Her trick to this is that she is often in a state of gratitude.
When we pull up to the sweeping veranda she loves being greeted as if the whole resort was waiting for her arrival. Give her a hot cloths scented with lavender to wipe her hands and face, place a lei over her neck, hand her a tropical drink with a perfect bite of pineapple. Make sure the drink is in a glass and not plastic. She has small bills tucked away for easy tips, she has no plans to haul her bag around the resort. She asks the bellman’s name, tips him well, and looks him in the eye just before he closes the door leaving her to her new kingdom. She immediately walks out on the balcony to scout out a curious child, she will wait till the child looks up because children are always looking up, and she will wave and greet the innocent one full of wonder. Another blessing bestowed. Then she will tilt her head up to the great sky and greet the land. She will take the fresh air infused with flowers deep in her lungs, and allow her eyes to fully adjust to the new frequencies of tropical collars and swaying palm trees. If this hotel is in Hawaii she will cry. She knows when her soul has arrived home.
You may be thinking. I had no idea Bonnie was so high maintenance! Well, there is more!
In the morning, I am the one who gets up first. I am obsessed with a front-row cabana on the beach. I will plant myself there before they even get the bacon cooking and will be sitting there when the tiki bar calls last rounds. There is no better throne for my Empress than a front-row cabana. Let the world come to me. Other than jumping in the ocean to cool off, I do not need very much. A good book, some charged electronics, something to write in, masterful hydration by a mixologist, and a large, shaded bed by the sea. After a few days and a few bigger tips, the cabana boy starts saving me my cabana, so I don’t have to rush. He says, “Sleep in, you are the queen mother, you are on vacation, I’ve got you.”
Receiving fully is something the Empress is unapologetic about. She has learned this the hard way.
There are many sides to the Empress. In contrast to her queen-like status, she is the supreme mother. No one can raise children like the Empress, no one can entertain like the Empress, no one can manage a household like the Empress, and no one can run a multi-million dollar business like the Empress. That is why right next to my Empress list of amazing mothers starting with my own mother, sits Frances McDormand, Oprah, Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama, Mother Theresa, Reese Witherspoon, Jean Houston, Melinda Gates, Jane Fonda. The Empress not only raises her own children but mothers’ humanity, teaches and guides us toward our next level of consciousness.
The Empress can also be a man. Androgyny is a sign of a highly advanced soul. Not defining yourself as male or female can confuse and challenge social norms but is necessary to create a society based on true equality. The binary nature of our culture is unnaturally and dangerously hierarchical. The Empress personifies the sacred feminine while protecting the sacred masculine. The Emperor personifies the sacred masculine while protecting the sacred feminine. The Emperor wears a robe, the Empress wears the pants. If you want to see this in action watch the series “Queer Eye.” This LBGTIA2+ team offers episode after episode of beautiful lessons on how the male can mother at the Empress level. Jonathan Van Ness will rewire your brain by wearing a mustache, a fabulous skirt and envious high heels all at once. Self-proclaimed Queens these men will break down the hardest macho men from Texas and flay them open for you to see their tender, vulnerable, sexless, ageless and deeply loving hearts. Another amazing Empress is Alokv Menon who cuts right through our deep fear of the gender revolution. I have attached the interview from the podcast called “Man Enough”, which stopped me dead in my tracks the first time I heard it. Trust me you will be challenged deeply and held deeply and shown the world through a lens that is so articulate and masterfully crafted that you will never see gender non-conforming sages the same way again. Alokv is not just The Empress but the Emperor as well! In fact… he is the archetype “The World”. If you really want to blow your mind, don’t watch the interview, just listen to it. Then after you listen to it, watch it. If you do this I promise you will discover something very deep and hidden and in freeing it you will set your Empress free.
On April 20th I will be offering a module II Tarot class. My High Priestess, Empress, Queen of Wands friend Staci will be flying in to teach it with me. If I could send her a private jet I would as she deserves it. The class will focus on the sacred feminine in the tarot. (You do not need module I to take module II but it is highly recommended. Module I is on the evening of April 19th). In this workshop, we will explore the sacred journey of the Maiden, Mother, Empress, and Crone. Traditionally there on three archetypes covered in this type of workshop, Maiden, Mother, and Crone, but in our present society, most mothers do not go from being mothers into grandmothers. Instead, there is this new grace period. Staci and I have dubbed this era The Empress. My mother’s generation went from high school into marriage and motherhood by the age of 21. Now women are going to college and grad school, then working ten years or so before getting married and having babies. They are freezing their eggs and moving into motherhood only after having time to reign as Empresses. More and more young people have decided that marriage and children is not their path. Our daughters experience a period of sovereignty before beginning the sacred path of motherhood. This also gives their own mothers time in their 50’s time to heal, catch up, organize the linen closet, clean the house, and get a personal trainer. Women in their 50s often finally go to therapy, write their book, throw clay, paint, exorcise family trauma, end their marriage, find new love again, and sing in the community theater as they always dreamed. Some start their own multimillion-dollar business or finally devote full throttle to their careers so they can feather their nest egg for retirement. Very often, women and daughters are Empresses side by side for a while. You may find them taking or running workshops in Costa Rica, tracing family roots while trouncing Europe, even taking plant medicine with shamans in Peru. Their sovereignty is found in their deep commitment to listen and honor, sit and journal, and fearlessly navigate the changes necessary for health, peace, and happiness. This class will cover this and more by exploring the roles of the following:
The High Priestess,
The Empress
Strength,
The Fool,
The Lovers,
The Tower
The Devil,
Death,
The Star,
Temperance
The princes of cups
The princes of stones
The princess of Wands
The princes of swords
The Queen of cups
The Queen of Stones
The Queen of Wands
The Queen of Swords.
These archetypes have been guiding you all along. At some point, you have even tried them out as part of your own journey. The role of Empress is something we can all experience, but it takes more than just permission, it takes training. I hope you will join Staci and I for this special weekend April 19th- 20th. We have so many surprises planned to please and serve your inner Empress. Just let me know and I will send the jet. Here is the link to register.
Me in Venice, roaming the streets eating a slice of pizza because it pleased me!
