I returned home Saturday evening after a week away visiting family. I wasted no time in getting back to work Sunday morning, and today I completed the 61st assemblage of the Tarot of Bones, the Empress. She’s one of my favorite cards, a woman who has fully come into her power, and this card often represents such a high, grounded point in one’s life. I chose the whitetail doe to represent the Empress, due to her strength, agility, and how she beckons us into the wilderness from the forest’s edge. Reversed, the Empress may presage a loss of power, and a time of confusion and vulnerability–the deer in the headlights.

I really love how the colors came together on this card, with the fiery reds and yellows contrasting with the black background. They’re a fitting throne for a doe in the prime of her life; she may not get as much attention as her antlered mate, but she is no weakling. Remember her next time you see a lady deer step forth from the woods, with strong, lean muscles and her head held high.