The Empress

...an image of a beautiful woman seated upon a living oak shaped into a throne. Upon her head a crown of thorns and her honey hair flows down over her shoulders covering her breasts, she is nude otherwise. Her stomach shows that she is in the early to middle stages of pregnancy. In her hands she holds a twisted wooden scepter, its phallic shape obvious but not crude. Around her is a forest absolutely bursting with fecund life. Animals dancing and copulating, fruits heavy on the trees, tall grasses at peak harvest.

You blink a few times, trying to take it in. It's a tarot card. The Empress card to be exact. Symbol of life, fertility, nature, passion, abundance, and beauty. 'This must be a joke.' You think, then sarcastically say, "I'm glad I drew you right side up." You knew that, for people who believed in such things, drawing a card reversed changed its meaning greatly.

You are suddenly blinded by a blazing ray of sunlight. Looking up you just make out a feminine shape within the beam. The light is far too bright to see anything but a sillouette. She is full figured and voluptuous, her hair flowing out from her like a halo.

"Wha....What is happening?" You stammer.

You hear the voice of a goddess as it resonates to the very core of your being. "The era of the Fool is over, it is now my time. The Empress shall be ascendant. You, my champion, shall be my emissary and my herald upon this Earth. Through you I will live and bring my message of love to a world in tears. You shall be my conduit. But you must do so of your own will."

You are overwhelmed by a feeling of passionate love the likes of which you'd never experienced. You are also awestruck by her ethereal beauty. She is love and sex and friendship and your mother's smile and a baby's laugh and the smell of spring rain and the taste of chocolate and so so many other wonderful things all bound as one. Without a moments hesitation or doubt, tears flowing freely, you simply nod.

She continues, "Thank you my champion. When my time is over you shall give your card to a stranger. You will know when the time is right."

You reach out, a thousand questions on your lips, when a small cloud passes over the sun. As you blink the vision is gone. You sit there a moment at a complete loss as to what just happened to you. Looking over to your coffee you wonder if it had been spiked with DMT or something. You shake your head. Looking down at the card you see the face is blank! Just a plain off white surface.

"What the...?" Flipping it over you see the back looks the same as it did. Almost the same...you realize the image of the eye now shows it as closed.

You notice a slight movement to your left. Looking over you notice your herb garden is quite literally growing before your eyes. Reaching skyward, bushing out, blooming. The small pot is overrun with greenery. You hear a rustle to your right, turning your head you see two of the birds that had been singing earlier mating like it was the end of the world on a nearby power line. Looking down to the sidewalk you see one of your neighbors leaving for work, she hasn't seen you. As you look at her she stops in her tracks and trembles slightly. You hear her let out a soft gasp as she steadies herself. After comporting herself she continues on, she waves her hand at her face as if to cool herself off despite the fact the morning chill is still in the air. You hear her say to herself, "Steady girl...what has gotten into you?"

You sit there dumbstruck. What was going on?