The Silicon Valley goes even farther off on its own, substituting the Garage for the Empress.

Description

In the middle there is a brown garage. A tree stands to the left and nearer to the viewer than the garage. A straight driveway leads up to the garage. There are no other buildings or trees. The ground is a dark green, the sky a dark purple. In the sky is a crescent moon and some clouds. The garage door is partly open and rays of bright light are coming out.

Quoting from the LWB:
"Historically, the Garage is the Valley's primary engine of creation. Big New Ideas are germinated in the humble surroundings at odd hours. The moon smiles upon exploration unfettered by corporate constraint. Though it may seem the Garage is outgunned by mammoth office parks and grand laboratories; the real action has always been here - perpetrated by pathologically independent individuals in ramshackle workshops having original thoughts. All that mighty commercial squabbling and NASDAQ turbulence is just the foam in the Garage's wake. Don't breathe the fumes.

Divinatory Meanings
Creativity, inspiration

Reversed: Megalomania, quixotic optimism, unrecognized opportunity."

My Thoughts
The Garage has long held a special place in the thoughts of those in Silicon Valley. Very large companies have had their start in a garage, HP and Apple just to name two. The Garage symbolizes the dream of making it big by having your creation bring you fame and fortune. It is the hope and seed of big things to come. I have know many people who have gone off to work for a "startup". New small companies, sometimes working out of a garage, that they hope will succeed. Most fail, but a few grow and make it.

The nighttime with the crescent moon tell us that the beginning of new ideas, and the work to get them started, take place far from the light of day and the consciences of people. When they succeed the idea will break out of the darkness into our normal lives like the rays of light streaming out of the Garage door. This card can be taken to show that there are things in the dark, our unconscious, that if we're able and willing to help it along, like the long hours of work done in the Garage, it can change our lives, like the products first started in garages have, ex. the personal computer.

There then is the analogy of the Garage as the Womb, both being the place of creation and new beginnings. But the Empress goes beyond this, therefore providing a richer, deeper, and more complex archetype.

Thomas