Editor’s Note: If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc
By Sarah Taylor
In the most recent Weekend Tarot Reading, we came face-to-face with The Emperor as an archetype of construction, self-expression and responsibility. I think this ties in well with the current astrology, which seems to have a theme of stepping up to the highest ideals that we hold for ourselves and the world around us, what that entails, and how we can harness what is available to us in order to grow into these ideals.
This week, I’d like to offer three other perspectives of The Emperor, from three tarot writers, namely Pamela Eakins (The Tarot of The Spirit), Michael Owen (The Xultun Tarot) and Gerd Ziegler (The Thoth Tarot) — all of which can help to further define and refine this archetype for us so that we can work with it more consciously and more fully. With my heartfelt thanks to all of them — their work has been significant to my own understanding of tarot.
Pamela Eakins — The Tarot of The Spirit
Divinatory Meaning
Build a firm base of clear knowledge; do not become too rigid; remain open and lucid; to retain control, know and serve a higher force; build your world in beauty and light; do not forget that the Emperor remains Emperor because he has a global sense of things that others do not necessarily possess, yet he will be overthrown if he does not serve his constituents; to remain in power, use your insight and serve those around you.
Interpretation
The Emperor is swift, male, creative energy. He is a discoverer, a leader, a pioneer, initiator and adventurer. He has clear sight and presence of mind. This enables him to be exceedingly well organized.
His sight is clear because he is, figuratively, a window. He is Heh which means window. Literally, Heh is the eye of the wind (auga, eye, Indo-European; vindr, Old Norse; windoge, Middle English). The eye of the wind is the transparent opening or pane, which illuminates the structure of all form. This is the eye or Windowpane of the Soul — that which sees All, knows All — the mystical third eye of the East.
It is noteworthy that the root of pane is pan which means fabric (Indo-European). The Emperor is like the windowpane that is the structure of all things, even as it allows for the illumination of the structure of all things. This structure can be seen as the fabric of all substance.