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 tells you how to use the spread. You can visit Sarah’s website here. –efc
By Sarah Taylor
I patently do not feel like I have much in common with The Emperor right now. I am stuck in London, on my way back from South Africa, after the UK became snowbound and ground to a halt the middle of last week. Mercury is playing havoc with my Internet connection. I am out of routine, discombobulated and disgruntled. Okay — so maybe my facial expression is the same as The Emperor’s (even though it probably reflects a different state of mind). Perhaps that is what we have in common; and perhaps the rest is what I am being asked to aspire to.
The Emperor — the fourth card in the major arcana — sits in state on his stone throne. He reminds me of The Hierophant (card five in the major arcana), but in many ways he is the polar opposite. While The Hierophant is the earthly representative of the spiritual world, The Emperor holds sway over the secular. Where The Hierophant ensures that spiritual laws are enforced and adhered to, The Emperor operates in the realm of Bills, Acts, treaties, money, war and taxes.
The Emperor wears red robes, much like The Hierophant, but that is where the similarity stops. For here, there are no crosses embroidered on his clothing, but rather some form of a coat of arms on his left shoulder. Instead of soft, white shoes, his feet and lower legs are sheathed in armour. There is a hardness to The Emperor that is not apparent in his major arcana neighbour.
His arms set against the arms of his throne, The Emperor looks as if he is leaning slightly forward. This, combined with the armour that he wears under the regal trappings of robes and gold crown, sceptre and globe, gives me the distinct impression that he is always at the ready: that at a moment’s notice, he can spring into action if the circumstances demand it. He is a ruler both on and off the battle field. Not all disagreements brought to him can be settled amicably and within the rule of law. There is, in other words, a time for negotiation. And there is a time to fight.
What I also find interesting is that the face of The Emperor is so much more filled in than that of The Hierophant, whose physical appearance is secondary to his symbolic power as divine intercessor. The Emperor has deep-set and expressive eyes, ruddy cheeks, a hint of an aquiline nose, red mouth, and long, white beard. He is fully physically present, imperfections and all. There is a stubborn resolve in the set of his jaw, as if he has had to steel his psyche, as well as his body, against frequent attacks on his authority.
And yet the throne is solid and enduring. It rises up behind him. It ‘has his back’. He is supported by the institution that has conferred power upon him. The rams’ heads add a further sense of structure. I see the two at the top as representing a state of peace and equilibrium, when we are able to direct our gaze outside of our narrow focus and take in the world at large. The lower two represent wartime, heads lowered, ready for battle — the horns and boss (where the horns meet) now weapons instead of embellishment.
Finally, I see the mountains in the background, rising up like cloaked figures to support The Emperor in his endeavours. It is as if nature is working harmoniously with him… although the colours are active, busy — as if on constant alert — save for the blue of the river at bottom left: a welcome respite from the very hot colours around it. There is, however subtle, an undercurrent of softness, of emotion, even though for The Emperor’s purposes this is relegated to the background. However, I would argue that without this, The Emperor would run the risk of losing his humanity. And it is humanity that makes an effective ruler into a great one.
The Emperor sits on the knife-edge of this state of being, for me. The river, as it has on the right, might lose its cool, blue nature, its life-giving properties, and simply become a part of the mountainous landscape around it. Or perhaps the river represents the flow from a purely natural state (The Empress) towards one that is entirely spiritual and disconnected from the physical world (The Hierophant)?
Perhaps this is the balance that The Emperor needs to hold.
Either way, the path of The Emperor is, to me, one that demands of us great responsibility, accountability and discernment. We embody The Emperor when we assume authority over our lives here on Earth, understanding that our decisions might maintain accord, or open us to the possibility of discord, and accepting that sometimes the second path is the only one that keeps us in our integrity. How we choose to act upon this decision rests entirely in our own hands.
“Rules for indicating successors also varied: there was a tendency towards male inheritance of the supreme office, but as well election by noblemen, as ruling empresses (for empires not too strictly under salic law) are known. Ruling monarchs could additionally steer the succession by adoption, as often occurred in the two first centuries of Imperial Rome. Of course, intrigue, murder and military force could also mingle in for appointing successors; the Roman imperial tradition made no exception to other monarchical traditions in this respect. Probably the epoch best known for this part of the imperial tradition is Rome’s third century rule.” [Wikipedia]
It seems that some Emperors are elected democratically (or as democratically as their form of governance permits/permitted), and some took power through force — although they would have had to have been informally ‘elected’ by a group (such as an army) that believed that they had a right to rule. So, in effect, everyone has a point here.
… It’s just that *my* particular Emperor is one who reached power by more democratic means. Why? That’s simply where the reading took me. That doesn’t mean to say that the means justify the end, and not all Emperors who succeed to the ‘throne’ are good rulers. In this case, however, he seemed to me like a choleric Solomon.
Don’t wanna be a nitpicker,(or maybe I do!) how does one just take power? He MUST have support, an army, a church, something! How does one keep their army? One man, no matter how shiny his armour, can fight off an entire regement. He’s aware of this stalemate, & is not amused.
I’m not disagreeing that he is supported by institutions, I just disagree that those institutions conferred power on him. He took power, no institution gave it to him. He’s not a King or a President, he’s an Emperor.
His (covered) armor shows he is always ready for battle. Mars in Aries is always ready for action. His will is sufficient to implement his authority, the mere fact that he is always ready for war is sufficient to prevent it.
Aww, come on people. Daddy isn’t that bad! Look, he’s holding a pomegranate in his bare hand!
I do like what Charles says about will, though I would argue that will is one general force, which can be directed this way or that depending on who decides they’ve got one.
He appears uncomfortable. Sorry Charles, but I must agree with Sarah. He is ‘supported’, here is where his paradox lies. He looks as though he wants to jump from his throne, “Respect my authority!”, yet to control his domain he must restrain from impulsive action. To leave his throne & fight is to leave his support, & drop his precious burdens. What is more important? His ego or his kingdom?
I have to disagree with your statement “He is supported by the institution that has conferred power upon him.” Quite the opposite, an Emperor seizes power, he confers the power on himself by his sheer force of will. He bends institutions of power to serve him. He settles disputes because his word is law.
This really is quite a forceful card, representing Mars in Aries, its domicile. That is forceful Mars in its most active form. Note that the overall color scheme of the card is red and orange, symbolic of Mars, and of course the ram’s heads are symbolic of Aries.
When I see this card in a reading, it usually deals with issues of will. It is a major card so it is usually not about one’s own personal will, rather, some external forces have made their willful determination that things will be the way they decree. It is an arbitrary choice, made at the whim of the Emperor.
The Emperor is a person and a “System”.
I work with a lot of men in construction and engineering, and I have loved a few of them. This card, along with the Knight of Disks, comes up for me. These are men in control, who have a say over the structure of the world. Its infrastructure, its buildings and our safety, its not just the executive but the entire industry which is male-identified.
Since I also work in this realm of men, the overall organization of my work life is focused on this type of stratified structure. A lot of times, when asking about issues surrounding work, the deck “selects” either the Queen of Swords or Queen of Disks for me–a woman who sees through the bullshit, and whose concern is the material security of others. In my position, I end up being the one who holds power through the mind and contracts, deals and negotiations for pay.
Maybe I’ve selected these female prototypes. They function easily in the Emperor structure, and I don’t feel trapped by it. As an artist who gives birth to ideas and creation, the Empress rules my world outside of work, I give myself some leeway with my personal manifestations of creativity – Queen of Wands, and dreaminess – Queen of Cups. There has to be some balance in response to that hard-edged, bricks and mortar Emperor’s world.
Thanks Sarah and Eric for this tarot series – I look forward to these articles every week, especially the ones that deal with the cards that are somewhat mysterious to me (still learning!).