nisaba
It's been quite some time since I've written a new entry here. For a few weeks, I somehow couldn't save new posts to the blog; after that I'd become so used to not working on it, that even when I knew I could, I've been procrastinating.
So tonight I'm marshalling my Inner Emperor, and sitting at my desk!
We see an elderly man wearing a brown akubra, its brim bent upwards in a mischievous grin that his mouth doesn't quite follow. He has his right arm around a border-collie, and holds a coat of arms showing a Roaring Koala in his left hand. He wears a green workman's shirt, with a brown collar.
The neutral yellow background may have been chosen only to set off the colour scheme of this card, but I manage to find more meaning in it than that. According to the Georgian tradition of Wicca, yellow is the colour of Air, of thought, of intellect, of command of the self. And this is a commanding card!
The figure who appears in The Emperor is the same as the male figure in the Lovers card, who stands alongside Granny Jones herself. For this reason, and for the realism of his aging, jowled face, I believe the Emperor is a loving portrait of the deck-creator's (late?) husband. And why not - the Emperor demonstrates the best - and occasionally the worst - of supposedly masculine characteristics: discipline, command, strength, control. The Emperor is quintessentially sure of himself.
The Roaring Koala? Well, koalas are quintessentially Australian: this aspect of the card like so much in other cards, delivers a sense of place to the image. Koalas are sleepy herbivores - a roaring koala, portrayed with fangs, reinforces the message of strength and command.
The border collie, which appears in other cards, though not as many as the endless sequence of cats, is a personal touch. One gets the sense of the softness and loyalty of this kind of dog as compatible with the overall tenor of gentleness in this deck. And just recently I got my hands on another unrelated piece of writing of Granny Jones', and was delighted to read the line "...when I was walking my border collie...", confirming that this dog is every bit as personal as it seems.
The only colours in the person of the Emperor, are green and brown. Both of them are Earth colours: brown of the soil itself, from which all life comes, green the colour of growth and healing. And the Emperor is a grounded card, a solid card, showing the claim to land, the relationship to land, the command over physical reality.
I like this card. I read it pretty much as I read Emperor cards in other decks, but every time I glance at it I am aware of its sentimentality to Granny Jones herself. And just today, it did a good job of describing my client's husband!
So tonight I'm marshalling my Inner Emperor, and sitting at my desk!
We see an elderly man wearing a brown akubra, its brim bent upwards in a mischievous grin that his mouth doesn't quite follow. He has his right arm around a border-collie, and holds a coat of arms showing a Roaring Koala in his left hand. He wears a green workman's shirt, with a brown collar.
The neutral yellow background may have been chosen only to set off the colour scheme of this card, but I manage to find more meaning in it than that. According to the Georgian tradition of Wicca, yellow is the colour of Air, of thought, of intellect, of command of the self. And this is a commanding card!
The figure who appears in The Emperor is the same as the male figure in the Lovers card, who stands alongside Granny Jones herself. For this reason, and for the realism of his aging, jowled face, I believe the Emperor is a loving portrait of the deck-creator's (late?) husband. And why not - the Emperor demonstrates the best - and occasionally the worst - of supposedly masculine characteristics: discipline, command, strength, control. The Emperor is quintessentially sure of himself.
The Roaring Koala? Well, koalas are quintessentially Australian: this aspect of the card like so much in other cards, delivers a sense of place to the image. Koalas are sleepy herbivores - a roaring koala, portrayed with fangs, reinforces the message of strength and command.
The border collie, which appears in other cards, though not as many as the endless sequence of cats, is a personal touch. One gets the sense of the softness and loyalty of this kind of dog as compatible with the overall tenor of gentleness in this deck. And just recently I got my hands on another unrelated piece of writing of Granny Jones', and was delighted to read the line "...when I was walking my border collie...", confirming that this dog is every bit as personal as it seems.
The only colours in the person of the Emperor, are green and brown. Both of them are Earth colours: brown of the soil itself, from which all life comes, green the colour of growth and healing. And the Emperor is a grounded card, a solid card, showing the claim to land, the relationship to land, the command over physical reality.
I like this card. I read it pretty much as I read Emperor cards in other decks, but every time I glance at it I am aware of its sentimentality to Granny Jones herself. And just today, it did a good job of describing my client's husband!
