Emperor as love and pregnancy

In so many threads, there appears to be a rather one-sided view of the Emperor (or the Empress, for that matter) that is presented.

If one thinks about the role and function of the Emperor and the Empress, it seems like they have a far broader and wider range of symbolic meaning than often presented.

In terms of the Emperor, it is not only his responsibility to care for the domains under his care, but also to ensure ongoing fertility and appropriate rains, etc. - to the extant that it may be viewed as his own infertility if his domains are lame or arid.

Of course, if one uses a deck that depicts the Emperor in a landscape that suggests a rather bleak and arid landscape, the Emperor is thereon depicted as denuded of his rightful rather more fulsome being.

The picture of the fisher-king in Arthurian and Grail Romance has a good rapport to one of the Emperor's possible meanings here.

His general care for the protection of his lands or domain at times also takes him on far journeys of conquests and protecting not only his direct domain, but that of his peers as well - as the protection of Vienna from the various assaults by jihadic muslims over the centuries.

Certainly the class of emperor comes from that of the warrior, yet it is also more than warrior, who would otherwise remain a knight, not a king, and not an emperor.

His love for his nation, for his people, and for the welfare and fecundity of his land and his people may even mean at times huge sacrifices on his part.

What an interesting post jmd.

I sometimes cringe when I see the Emperor depicted as some "father figure" or symbol of the "patriarchy", and the Empress seems to get off as "Mother Nature", "fertility", "womanhood".

It seems very unfair and out of balance... or at the very least a modern "righting" of men as war-mongering, cold, status keepers; and women as "nurturing", "Earthy" and "synergistic".

Surely we have historical models where these stereotypes are reversed?

I at least think of Justin and Theodora... and surely there are others? When we think of Marie Antoinette, not an Empress.. but surely in the role.. do we think "compassion"? or do we think "Let them eat cake"?

Do we have a prejudice when looking at the Empress and Emperor.. and for that matter.. Pope and Popess.. that keeps us from recognizing the positive and negative aspects of these cards?

I would love to see the Emperor represented by the seahorse in an animal themed deck.

The Fisher King was sterile, and thus his land was as well.

Well, without the Emperor's contribution and protection, how could the Empress bear "fruit" or make a castle a home? I don't see him as the "heavy", but he usually does have the final word... but if he's a good Emperor, he will have considered other's input and opinions and advice. He may be one for doing his duty to God and Country, but as an Aries, he would be passionate about it, not a cold fish imposing his will on everyone at his whim, though he could if he wanted.

I don't think he is insensitive, but has to put what is good for all above his own personal biases and sacrifice his own feelings, so may need to take actions he doesn't enjoy or want to do. I think he gets a lot of pride and pleasure from being able to see his fruits grow healthy and happy under his protection and yes... love. Because he loves what he has helped to create and wants it to last in the best way possible.

The seahorse would make a great Emperor card, since he is the one who raises, nurtures and carries his young around in a pouch. Cool!

One of my favorite images of the Emperor is from the Celtic Dragon, he is happy and relaxed, watching his children at play in a lush, well tended landscape.

Babylon Jasmine, that was my point - the fertility of the land is therein associated with the fertility of the King or Emperor.

I suppose that for those who make a correlation, following Golden Dawn, between the Emperor and Aries will see therein some kind of fire and its 'dry' qualities - despite the fact that Aries, as astrological sign, heralds in the renewed fecundity of the Earth.

In any case, many who make tarot correlations with astrological planet or sign link the Emperor not to Aries, but rather to Jupiter - an attribution that seems, to say the least, far more 'natural' in terms of the quality of the card prior to adding either Arian, Venusian, or other imagery.

The Castle, to become a home, is transformed more so by the staff in their hierarchy than either the Empress or the Emperor: rather, the authority of each will be reflected in the manner in which others take on their respective tasks and make the transformation.

Also, I do not see that he has to necessarily sacrifice his own feelings in the least, but rather, given his working with his feeling life, be in part very much guided by their warmth, counteracting, perhaps, the cold advice he may receive from his advisors or the Empress.

The Emperor, to be a good Emperor, has a wealth of emotions from which to draw, appropriate feelings for situations, and perceptive thinking in touch with the needs of the times, the realm, and his people. He is, I would suggest, very far from the cold character at times described.

thanks jmd

The Emperor, whether as card 4, IV, or IIII
still gives us the "Earthly Vibration" of Four.

This solidity, earthliness, resonates fertility.

I like The Emperor as Mars, with the planet
being exalted in Capricorn ~ Cardinal Earth.

For some reason, I got stuck early on with The Empress and The Emperor cards...and the meanings....I couldn't see beyond the "basics."

After I read your opening post, jmd, I was going to write this one right away, but decided to read through everyone's first. Le pendu's use of the word "patriarch" is closest to where I have gone when I think of The Emperor and "matriarch" when I think of The Empress.

With those words...I move into daily life, where the castle is the home and the domain is that of family including extended family and maybe even work environment.

With this in mind, an Emperor or Empress could earn the title young without having gone through the rites of passage, so to speak, the rites of passage that one would hope teaches the ruler or patriarch , or matriarch, the lessons one can learn through life experience, so as to be worth of "ruling" a domain. This can be the case in the work or home domains as well...someone who is "entitled" without "earning" the role...a son or daughter who becomes CEO of a company simply because dad or mom passed the wand to them at too young an age, or to a son or daughter who really hadn't

made their bones, as the Italians say (I don't mean the kind of bones that happens after an Sicilian kisses you on both cheeks.LOL).



I can identify with the grandparent or greatgrandparent of wisdom....the one who has lived life in all its messiness, who has faced many challenges with courage, who has perhaps experienced great personal loss, or pain, who, perhaps, has many children (this could be someone without children, who has served many in a work field, and thus, achieved the crown of "ruler" because of personal knowledge and life lessons).

I often thought of the last principal I worked with as The Empress since she embodied both in her home life and her work life, all of the elements of growth, learning, birthing (the mentoring of so many young people), teaching, ruling (with firm boundaries/the "4"!!).

Conversely, should a reversed meaning come forward, I can identify with people who have been given titles and responsibilities and who do not represent the concept of the "patriarch" or "matriarch." Or, the person, who has raised a family, or grown to a position of power in the work domain, yet remains, immature, without boundaries, one who rules with power, not compassion, because of that power.

Being able to look at real people in my life history, people who have the titles that correspond to "Emperor" or "Empress" helps me to open up a host of personality traits and characteristics that are both desirable and undesirable in a person who "rules" over a "domain."

Just some random thoughts that have come from meditating on this card during readings.

terri

Perhaps the Emperor occasionally has much to learn from the Heirophant. I alwyas thought the Pope and Papess were the Heirophant and the high priestess.