Transparent Tarot - 4 - Emperor

The Emperor shows a city skyline.

City

• represents one’s community, environment or current situation
• may be associated with various aspects of the self
• might represent group activities or teamwork
• represents that which is arranged in an orderly fashion
• represents that which is man-made
• “a great city, a great solitude” means that people often feel lonelier in a large city amongst strangers than they would if they were actually alone, while “you can’t fight City Hall” means that the average person can’t hope to win a dispute against officialdom or bureaucracy

Skyscraper

• may correspond to great heights, financial stability, a lofty goal or an enormous project
• may be associated with one’s higher self or inner wisdom
• represents that which is strong or domineering
• suggests that which rises above the situation or the surrounding environment
• may suggest that which ascends

Building

• suggests one’s habits, patterns, beliefs, situations and relationships
• represents a particular phase or activity in one’s life
• “Rome was not built in a day” means that it takes a lot of time and effort to achieve great things

Rodney

oh rodney you have lots of really good thoughts there!

When I first looked at this card, I love how it celebrates modernity without making us feel guilty. Infact when I see this card I think of an Emperor who has responsbility and a duty of care to its landscape. Would building stonehenge be just an ancient equviliant of our modern skyscrapers? Would the ancients have seen it as an eyesore or as the latest in our technology, a celebration of human creativity and thought? An expression of 'modern' life?
Or just pretty rocks?
Well I like pretty buildings lol.

There is an overseening quality, where we can develop distance yet passion, we were are of the 'rat race' yet see where we are going. There is direction and drive, and its for a global community not just a pretty romantic celtic tribe. That although we are all different, we are all important - like the 4 kings together make the emperor, all peoples make the world go round really.

Unlike the Empress this card doesnt have a sky.. so the sky isnt the limit here, but do we need to drive ourselves so far? Theres a great feeling of working and crafting the present, excitment of the future but not unreasonable dreams and schemes.

Hmm, in our modern world time is a valueable commodity, so much that the Emperor, the authoritative overpowering and controlling energy, has waged war on time.. we now live in a 24 hour world, one that isnt limited to the cycles of day and night because of electrickery.

The Empress, his counterpart, is all about the land, of natural rhythms, about surrendering to them. The Emperor tells us to fight back, to create enough candles to work by, then light bulbs, and now laptops so that we can email people around the world from the comfort of our bed.

Its constant, its never ending... its fabulous yet its also scary that we have one extreme or another.

I think we need a Sacred Marriage between these two

Another observation I have about the Empress/Emperor combination is that if you put either of those cards down by itself, there will be quite an expanse of unused space on the card. Putting them both down together, they complete each other, as an Emperor and Empress should do.