An excellent way to observe in graphic detail how our inner Emperor and Empress work together is to compare successive drafts of, say, a poem by Keats. There one sees how the rich imagination of the poet's feminine, feeling side was later pruned, refined, and shaped his critical Logos to create the finished product. One is struck not only the perfection of what remains but equally by the sheer beauty of much that has been sacrificed. For this delicate job of discrimination, the artist's Emperor needs to be sensitive, insightful, and courageous.
- From Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey by Sallie Nichols

COUNTERPOINT TO TRUMP 3, THE EMPRESS, stands the authoritarian Emperor. As The Empress often manifests the Mother Archetype, The Emperor displays the Father Archetype.

If the Empress is the yearning to nurture, fertilize and generate, the Emperor is the containing force that prunes, frames and quantifies. If the desire to comfort, create or nourish finds expression via baking cookies, to use a modern day Empress example, then the Emperor would be the energy that acquires the necessary ingredients, follows the recipe, measures the exact amount, sets the correct temperature, and cuts the dough uniformly.

Not one for spontaneity, whimsy, or experimentation, The Emperor regulates and legislates, presiding over bureaucracy, government, and civil laws. He protects citizenry, governs rationally, and demands order.

As an authority figure, the Emperor draws boundaries, builds fences, and says "no" with ease. If the Empress displays inclusion, possibly to the extreme of rampant growth fueled by nurturing tendencies, then the Emperor exhibits the energy of exclusion. This, but not that. Here, but not there. Either/or. If the Empress represents pulsing life - the kaleidoscopic rainbow of summer blooms, pregnant fruit trees, and organic variety - then the Emperor reminds us that black and white, too, are important hues on life's palette.

Unfortunately, especially in some New Age circles and women's movements, the energy of the Emperor has been denigrated. Rather than "girl power" knowing and standing in her own brilliance, reflecting and refracting the Divine Feminine, she has merely taken yet another page from the Emperor's book by excluding - in this case, men and/or the masculine principle.

And perhaps this is why more than a few women have trouble saying "no", instituting healthy boundaries, and defending what they say they value (including time, energy, creative pursuits and relaxation).

The last few weeks, messages from the Emperor's energy have cropped up literally everywhere. For example, take this portion of an email sent to me from one of my readers:

I don't want to be the "martyr" or the one who feels battered by life's circumstances (which I currently do feel this way). I want to find something that will help me create boundaries. I find that a lot of people sense "something" about me and I attract the most negative people, or I bring out the most negative from otherwise decent people. People have told me, in my best interest, that I come across as weak and I just want to change that - soon!

What this dear One yearns for is Emperor energy. I told her that the Tarot card to focus on for affirmation and contemplation is the Emperor, because it endows strength and aids in creating boundaries. Her response was brilliantly insightful:

It's funny, but when you told me to look at the Emperor card I thought "Gosh, that card I don't like. I don't understand it, plus it usually shows up in readings regarding a boss that I don't like and who has been in trouble before for harassing women (not sexually, but as far as their abilities)". Maybe that's my problem. I don't understand or possess the positive energy of that card.

Indeed, that could very well be! Often, the cards we don't understand or don't like in the Tarot are the ones that contain a "shadow" in our personality. That is, some attitude or state that we aren't "owning" (positive or negative), needing to explore or cultivate it for greater balance. What we despise or adore holds telling clues to what we often project "out there", either in terms of actively disowning, denying, or demonizing or - at the other end of the spectrum - praise, admire, exalt, or commend.

Have a romp in the energy of The Emperor. Ponder its implications not just in a Tarot reading, but also in your waking life - when it surfaces via conscious contemplation, meditation or symbol. Below are some questions to ponder for your edification... Consider journaling the answers to these questions for some surprising and illuminating wisdom direct from the protective, organizing, and authoritative Emperor:

1. What are you hanging on to out of a sense of obligation, habit or pressure - or because of a fear of lack, disapproval, rejection, or the unknown? What are you hoarding? Make a list of the areas of life that need a good dose of de-cluttering. It could be commitments, practices, attitudes, expectations, assumptions, things or even people that need to be "given the boot" to create more breathing room in your life.
    
2. How do you feel about the word "authority"? What kind of feelings do the words "father", "ruler", "governor", "bureaucracy", "order", "control" or "establishment" produce for you? Why?
    
3. What does it mean to be the "author" of your own life? What would you "write in" for your personal story? How would you write today? The rest of your life? What does the ending look like?
    
4. Picture the Emperor holding a magic pencil that erases self-defeating mental loops, regrets, mistakes, and destructive criticism. Imagine him applying his magic eraser to your life story. How does that make you feel? How might it change the other parts of your life in a beneficial way?
    
5. What needs to be protected in your life? Where might you place boundaries, fences or gates to protect what you love and value? In what area does the "line in the sand" need moved forward - or, perhaps, drawn for the very first time?

Text © 2009 by Janet Boyer
Art © 2007 by Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony. All images used with permission.

Join us as Janet takes us on a romp
through each of the Major Arcana, one-by-one!

Next Month: The Hierophant

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Janet Boyer is the author of The Back in Time Tarot Book (Hampton Roads) which features her innovative Back in Time (BIT) Method for experiencing the cards. Dubbed the Queen of Tarot, Janet has written over a thousand reviews, articles and interviews for both print and online publications, specializing in Tarot, New Age and Self Help topics. She is an Amazon.com Top 10 Reviewer, as well as an Editor at TheTarotChannel.com.

You can visit Janet on the web at JanetBoyer.com where she provides hundreds of pages of content, as well as eBooks, a monthly New Releases page, a Shop, intuitive counseling services and Tarot readings. Janet makes her home in the gorgeous state of Pennsylvania with her soulmate, Ron, their son (whom she homeschools), and two cats. In her free time (yes, she actually has some!), she enjoys her lush backyard, the laughter of her two guys, mystery novels, thriller movies, RUSH, bookstores, hidden object PC games, and gourmet eating.