The Empress & The Emperor
The next two cards are very different from each other,
but I feel they should be presented together.
The Empress KeywordsCreativity/Creation. Delight.Beauty. | The Emperor KeywordsAchievement. Control. Discipline.Command. Authority. |
The EmpressThe Empress represents the Mother Goddess, the source of all living things.The hero learns to discriminate based on values that are rooted in his feelings and emotional nature. He begins to understand that security comes through the senses, and by grounding himself in nature he can build a solid foundation for his life. Whatever is built in this way is inspired by natural laws and will be secure. The Empress creates through love and this is the essence of synthesis: to join the opposing sides of duality in a mutual recognition that nothing can come into being without love. |
The EmperorThe Emperor represents the Father archetype and is related to the distant sky gods of the patriarchy.This stage of the journey is about mastering the physical world using the mind. To achieve freedom the hero must battle the adversities of life using discipline and willpower. But this is just physical mastery, not spiritual – hence the barren landscape on the card. The Emperor has mastered his world but not himself. His logic and rationality are only based on what he can know with his senses – the ultimate materialist. Restricted to what he can figure out based on what he can touch, the hero is out of his depth with anything more subtle or complex. He has a long way to travel. |
Sabina Nore
www.SabinaNore.com
@anibas
Another tarot person... awesome! Nice to meet you. I upvoted and resteemed you. I agree with looking for associations within the tarot. The ones I have been finding lately have been connections between the kings and queens as couples, in a similar way to the Emperor and Empress as metaphors, in your presentation here. Resteeming you for notes on this especially. What a great post!
Thanks @mymoontao!
You are welcome. I look forward to a conversation or two on the tarot with you. Have a great day!
It is very good idea to present these two together. They belong together and the significance of each grows in their interaction
The Emperor doesn’t flow with nature. The Empress does. The Emperor is alienated from the dark forces and vulnerable to their influences. You show brilliantly this aspect with the atmosphere of the card.
The Empress represents feminine aspects of consciousness. She unites .The paternal force of Emperor separates. The Empress creates, preserves, nurtures, conserves, and organizes growth and development - all that with conscious awareness. Her presence and activity are to serve to all roles of ‚mothering‘. She flows with Mother Nature, over all phases : birth, development and decline. She is aware of all these processes and therefore her benevolent expression.
In Alchemy she is the mother of fair love and hope. As a female consciousness, symbolized by Moon, she sees by the darker light too. Although recognizing darkness, by giving love she is able to give the knowledge of rebirth, which is not in the power of The Emperor. As a symbol of marriage, peace and harmony, she is by Pythagorean a holy symbol of triad, able to synthesize the oppositties. One of her roles is to help her mate to become aware of life and love. Therefore she is also the Bride in the Sacred Marriage . The Emperor’s ego-consciousness must return to the womb from which he was born, which is the subconscious, and from it he wins his rebirth. Balance is achieved when each consumes the other's substance.
That is a beautiful interpretation or explanation, and, if I ever introduce these cards again, I will definitely include your text! Did you notice that you focused a bit more on the positives of the Empress than of the Emperor? :)
"Balance is achieved when each consumes the other's substance."
Yes.
Yes, I did. You are right. And by purpose. She is the Mother Goddess, the source of all living things. In spite of all his reason and strength, he cannot be reborn without her. On the other hand, her purpose is also clear by having an opportunity to do so. Their interaction is therefore in consuming the other's substance.
I have a question here for you, from Kit:
Why do they belong together? What does he bring to her?
It sounds like like she is only there for him, to "serve" him.
"...her purpose is also clear by having an opportunity to do so". You may take it that he serves her as her role is to be the source of all living things. They are complementary energies: male/female, active/passive, giving/receiving, as Tarot is a symbol for many things and simultaneously, When I see two of them together, those were my thoughts about them.
https://steemit.com/literature/@mira13/the-story-of-the-pastor-and-satan-by-khalil-gibran
Yeah, that didn't work.
To that answer, he had 20 additional questions (literally!). So, we'll leave this conversation for some other time. :)
OK.
That reminds me to read Joseph Campbells book of the same name, or maybe just the docu, so many books to read :)
Very nice, very professional work.
Thank you @kathleenscarboro!
Ps. I love your blog intro/ description :)