The Emperor - Meaning of The Emperor in Tarot Cards

The Title for The Emperor Tarot card is, ‘Sun of the morning, chief among the mighty’. The image seen on The Emperor card is that of a flame clad God bearing equivalent symbols. Here we have the great energising forces as indicated by the varying shades of red. lt may be noted here that the red paths remain red in all planes, varying only in shade. Thus Aries, the Emperor, the Pioneer, the General, is blood and deep crimson, red or glowing fiery red. The Emperor is always passionate whether in love or in war. The Emperor is positive masculine just as The Empress is positive feminine. The Emperor Tarot card can be related with war, conquest, victory, strife and ambition.

The Emperor usually represents authority figures like a boos, father, head of an organization etc. Such a person gives orders and always expects them to be obeyed. You should not expect fun and frolic when The Emperor is around. Everything seems to be too serious in his presence. When The Emperor is not living up to his ideals, he becomes immature, childish and petulant, refusing to follow orders. There is a lack of respect for authority and standards. When the Arian qualities are strong, the Emperor is good at starting things, but do not expect him to complete the actions.

The Emperor can be seen with a Crux for his sceptre and a globe in his left hand. The Emperor is a crowned monarch. He can  be seen commanding, stately, seated on a throne, the arms of which axe fronted by rams' heads. He is executive and realization, the power of this world, here clothed with the highest of its natural attributes. He is occasionally represented as seated on a cubic stone, which, however, confuses some of the issues. He is the virile power, to which the Empress responds. To be specific, The Emperor can actually be related with authority and anything related to it.

It should be understood that this card and that of the Empress do not precisely represent the condition of married life, though this state is implied. Both of these cards mundane royalty which is uplifted on the seats of the mighty. But, there is a suggestion of another presence somewhere close and above. The Emperor Tarot card also signifies the male figure, especially, the higher Kingship, occupying the intellectual throne. Hereof is the lordship of thought rather than of the animal world.

Both personalities, after their own manner, are full of strange experience, but theirs is not consciously the wisdom which draws from a higher world. The Emperor has been described as will in its embodied form, but this is only one of its applications. It has also been described as an expression of unreality which is contained in the Absolute Being, but this is fantasy. The Emperor can be closely related with attributes like stability, power, protection, realization, aid, reasons, conviction, authority and will.