Welcome to my Community Blog for tarot enthusiasts.
Anyone with an interest in tarot, be they student, artist, collector, writer, teacher or reader, is welcome to
to include here.
Considering the Emperor in 2020
Eight Months into 2020, here are some things we can learn from the card of the year.
2020 is the year of the Emperor. This is so because the Emperor is card Four in the Major Arcana, and the numerals of 2020 add up to four.
At the end of December and beginning of January, tarotists were speculating how the energy of the Emperor might be expressed over the next twelve months. Now, as we begin month eight of the oddest year of our lives, we might all have some new insights into the Emperor.
The Emperor is a card that often receives more negative press than I feel it should. 2020 is not going to help its reputation, I’m afraid.
It seems that many tarotists limit their understanding of the Emperor to power-hungry male authority. They see the Emperor as an overlord, a stern father, or a negative expression of the patriarchy. Certainly, these energies can be aspects of the Emperor. Yet, I believe there is so much more to be found in card Four.
What are positive aspects of the Emperor? I think the spiritual lesson of the Emperor is about responsibility. The Emperor is a community leader. He might be a politician, with the power to declare war. Yet, he might also be a loving father, or a caring community steward.
The number four generally speaks of stability. In the Emperor’s stability there could be rigidity, but there could also be dependability and loyalty.
How does the energy of the Emperor show up in the year 2020? Certainly, in the United States, we are preparing for an election which will determine who our leaders will be. Worldwide, during the pandemic, we have looked to our leaders for answers, and often have felt that our leaders weren’t doing enough, or weren’t doing the right things.
The death of George Floyd put the ongoing questions of how policing should be done in the front of everyone’s mind. Everything from the concept of centuries of systemic racism to the concept of police reformation can be seen in the Emperor.
The Emperor asks who will govern us, and in what way.
The Emperor is uncomfortable with moving away from the status quo, whether in an effort to stop the spread of a virus, or in an effort to change unjust societal norms.
As we look at the events that have unfolded over the past eight months, we can see the Emperor present in all of them.
As we move forward, we can learn from the Emperor as well. We can hold ourselves accountable for our behaviors. We can keep our word. We can nurture our communities. We can govern our own affairs with responsibility to ourselves, and to our families and our communities.
Answers to your Questions about Tarot: The Emperor and the Hierophant
Recently I wrote a blog post about the archetype of the Hierophant, and the ways in which three modern tarot artists had reinterpreted that archetype. After reading that post, a number of people requested that I make a comparison between the Emperor and the Hierophant.
When we discuss tarot cards from an archetypal perspective, we need to understand that archetypes are different from interpretations. Tarot interpretations can vary a great deal, based on the reader’s intuition, preferred tarot traditions, and the context of both the question and the surrounding cards.
Archetypes, on the other hand, are fixed. The only wiggle room with an archetype is in our relationship to it and our resonance with it. This is an especially important point to consider regarding the Emperor and the Hierophant, since these archetypes both include the very yang energy of masculine authority. How we react to these cards says a lot about how we feel about masculine authority!
I often call the Emperor the authority of the community, and the Hierophant the authority of the church. When I say this, I am thinking about the time and place that gave birth to tarot, where religious authority would have carried a bit more weight than mere political authority. The question is how these archetypes translate into our modern times, when neither politicians nor priests are automatically feared or respected. In fact, some of the funniest jokes I know are about politicians and priests!
Every personality, every character, and every archetype has a light side and a shadow side. I generally see the archetypes of both the Emperor and the Hierophant as positive and well-intentioned. However, both of these archetypal characters have the potential for corruption and abuse.
It is easy to see the ways in which the archetypes of the Emperor and the Hierophant are similar. In what ways are they different?
It might be helpful to look at some of the cards’ correspondences. The Emperor is card number four, the number of stability. The Hierophant is card number five, the number of expansion.
The Emperor is related to Aries, and the element of Fire. The Hierophant is related to Taurus, and the element of Earth.
To me, the numbers and the elements of these two cards seem to balance each other out. Four is stable, but Fire is expansive. Five is expansive, but Earth is stable.
What do I conclude from this? The Emperor needs routine, but may step outside of daily activity in extraordinary circumstances. As a politician, he can declare war. The Hierophant seeks spiritual enlightenment, but is limited by his own humanity. As a priest, he longs to be something more than his human self. In fact, some people may worship the Hierophant.
When I consider the archetype of the Emperor, I see a respected community and family leader, a father and a politician. When I consider the archetype of the Hierophant, I see a person who has mastered a particular doctrine, a person who has become an authority of some specific body of knowledge. By comparison, the Emperor has earned his position by being responsible, likeable and present, rather than by learning a body of knowledge.
In a reading, both the Emperor and the Hierophant could indicate people, generally men. Both of these people could be either domineering or helpful. Both of these people are leaders. The Emperor may be political in the way he operates. The Emperor will do what is necessary to keep his people happy, or to protect them. The Hierophant will operate based on the particular discipline of his body of knowledge or his belief set. He cares less about how others regard him– his concern is adherence to his discipline or dogma.
Both the Emperor and the Hierophant can also represent institutions such as banks, hospitals, governments or corporations.
In a reading, the Hierophant can indicate advanced education, business ownership or being the boss. The Hierophant can also predict a wedding.
In a reading, the Emperor can indicate a position of stability and responsibility, or suggest that a particular situation is stable and reliable.
Thanks to everyone who asked this question. I hope you enjoy the video!
If you have questions about tarot, please email me.
Christiana Answers a Question about the Emperor and the Hierophant
Video of Christiana Answers a Question about the Emperor and the Hierophant