Today I drew the IV of Trumps, The Emperor. I have noticed that when this card comes up in readings it tends to provoke a negative reaction. "Oh thats him, The Emperor!" comes up time and again in readings. I don't read much for others now, no where near as much as I did my first year back into Tarot study. So it seems to me, that if even the small population of people I read for, has such a intense and consistant reaction to a card. Something must be going on here.

I think part of it is that the Emperor is inherently politically unfashionable. A King or Chief may be the traditional leader of a people, but to be an Emperor implies Conquest. The Emperor has imposed his uninvited will on his subjects, and no matter how wise he may be, the fact of Conquest remains. As a Nation we feel we have grown beyond the moors of the past and the imposition on one person or nations will on another is no longer acceptable. The Sign of the Emperor is Aries, it is the sign that best describes, men like Alexander, Attila and Napoleon. Yet if Alexander where born today would remember him as The Great, or as a megalomaniac.

So when a woman feels she has been under the thumb of a dysfunctional relationship, in my limited experiance she most often identifies that energy with this card. The Emperor represents the male instinct to use force to settle issues that frustrate him. This is how we as men are built. Unfortunatly not all men make what Joy Brown calls the Quantum Leap, and learn to master our instincts, rather than be mastered by them. The most natural thing in the world for a group of boys to do, is to establish a pecking order among themselves. That pecking order will almost certainly be based on perceived strength. Force is all to often the recourse of an immature mind, and tragically it is very often not framed by an immature body. So the card that was supposed to represent the best in a man, now often represents the worst.

Certainly times have changed, and perhaps the time for men such as the Emperor represented has past. I went with my wife to see, Master and Commander last night, and Russell Crowe does as good a job as any actor ever in portraying the Emperor as he was meant to be seen. A stern, but ultimately fair Master, whose men would willingly follow into harms way. This from the WebSite, "Captains Log- Day 32 - It is said that no man is married south of Gibraltar, we passed the Rock and Sophie's hold on my thoughts is still strong. I miss her presence, but cannot mention that most human of weaknesses to anyone but Maturin. (The Doctor). It would serve no purpose for the men to see this weakness in me, even this most human of weaknesses." The Emperor knows that the men must see him as something above them, better than them if they are to follow him.

Now that might sound like outdated thinking, but how outdated really is it? We elevate sports hero's, singers, and actors above the common man everyday. People react to meeting a movie actor, like they where meeting a god. Yet when we elevate people, we create with-in them expectations. What happens when Jack comes home to Sophie, not much I should think. He expects the absolute obedience of those around him, and she is a woman from an era where that was seen as his due. If Jack should come through the door today however, its a much different thing.

I have wondered about this in other cards, and I will continue to do so. I wonder: are we going though the growing pains of a transitional era. Will our definition of what makes a boy into a man change? Will the Jack Aubrys, and General from Gladiator fade into the past, to become relics of what at one time was expected of men. Or, are we at this moment in time, merely enjoying a pause between storms. Will the whirlwind we seem to be sowing by ignoring the mechanisms by which our world sustains our life come down on us. Leaving us desperate for men like Russell portrays so well. Men who have the disciple, the wisdom, and the vision to truly lead people and ultimately nations? I Dunno, but I would like to hear from you?

Divination: Balance and Authority, Mind over Matter, Experiance and Knowledge, Discipline.

Reversed: Lack of Self Discipline, Direction, Control. Self Doubt undermines your position in the eyes of others.