Emperor

Week 4, The Emperor
Next Week 5 -The Hierophant

Welcome to Week 5. Our card for this week is The Emperor.

Three Becoming Four

In the time period last week we were in the time period between 3 and 4. This is a very potent time in the creation cycle. If you didn't get a chance to read the Alchemy and You, please take a minute to do that now, as we step from 3ness into 4ness. click here to open the file

And out of the third comes the one as the fourth.

Now we are four. This week we'll learn about the mystical attributes of #4 and The Emperor.

The Emperor

Here sits The Emperor on his throne, which is made of stone and shaped like a square.

Medieval king

In The Empire, things are squared away and they are written in stone.

The Emperor is squared away. Think about squaring the corners of your bed in the barracks.

This is the world of the military, sports and board room. The war was won, as they say, on the playing fields of Eton.

We are talking about a world of things to be categorized, controlled, conquered, known, named classified, etc.

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Adam was Given the Power to Name Things

The Emperor represents the time in the Creation Myth when Adam was given the power of naming everything.

To know the name of something is to know it and to have power over it. In primitive societies, and even today, there is a taboo to giving someone your name because of the power that gives them over you -- the magic power.

When Adam named things, he classified them. He began to impose order on the creative chaos of The Empress' world.

First Shakespeare was inspired and then he disciplined his inspiration into an Elizabethan Sonnet.

Civilization is The Emperor's Domain

It was time in our evolution to build houses and fences, dam rivers, breed livestock and plan for the yearly cycles of planting and harvest.

In the three great cradles of civilization, Egypt, the Fertile Crescent and China, life depended upon knowing the great river. The Nile floods cyclically and can be predicted. But in the other civilizations, one of the primary powers and responsibilities of the Ruler, often the Divinely Inspired Ruler, was to control the river.

the Yangtze River in China

In the July-August 1998 flooding of the Yangtze, The Emperor used satellite surveillance [the German Remote Data Sensing Center in a cooperative project with the Ministry of Water Resources, China] to assess the extent and damage of the flood and to allocate funds for relief.

satellite picture of the Yangstze River during flooding

The wanton ways of Nature (The Empress) can be dangerous, so The Emperor has to control them.

The wanton ways of The Empress can be dangerous so The Emperor uses surveillance.

Ha Ha

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Some Images of The Emperor

From Adam to Zeus to Yahweh to Bill Gates, it's time to look again at the male of the species.

If you start to bristle at the idea, this is coming from your relationship to your own inner image of the male. Please keep an open mind and perhaps we will have some healing in this part of ourselves.

Whether your associations with personal men have been toward the militaristic and controlling or toward the weak and ineffectual, this week we will begin a re-creating process.

Let's see how positive an image you can contact for the archetype of The Emperor.

Let's also understand that, as women, this archetype is our polarity. It is best to remain nonjudgmental and open minded.

As with all polarities, if you change your Empress, a new Emperor must appear to balance. [The quickest way is always by the opposite route.]

I'll begin by asking you to look within.

What percentage of your past lifetimes would you say were male?
Why did you choose to be a woman this time?
Where are you with that, in general?

You can include our answers in your journal page for me if you like.

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The Emperor is Ruled by Mars

Since The Emperor is ruled by the sign Aries (Mars), I thought it would be fun for you to see a panoramic view of the surface of Mars.

There is a vertical relationship between this planet and The Emperor. See if you can get something Emperor-Male-like in this view of the planet.

Click here to see the panoramic view of the surface of Mars, taken in 1997. Of course Mars has been in the news a lot this year as well, 2004.

When you get back, if you'd like to put this NASA Page-a-Day on your computer, here's the URL.

The Emperor Loves His Rules

Let's take a moment to experience Tarot from the perspective of The Emperor. Before you visit Paul's Tarot Site, please read the rest of this paragraph.

On Paul's site, you'll be immersed in the atmosphere of The Emperor. His approach is linear and didactic. There are many things to know and remember.
When you visit this site, you'll be told what to expect, what to do and how to do it. As a precautionary measure, let me explain to you that what he's doing with the Elemental Dignities, etc., is what makes left brain people love the Book of Thoth.
Paul's site is a good compliment to this course because it is left brained and my site is right brained, although I hope my site also has the good Emperor attributes of organization and relevance.

The Emperor does not start out on a journey without a good map! The Empress enjoys the process of discovery because she tends to feel safe wherever she is.

You can journal about your experience or include it in the page you turn in via email. What is your experience of being told what to expect, what to do and how to do it? Do you feel safer with or without it? Do you prefer discovery or exploration?

Sites, Readings and Spreads

This is a week when I want you to experience a couple of different online readings and spreads, so you'll be visiting several other sites for quick readings and a little exposure to the way some people lay out the cards.

Let's begin to think about your image as a card reader.

this, we are not

We continually educate people that we are not fortune tellers. This is a patient and loving process. Usually someone is very interested if you explain the difference. Everyone is interested in personal growth and what's inside them. That's what we have to share with people when we explain the difference to them. We are not "fortune tellers". Did anyone ever "tell your fortune"? What was that like?

The Emperor Loves His Fight

Russell Crowe as General Maximus

Liz Greene has written a review of the movie, Gladiator, in which she describes the main character Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, as being the quintessential warlike or martian energy. Russell Crowe is an Aries, the sign ruled by Mars, the element we are talking about this week. It's worth a quick read, even if you don't know much astrology. It's pretty reader-friendly and Liz Greene is my favorite writer in the field. In any field.

If you visit the site and read the commentary, fell free to include your responses in your journal or the page you turn in via email.

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Mars/Aries, the God of War

Here is Mars himself, or Aries in Greek, the God of War, in my favorite rendering, a painting by Velasquez.

Mars, the God of War by Velasquez
[cgfa]

Look like any policemen you know?

The Emperor in Symbol

The Cross and the Square

The Emperor is the #4 and this number is represented by the cross and the square.

the rosey lamen from the Crowley Tarot Deck

You've seen this cross before and you'll see it again. It's the Rosey Lamen of the mystery schools. It is also the emblem on the backside of the cards in the Crowley Book of Thoth.

Here are some more crosses from around the world.

a Celtic Cross from a cemetery in Ireland

Orthodox Christian Priest in Jerusalem with cross

Greek Orthodox crosses

This next type of cross is now forbidden. It is, however, a classic cross. Originally, it represented the energy one of the Nordic gods used to ... guess what? ... create the universe. Odin twirled this cross and the energy flew to the four corners of the world.

Thanks to Hitler, the swastika has taken on an entirely different association bit it is still a very powerful symbol, worldwide.

Here is another way to represent the principle of four.

Gnosis from the Brezny Alternative Tarot Deck

This is a card from an alternative Tarot Deck called the Brezny Deck. The alternative decks don't have 78 cards and are not organized the way the Rider-Waite deck is.

Many of the images in this card are familiar to you. There is the feeling of going into a temple or sacred place. You see the sun, a fountain and a triangle, symbols of radiant light within, of the source and of aspiration.

The four globes surrounding the large globe and the ceiling, with four parts folding into a circle in the center, are symbols of the fourfold nature of the universe and creation.

The Fourfold Nature of the Universe

Yod, He, Vau, He - The Tetragrammaton

If you look again at the center of the cross, there are petals with marks on them which are actually Hebrew letters. This week you'll learn the Tetragrammaton (Four Letters) of the creation of the universe: Yod, He, Vau, He.

The Tetramorphs

You'll also learn about the four creatures that appear in the Tarot deck and elsewhere in metaphysics -- the Tetramorphs. They stand at the four corners of the world.

The Number 4

In your slide show you'll learn about the principle of four: One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth.

This is why Carl Jung was meditating on 3-1/2, why this area of creation is so important.

You'll also explore the universal symbol of four/fourness about the world.

The number 4 is a universal symbol for the world, consistent through time and space.

The square is also a symbol for the #4 and the fourfold nature of the earth.

Another look at The Emperor

the Emperor from the Crowley Book of Thoth

There are many images in this card of rams and lambs because the card is ruled by Aries and those are Arien symbols. This card has to do with the burst of energy into spring. It is that type of creative energy, masculine thrust.

The Emperor's body itself makes like the glyph 4.

The Emperor is facing right. There was a convention, I believe, going back to ancient times, that a ruler could not be depicted facing fully forward. I am thinking particularly of a famous painting of Emperor Maximilian of Austria, always in profile. The Emperors on the Roman coins ... always in profile.

But from what we know about metaphysics, it is extremely vulnerable to have your left side open to someone and yet that is exactly what this Emperor does. He must be very secure about himself and his power.

In his right hand, the Emperor holds his scepter, across his body as if for protection. At least in body language, when you cross your body with your hands or cross your legs, you are protecting yourself.

In his left hand, right over his solar plexus (the "place of power" chakra), he holds a globe or world with a cross on top.

This globe with a cross on top also happens to be the emblem of the Holy Roman Emperors.

The first Holy Roman Emperor is actually my choice for The Emperor, Charlemagne.

Charlemagne, The Emperor

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was an exceptional emperor and father. He was noted for both. He was such a proud and happy father, he didn't want his daughters to marry. (They fooled around right under his nose while everyone pretended for his sake that it wasn't happening.)

He tried to learn to read and write later in life and was a dedicated student. He sent scholars all over Europe, up into Britain, starting learning centers.

He was an ardent swimmer and established his palace at Aachen, Germany, because there was a beautiful place to swim nearby.

He said one of my favorite quotes, "To know a second language is to possess another soul."

He was the first Holy Roman Emperor, leading to a dynasty that lasted until the first World War, the Habsburg Dynasty in Austria.

Charlemagne was also an absolute peak of humanity and culture during the otherwise somewhat barren Middle Ages.

You will meet other emperors, including some of the Holy Roman Emperors in the slide show.

One of the outstanding characteristics of The Emperor (archetype) is that he is loved by men. You'll notice this in the good examples I give you in the slide show.

If someone is going to follow a man into battle, or put his life in someone else's hand, an intense bond is created. Look for the ability to inspire this in The Emperor.

Camaraderie in war is the most intense relationship some men ever have.

This is my favorite image for The Emperor. I like it because it is big, fiery, protective and inspiring. That's my idea of a good emperor. This is actually a depiction of the Straits of Gibraltar.

Nancy's favorite image for The Emperor

The Shadows

And now, meet, one of The Emperor's Shadows,

the Control Freak from Brezny's Tarot

The Rosey Cross - The Rosicrucians

This week we will also explore a Rosicrucian Site. The name Rosicrucian means rosey-cross in Latin. The Rosicrucians are a mystery school, not a religion. They have centers around the world and correspondence courses available. In the slide show, I use images from Rosicrucian manuscripts to introduce some fourfold symbols.

The Great Father

The Father Archetype

The Emperor is not necessarily the father you had, but the one you wish you'd had.

a tiny Emperor, the Father of his People

The Emperor from the Voyager Tarot Deck

I chose this card from the Voyager Deck to represent the Father Archetype of The Emperor because it shows a father and a son, Alexander the Great, and his father, Philip of Macedon, above.

Jim Wanless, the creator of the Voyager Deck, told me personally that the image he loves the most in this card is the hands holding the little seedling -- he considers this the perfect example of male nurturing.

Male Nurturing and Fertility

Not only is this card phallic, which is appropriate for The Emperor, but it also clearly shows The Emperor in his fertility and nurturing aspect. The Emperor plants crops, cultivates the ground, invents tools, works the plow and domesticates the animals.

this card is called Faith from the Brezny Deck

Eventually, The Emperor builds cities and fortresses, conquers other lands, explores the seas, develops commerce, technology and industry and explores outer space.

The Emperor makes things safe and comfortable for those he protects, be it his family, his tribe or his country. His laws allow for the orderly conduct of society because it is now possible to predict what will happen within society.

The domestication of the horse allows some people to conquer other people.

Alexander the Great on Bucephalos, his famous war horse

Seed Time

The way The Emperor nurtures is to protect the fragile and delicate things in life until they are strong enough to take care of themselves. Go, Emperor!!

Fragile from the Brezny Deck

The Emperor's Shadow rapes and pillages.

The Emperor's Shadow - as Rapist

I include in the slide show some paintings of Zeus raping Io and Danae. I'll leave it at that. Any acts of brutality, violence and wanton cruelty belong to The Shadow of The Emperor. Land/the Earth can be raped as well as women. Click here to see the SLIDE SHOW.

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Apprentices, if you're trying to be a man to get power, you're a Wannabeman.

if you're a kitty, be a kitty, not a wannebebunny