IV The Emperor
aka the daddy of the deck
In Lieu of a Story
I will never forget a reading I had with diviner named Violet,
“you are so good with your divine femme, but what is up with your higher masculine?”
My cards were screaming what she had probably seen in many cis women’s spreads. The distrust, the bad taste, the chaotic relationships, the betrayed heart, a sadly malnourished communion with the father. She recommended I pick a God I felt safe with to devote some energy to, in order to begin to heal my wounded relations with the masculine principle. And so my Emperor card was born.
The Emperor in my deck is from the same article that The Empress came from. A gathering of Indigenous people on the fourth of july. I invite you to go back and read about the energy I was working through around appropriation, sovereignty and honoring the original tribes I (and we) live on and commune with. The same sentiment goes for The Emperor.
Like the ever growing and revealed layers of awareness and consciousness, I had a similar block to sharing this card in regards to my evolving and shifting perspectives on gender. Please forgive me as I continue to reconcile and better wrap my beliefs around my practice. I am still sitting with essentialism and working through how I want to navigate not only my own experience of gender but the collective experience of gender.
With that said, the inner father figure, loving partner, or Emperor is accessible to the spectrum of gender identities as an archetypal energy. The daddy of the deck is here to assist us in becoming our most stablest, consistent, secure selves.
card analysis
Yes, the Emperor is the banks of the river, he is meant to be overrun by stormwater, he doesn’t take it personally or get reactive. He only gently reappears when the flood subsides. Maybe with a “welcome home, did you have a nice time?” Emperor in its shadow will become a concrete dam, maybe the way society lives necessitates this level of control and maybe we are currently living out of alignment with our collective emperor energy.
The Emperor featured on this card is donning ceremonial garb, grounding through smoke, and has two feet plants with a ram anchor at the beach of a flowing river. He will anchor the querent for the duration of life’s dance through embodying the earth’s gravity, meaningful presence and an installation of respect for all living things.
“Won’t you be my neighbor?”
know this
You are safe. It is safe to express the most authentic version of you. Wild and free. The Emperor has the capacity to witness you in joy and sorrow. He is here and always will be. The misaligned colonists of the world are not him, but a scared undeveloped version of him. it is okay to maneuver through them in whatever ways feel safest to you. Let the Emperor activate your feet into a ritual dance of joy and nourishment, here, let him show you how.
Reversal note
Liberation for all means just that, for everyone. Including cis het white men. The oppressive and repressive systems engaged from the moment of existence to harden, desensitize, and narrow men are absolutely corrosive to their magical potential. These people who would be the future fathers and nurturers of our young are not only failing to maximize their time on this planet personally but tend to leave a detrimental impact in their wake.
If you are this man, reading this, you have so much more spiritual work to do just to even build empathy. Thank you for showing up to that work! Because I promise you with our freedom comes yours! No matter how much comfort you’ve gained from imperialistic values and power over belief systems, liberation for all will provide the safety and belonging your spiritual self craves.
When The Emperor comes up in reverse, pull a card above and below him to represent the father wound that needs healing and the best way to begin that healing process.
invitations
Plant allies: Tulip Poplar + Coral Bean
Crystal ally: Celestite
Animal ally: The Ram
Dating The Emperor: Creating an anchor. This looks like picking a male identified god to spend time with, to ask questions of, and to commune with. Honestly if you are like me, this feels hard, I invite you to be super gentle with yourself!
Feeling the four corners of your feet securely planted on the ground throughout your day. Orienting yourself within the four seasons of the year, the four phases of the moon or directions and elements. Offering a conversation to your inner Emperor, perhaps at the base of a tulip poplar or with a celestite in hand, at the onset of each new quarter. This ritual can bring consistency, stability and ethicality into your life.