The Card of the Day: The Emperor
Today many Tarot practitioners associate negative traits with the Emperor (ditto the Hierophant, but that is another story for another day). Certainly we live in fear of dictators and authoritarian governments. And, historically, that is what many real emperors were. Add to that the equally oppressive, modern conception of masculinity when it becomes toxic.
To me, that is not what the Emperor card represents.
Authority, for the Emperor, is the exercise of legitimate power: can we follow his example and exercise our own legislative power and set out our budgets and rules? Can we exercise our executive power and follow through on our commitments? Can we exercise our own judicial power and look at situations, including our own emotions, with logic and fairness?
As the archetypal father of the Tarot, how can we follow in his footsteps and define our own positive role models for masculinities, femininities, and other expressions of gender? How can be kind and forgiving, yet also protect ourselves and those we cherish?
Even in antiquity, our forefathers could see the greatness of the ideal even in the flawed vessel of the man. Sis felicior Augusto, melior Traiano: may you be more fortunate that Augustus and better than Trajan
The Bear Oracle 