Tarot of the Elves: the Emperor
After the murder of the Elven High Priestess in card II, Crown Prince Alberich discovers the petrified body of his father, King Oberon, who absorbed a powerful Dark Elf magic spell aimed at the inhabitants of the royal palace. Thus he saved the lives of all the people under his rule and protection, but did so at the cost of his own life. Now he is a stone statue, sitting rigidly on his throne, unmoving, unbending, unfeeling.
The Emperor card in the Tarot stands for order, authority, severity, inflexibility, precision, structure, discipline, rules and regulations, legal matters and/or counsel. It can also represent a person in authority. The stone figure of King Oberon conveys these concepts admirably well. There is strength, solidity and safety in having an ordered foundation to our lives. We all need a certain degree of order and structure in order to function, both in our personal lives and within the larger context of society.
The forces represented by the Emperor, however, are largely impersonal and remote, and are thus the antithesis of the Empress archetype. Where she is all about free-flowing abundance, fertility, creativity, caring and sensuality, the Emperor is about doing things by the rules, on time and in an organized, disciplined fashion. He brings order to chaos and takes command of situations with a firm grip.
When the Emperor turns up in a reading, it asks us to look at how we structure and organize our lives-or how we don’t, but really should. Maybe we need to be more disciplined with certain things in our lives. It can also be indicative of a too great amount of rigidity and a need to relax a bit, to be less of a stiff. The Emperor can also indicate a person in some position of authority, a person or matters connected with the field of law, or a person in a guiding, protecting role, like a mentor.
The critical thing to remember about the Emperor is that he is ruled by thought and logic. He won’t be swayed by appeals to feelings and emotions. Thus this card can also indicate that it is best to approach a problem logically, to not let our judgment be clouded by the emotional aspect of a given situation and to come up with a solution based on facts and common sense.
As stern, remote and unyielding as he may appear to be, the Emperor is nonetheless a vital and necessary force in our lives. He can help us get our act together, provide us with guidelines and limits, and give us a rock-solid foundation from which to build lives full of depth, strength and commitment to achieve the things we want for ourselves.