Tarotbytes - The Emperor

The only place you have total control and absolute power is over yourself. Will you use that power to create peace or create combat?

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The 79th Tarot Card

From www.baihusnewshaikus.blogspot.com (used with permission)

Sully Sullenberger. 'Nuff said.

A quiet leader
Is the most effective kind
They lead through action.

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Even with all of its depth and complexity, there are some things tarot cards don't cover. And that is saying something. Just look at the math...78 cards, times the number of cards in a spread (I use 7 at the most but a celtic cross has something like 12) times the number of potential "meanings" for each card, plus the shades of position meaning...let's just say it covers a lot of ground.

Earlier today I watched an interview with Captain Sullenberger. He's the airplane pilot that made the safe splash landing on the Hudson River a few years ago. He's written a book, and I want to read it...but that's beside the point. The interview focused on leadership, and staying calm under stress.

So what does that have to do with tarot? While the tv was on, I was trying to come up with today's post. It made me wonder...what is the best tarot card to exemplify good leadership? Diane Morgan associates it with the King of Wands. Ted Andrews attaches various aspects of leadership among all of the king cards. The Emperor is another candidate, as would any of the court / royalty cards.

I want to take it a step further. I think the role of leadership belongs squarely with the 79th tarot card...the tarot reader themselves.

Whether you read for others or just for yourself, there is a responsibility of leadership. If you read for others, it is important to be and example of ethics, wisdom, learning, listening and openness...or whatever qualities you believe essential for your sitters to grow. If you read just for yourself, without acting on what you learn, the act of reading cards is impotent and futile.

Tarot cards are, as has been said many times, a tool alone. They are just a means to access the real oracle, the real source of information, the real leader...our intuition and spirit.

Tarot reading for 2010

In Chinese astrology, 2010 will be the year of the tiger, beginning in Feb.

The Tarot card that came up for this New Year's meditation reflect the power, control, strength and integrity you would associate with a tiger archetype.

Rather than working as a prediction...think of this as food for thought. Rather than "past, present and future" think of it as "lessons from the past" "lessons at hand" and "lessons for the time to come"

All the cards are major arcana, which reflects a "tiger" sort of year...powerful,
dynamic, expansive.

The past card is the Emperor...the particular message for this year is "responsibility" and "accountability". There is a sense of chickens coming home to roost...a piper to be paid. My mind is drawn to general political trends. Those in power in the past will be held accountable as people realize more and more the reality of what happened...through the 20-20 vision of hindsight...becomes more obvious. This will contrast with reality of what happened, and people will begin to connect the dots.

The positive side of that is the good efforts made in the past will (finally) begin to pay off. The chickens coming home to roost will have a gold coin in its beak for some, the consequences of past behaviour for others.

The lesson from this card to carry forward to the new year is that this is a potent time to plant new seeds. Deliberately lay the groundwork for something you WANT to manifest...BUT the important idea here is to be willing to be responsible and accountable for what you desire and what you bring to be. This way you can be the Emperor of your own destiny.

The next card is the Innocent, or the Fool. The lesson here is as simple as it is clear. Be in the moment. See NOW as clearly and innocently as a baby seeing for the first time. Enjoy that purity...grasp at nothing, want nothing, just enjoy the here and now as it is. The year past is gone, and the striving for the year to come is yet to come. This is a cusp, a doorway - a unique and special moment. Lay the groundwork and plant the seeds mentioned by the Emperor in this moment of clarity, purity and balance...the turning point of the year.

I'm told there is a full moon eclipse tonight. That adds even more power to this doorway in time...a powerful symbol of letting go of the old, and unveiling of the new.

Next is the Chariot. This card is in someways unleashed...'off the chain'...moving forward with abandon and exileration and passion. This captures the spirit of the year to come, but with one VERY important addition. The Charioteer moves with speed, passion and abandon, yes, but never never out of control. He is AWARE, ready to react, prepared to react, prepared to be accountable for what happens as a result of his chariot ride. I like to think of this as the 'fighter jet' sort of card: fast but controlled, precise yet all-out, scientific yet spiritual.

The poem "High Flight" captures the feeling of what can be for us in 2010. May we reach higher, and slip the surly bonds of fear, anger, greed and touch the sky to find instead love, compassion and happiness.

Happy New Year to you all!

Baihu

www.modern-oracle-tarot.com

THE EMPEROR

The Emperor: Mastery and ease.

Easy is ok, especially when preparation, reason, trust and intuition make it that way

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THE EMPEROR

This card is perfect for recent events.

Tarot is a lens to help us see the deeper layers of things, to see below the surface. "X-ray glasses" don't let you see the future. Tarot doesn't let you see the future either - but it does let you see deeper, understand better, and see the potentials unfolding around you. Great wisdom and insight might seem like it can predict the future, but it really isn't doing that. Reading probabilities well isn't the same as speaking with certainty about the about-to-be.

Let's look at the surface of the Emperor card. What is your first mental image and feeling when you see or hear the word "emperor"? Julius Ceasar? Napoleon? Palpatine?

Let me ask you this: what is the difference between a king and an emperor?

The dictionary describes both as "male sovereign" or "supreme ruler"... the literal definition is almost identical. The difference lies in the connotations they hold. A king inherits rule. When we think of an emperor, at first blush we think of someone who seizes rule by violent means, often a demagogue and egomaniac.

So if this card comes to you as a caution, it would be a caution against using these tactics, against embracing these traits.

If that is the negative side of the card, what could possibly be the positive? That is where we look at the layers beneath the first blush.

If the definitions are the same, and the difference between a king and an emperor lie in the connotations...the emperor is a king plus something, an uber-leader of some sort.

Our first thought, taught by history, is that plus is often violent, wrong. If a negative exists, then so does its positive opposite. Just like electrons and protons, positive and negative subatomic particles, matter and anti-matter. For each Darth Vader there is a Luke Skywalker. Which begs the question of what are the positive aspects of an emperor? What is the advice aspects of this card that we would want to emulate?

The first thing that springs to mind, for me, is the phrase "noblesse oblige" and the biblical quote made famous by John F. Kennedy that "to whom much is given, much is required"

This part connects nicely with the 6 of coins post from Aug 25. The "much" that is given or "much" that an emperor possesses does not necessarily reflect wealth or material possessions, it can be riches of insight, intellect, compassion, physical strength...any ability or resource we are granted.

The positive aspect of the emperor then becomes the great leader who gives as he/she is given.

This dovetails not only with the 6 of coins lesson of generosity of spirit, but also touches on someone who is an example of the "rule of threes"...what you give to the universe is returned threefold. Those who give, get, and those who get, give and there grows a unity with the universe, or what science might call a "positive feedback loop".

Be that as it may...the energy around this card today resonates with both aspects of the card, which in return resonates with various aspects of American politics of the moment.

I won't get into the details of that...I leave that to your favorite political bloggers...

But this card does ask you to think...which of our leaders today are self-serving demagogues, taking power by any manipulation necessary, aspiring to petty emperor-ism, and which are using their abilities to serve the greater good?

It is no secret that my mind is drawn to Bush, Cheney and the Republicans in the former, and President Obama, and respectfully, Edward Kennedy in the latter. I leave the details up to you to decide, but I ask...which emperor do you follow. You are the emperor of your own life...which type of Emperor are you, and which type will you be??

That is the lesson of this card. May Integrity and Compassion rule.

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