L'Empereur and Le Pape

Tarotphelia

The Pope & the Emperor are very interesting placed side by side. The Pope has worshippers, the Emperor (and Empress) are power figures all alone. Of course, one might not dare poke fun at the pair obviously. Doing it by comparison is quite sly. The fact that the Pope has drawn a crowd may indicate the church has gained more power & influence and the royal pair are not really popular with anybody.
 

Fulgour

As Above, So Below

The gesture of blessing is properly formed by touching
the third finger to the thumb, signifying the connection
between spirit and matter as embodied by the incarnate
deity: the third finger is pointing downward, thus below,
with two free fingers directed upward, indicating above.

His fingers formed into the shape of the Greek letters
IC XC, the abbreviation in Greek for Jesus Christ.

Christ as "Pantocrator" (Lord of all).


The Keys to the Kingdom

Pope Gregory VII claimed the Pope had many special powers:
The Pope can be judged by no one on earth. He can dethrone
emperors and kings and absolve their subjects from allegiance.
All princes are obliged to kiss his feet. The Roman church has
never erred, nor can it err until the end of time. Etc., etc.
 

Little Baron

A silly question really and one I have never considered before. But after reading your last post Fulgour, would you say that the Pope could be viewed as stronger than the Emperor in ranking - in the same way that the King is higher than the Knight? I have always seen the majors as being equal in ranking, but was just wondering. Thanks for the info by the way.

Yabs
 

Fulgour

La Papess holds the Book

The revolutionary nature of the Tarot presents us with
a hopeful scenario wherein La Papess and her allies can
restore the true direction of mankind's spiritual path...
Le Pape and L'Empereur go hand in hand as pretenders
to power. The Tarot is a prayer for peace and happiness.

L'Imperatrice is the real power behind hubby's throne,
which is shown by her secure possession of the shield ~
have you noticed the tail feathers on L'Empereur's bird?
Now look closely at L'Imperatrice: what's she sitting on?
 

ihcoyc

Yaboot said:
A silly question really and one I have never considered before. But after reading your last post Fulgour, would you say that the Pope could be viewed as stronger than the Emperor in ranking - in the same way that the King is higher than the Knight?

Of course, in the Tarot game, the higher numbered trumps generally defeat the lower numbered trumps.
 

Ross G Caldwell

ihcoyc said:
Of course, in the Tarot game, the higher numbered trumps generally defeat the lower numbered trumps.

In the Bolognese game the four "moors" ("papi" before 1725 or so, and unnumbered, but corresponding to Papesse, Imperatrice, Empereur and Pape in the French game) have no intrinsic ranking. The rule is that if two or more are played to a trick, the last played beats the others (unless beaten by a higher, *numbered* trump of course).

The Piemonte game has the same feature.

So if you play by these rules the Emperor could beat the Pope; so could the Popess or the Empress.
 

Anna

I got to thinking about Le Bateleur's journey last night. In that story, I feel that Le Empereur and Le Pape are both Masters that Le Bateleur meets, from whom he learns important lessons. I make sense of his journey by thinking of those first few cards as his teachers.

I then looked to numerology to understand what each of these two are Masters of.

The Empereur is a Master of Stability and Process. To my understanding, the number 4 is about structure and order and things becomming concrete in the material world - stability. But stability without process leads to stuckness and stagnation. I think of this as the challenge of the number 4. I think each number contains a challenge, or lesson. The Empereur is sat almost on the edge of his seat, I think this is a big clue! He kind of reminds me of an Oak tree - his roots are firmly grounded in the earth, he is majestic and powerful just like the tree. But, he is working with flow and process, just like that solid Oak whose branches sway in harmony with the wind.

Le Pape is a Master of Freedom and Responsibility. The number 5 is the number of man/woman, and our human experience is all about free will isn't it? The number 5 loves to be free and adventurous and to communicate. But without discipline and a sense of responsibility the number 5 acheives very little, and is capeable of damaging the world and others. It reminds me of the Pagan law "do what you will but harm none" (I'm not a pagan, but that law has always seemed very wise to me).

I am not intimidated by these two characters in there upright positions. They teach me about becoming aware of my own power, and give me guidance on how to use it wisely.

However, when reversed, I would feel very intimated. Reversed, the powerful yet compassionate ruler, the Empereur, becomes a power crazed dictator. The wise guide, Le Pape, becomes a dangerous Spiritual Guru.