This card was a little tricky to figure out, but when I picked it up yesterday to think some more about the images, I guess my fever delirium must have helped, because although I still can't figure all of it out, a lot of things cleared up! I think this might have been because this is one of the cards that I have never really related to, on a personal level, never really clicked. With the Cosmic Tribe I seem to be clicking with a lot of cards that haven't made very strong impacts on me before.
The Image:
The image has a frame made of stone or grey metal, it is very straight and very strict and it borders the picture very distinctly, emphasizing its rectangularity. The Emperor is sitting with a very laid-back, almost nonchalant manner, but his face shows a harsh, grim mimic, casting a long, penetrating look to his right. He holds an emperial staff in his hand, juggles a shiny bright sphere of metal in his left. The sphere is so shiny, it reflects the environment on its rounded surface.
His throne is decorated by ram's heads, and it is made from dark, heavy wood. It is robustly made, seems very stable, heavy and solid. Beneath the throne's seat, there is a hand, a Cosmic eye and a sun, at the center of a number of concentric circles, symbolising a solar system just like our own.
The wall behind the emperor is a warm, if not glowing hot, red colour. In the upper edge of the image, there is a flaming sun, paited on the wall. There is also a stick painted on the wall, behind and to the left of the Emperor's throne. The ground where the throne stands is covered by yellow, dry grass.
The symbols:
The red wall - The red colour felt strange to me from the beginning, because I've never connected the Emperor with the element Fire, but rather with Air (but the truth is I've not given it much thought at all, so I guess I've just been 'wrong'). This card, though, has so many connections to Fire, there's not much to argue about. This Emperor is flaming with energy, power - and fire! The red colour in this card to me relates to that fiery energy and power, but also to warmth and fatherly love. Thus he is actually the most sympathetic Emperor I have met so far, not at all as cold and hard as the usual image. He builds his order on love - love of his familly, his land, his house. He fathers his world, structures it with love. I also connect this fiery red with feelings like pride, patriotism and courage.
The painted sun on the wall - The sun is another symbol of the Emperors fiery power, it shows how he provides structure and light. Structure as in order, rules and fair justice. The light stands for clarity, wisdom and truth, which is the notions by which he rules his world.
The Emperor's posture and mimic - He looks relaxed, like he is very much at home with his role as the Leader and Provider-of-structure-and-order, but his face turned sharply to his right gives me an image of a man who sees all and hears all that goes on. The tiniest sound that breaks the order he has created will make him turn his full focus in that direction. Yet, he doesn't jump up to grab his weapons, he knows his own power in his house and knows that what or whoever caused him to turn his head will likely straighten up just by receiving his grim look. His power is undisputed.
(The book states that he is actually casting that look towards the Empress, and that the Emperor's work is really to create order in the abundant (but perhaps a little messy/unstructured...!) beauty that she creates. The grim look might be a sign of the down side of this card - when the Emperor takes his ordering and structuring too far, and actually becomes dictatorial. He might forget that the Empress fully matches his powers with her own, and that he cannot rule over her, or change the way she uses her power.
The book also drew a picture of the Emperor being a gardener in the Empress's garden, and I sooo love that image! She creates an abundance of beauty and live in no particular order at all, and he brings structure and order, so that we can actually access and make sense of that beauty with our limited senses. I love the way even the Emperor is given a touch of artistery, because making order IS an art in itself, but one often forgotten about.)
The staff - a symbol of his power, power to direct elements of the world around him and make them dance by his will. He is also a male archetype, symbolised by the phallic staff.
The sphere - Shows his connection with the Earth and the Physical world. This is his turf, this is where he can perform his magic, his art. The sphere symbolising the world in his hand, he juggles, rules and shapes it from his will.
The solar-system underneath the throne - I have some diffuse thought about this having to do with the different levels of the world around us. Body, mind and spirit. But I can't really give words to what I'm thinking. Perhaps that will crystalize when I work some more with this deck, after all the deck as a whole speaks a very special language, perhaps I need to delve deeper into my lingo studies to break this knot...! Part from that though, what could serve as a better symbol of universal order and structure than an image of a solar system...?
The yellow grass - Symbol of the Fire element's potential for turning negative. If not watched carefully the Fire can burn you - AND your environment, making it dry and arid and dead.
Light and love,
Jenny
