Letter: D = Jupiter
Path: Between Binah and Gevurah
Quality: Seed
In Valentinian terms the Emperor is the King of Heaven, Bythos, the original Source of the Pleroma, archetype of all father gods, such as Zeus or Yahweh. This Emperor exudes nobility of purpose from every pore. As Jupiter, he identifies with expansion and multiplication of all kinds; his optimism and generosity keep a door open for a better future to appear.
At the human level the Emperor is the icon of personal sovereignty in that his individual history becomes the destiny of his lands and peoples. Knowing this, he lives his life with full commitment, accepting the mandate of Heaven. In the Greek pantheon, it was Jupiter who was given lordship over the Earth after the death of Uranus. But despite his utter and complete power, our Emperor humbly remembers himself as the head servant of the realm, the fortunate son of Destiny.
He truly understands that the same fate that empowers him now will eventually bring the doom to which he must also obediently submit. While he occupies the throne, the Emperor’s empowerment as leader and figurehead causes all to bow to the inevitability of his vision. His desires and attractions provoke the first stage of this responsive trine; his thesis is the appetite body awakening in matter.
Trump 4 is passionate and avid about his involvement with matter, his body, and his “place” in time and space. He consumes and dominates his realm, yes, but he does so because he enjoys the experience of its administration so much. It pleases him to be engaged with the various parts of his extended domain: He revels in being the husbandman, lord, and master of all he surveys.
Whether things go well or not, he’s always there like a good father, steering the course of the ship of state with mind and heart fully engaged. As the scion of a royal family that traces back to semi-mythical ancestors, the Emperor’s very presence exposes linear time/space to a touch of eternity. His aura billows and spreads around him like the clouds of Heaven.
The holy blood of his lineage has the power to heal his subjects; like Samson, there is power in all of his parts, even (or most especially) his hair. All the lives in his realm are subject to his will and dependent on his grace. He even has treaties with the laws of Nature, affecting the formative functions that the Elements usually render unconsciously. When he’s in tune with the Creation, the four winds and the directions happily respond to his inclinations, bringing fair weather and full harvests.
The Emperor abounds in human will and libidinal drive, which is Earth’s answer to the spiritual awakening of the Magus. Energy courses through the Emperor’s body as the desire to innovate, the will to lead, and the boldness to break with the past if doing so will advance the well-being of his empire. There is no need to fear this force unless one is trying to contain it.
The Emperor brooks no opposition and deals forcefully with those who think to inhibit his self-expression. We could see this Emperor as a social scientist involved in an experiment of civic evolution. His enterprises are almost always fortunate. By encouraging his people to do what they are best at, he nurtures a local economy that is diverse enough to support his empire, even reaching beyond the borders of his region.
His court is like a business incubator, attracting a wide range of creative individuals who possess the boldness to form associations and undertake increasingly sophisticated challenges. The natural gravity of his personality builds up the metropolis and increases the reputation of the realm.
The above text is an excerpt from our book Tarot of the Holy Light: A Continental Esoteric Tarot - Volume One.
