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Thoth- ATU 4-The Emperor
The Principle of personal power and leadership.
The Emperor symbolizes the the totality of spirit-fire. Aries, the Ram, behind the Emperor, is the fire sign and represents exploration, adventure, curiosity, and initiative.
The sun rises behind the Emperor, as a symbol of the natural source of light. He is the animus--masculine energy-- and/or Zeus, of Greek Mythology who is the father or patriarch. In the Orient, he is the yang energy, which represents dynamic, initiatory power.
The bees on the cloak shows that he realizes that all leadership requires vision. The Fleur-de-lys, the three -petaled flowers on the bottom of this card, represent royalty and effective leadership that requires heart, mind and spirit in flowing balance. In Shamanic and/or pagan societies, the essence of spirit has been symbolized as fiery energy.
THE EMPEROR-key 4, is the Red Path of Heh (means-Window) that runs between Tiphareth-Beauty to - Chokmah-Wisdom, who is the Lesser Creator and is known as the 15th Path that is the Constituting Intelligence (Paul Foster Case-text of Thirty two paths to wisdom).
Because of our Divine Inheritance from the Demiurge (Lesser Creator) and the Great Mother (Binah-Female aspect of the Demiurge) we are all the "Shades" of consciousness. Modern psychology has called these Shades of Consciousness, the Unconscious, the Sub-conscious and the Consciousness which just about every elementary school child has heard of. However, hearing of a thing is not knowing the thing, as all of these Shadows of Mind are fragmented fractals of the Divine Collective Unconscious. Because of the evolution of subjective thought, from Mythology, to fundamental Religions, and now to the modern science of Psychology, we are beginning to easily deal with the shades of consciousness within ourselves and are experiencing abilities to make order out of the fragmentary chaos of our Self; a New Age (The Age of Aquarius) of enlightenment. This new age is called that of Horus, a state where we become the Whole Psyche, and/or Tiphareth, the "Sun of God", rather than shadows that are cast by him.
The Higher we realize ourselves on the Self Tapestry of the Tree of Life, the more the student understands that the Trump or Cards of the Major Arcana only point the way towards understanding concepts that the survival mind cannot otherwise grasp.
By beginning to understand the next Five Trumps/Paths, [THE EMPEROR, THE EMPRESS, THE HIGH PRIESTESS,THE MAGUS, THE FOOL], the initiate will be developing the consciousness of the Horus----the 22nd century human.
Because of Modern Physics, we know that there is only One Energy that cannot be created nor destroyed, only transformed (and transmitted), and the student of the Tarot knows that all the 78 cards of the Tarot deck represent Transformations and Transmissions of the One who is represented as the Tarot Fool. From the One, emergence the opposites, which are activating the formative; Male (Electric) and Female (Magnetic) in communion. Thus it is accurate to state that all Male figures are Chokmah (Jah) and Binah (YHVH Elohim) is that of all Female. The robes the Empress and Emperor wear, represent the different planes and/or dimensions of our mufti-verse, which are actually vibratory-transmissions or frequencies that are either Force (male)-Chokmah or Form (Female)-Binah, and/or their intertwining of vibration (The Divine Union of Goddess/God) within the "idea" that is I AM- that makes all things possible.
The Qabalist knows that the "Big Bang" came from what is the Source, Kether, thus the ejaculation of Energy, making the Kether male.( Male is not a sex here, but an action). The One became Two, Androgynous, when I became Am , which is known as Chokmah and Binah, which should be stated Chokmah/Binah, just as Yin/Yang or Time/Space are known to be inseparable and established at the same moment. Thus, with some authority we can say that the I is male and the Am is female, for one is Wisdom (Chokmah) and the other is Understanding (Binah)...and we can't experience one without the other!
As stated: In the Tarot, THE FOOL represents the One Energy, THE MAGUS and the HIGH PRIESTESS, are the Macrocosm forming into Microcosm, first differentiation of Male and Female energy polarity. Pure Consciousness, known as the "root of Water" is represented by the HIGH PRIESTESS and Her consort, THE MAGUS, is considered psychologically as the Will. Thus the term I Am, is understood as the intercourse of consciousness and will. Like I've said before, I AM is your Real name.
The mating of the HIGH PRIESTESS, to the MAGUS, is described in Robert Wang's book: THE QABALISTIC TAROT as, ".....the activity of the directing Will of the One on the Great Ocean of undifferentiated consciousness which It has Itself projected {Big Bang] ( The bracketed words are my own). Here we think of the reflexive qualities of the Divine Creative; The Divine Creative creates, idea/thought, then the mind/understanding to hold that thought. Therefore we have the concept of the Universe as a Mirror, where everything is the perception and activity of the Divine Spirit on Itself; a process which the various and varying symbols of the Tarot are attempting to suggest.
The reason Crowley has positioned THE EMPEROR , so that the body forms a triangle and a cross. This is because he is representing the alchemical symbol of Sulfur. This representation is because of the Alchemical explanation of the Divine-Self Interaction in terms of Sulfur, Salt and Mercury. In Tarot, Mercury is THE MAGUS, THE EMPRESS is Salt and THE EMPEROR is sulfur. This may seem as little more than obscure abstraction: However, when we consider that THE MAGUS, (Philosophic Mercury) acts upon THE HIGH PRIESTESS (Pure Consciousness) and by Union they are transformed into THE EMPEROR (Sulfur) and THE EMPRESS (Salt), we are actually considering the quite basic attributes of our own consciousness.
THE EMPRESS is on a Path of Daleth (meaning door) which is above the Path of THE EMPEROR, simply because without her manifestation of form, he would have nothing to rule. On the Path of Heh, the Emperor is a transformation of the MAGUS (Will). Basically, when we are classifying images according to color, subject, or other criterion, we are calling THE EMPEROR into play. As does THE EMPEROR, we are acting upon form. Another way to see this exercise of rule, is that if the subconscious didn't send up form from its depths, as a stream of images to be classified by the differentiating exercise of reason, Will would have nothing to control or transform. Thus THE EMPEROR, albeit a potent masculine force, functions as determined by THE EMPRESS.
It can not be overstated, that THE EMPEROR is the Path of Heh and its function is determined by Binah who is pure fruition.
The Path of Heh, is a formative path of rational and classifying activities. It's bright Red color is that of Binah (The Great Mother) in the World of Pure Spirit known as Atziluth. Albeit, that the male and female forces are seen as more interwoven the lower levels as we go down the Tree of Life, the assumption that Chokmah and Binah are the only "Pure" states of Male and Female force is in error; As Chokmah(Wisdom), meaning the primary quality of maleness, is a female noun. Taking the point of view that whatever gives birth is exercising a primary female quality at the moment of birth, then all that is inherent in the male is inherent in the female and visa verse. We can see this principle by understanding that the Creation of Chokmah, gave birth to maleness, and femaleness.
The students of Carl Jung know that he stated the "male harbors the perfect female image in his unconscious, as the female harbors the perfect male image in her." unconscious", these being the "counter sexual component" necessary for the transformation of force and form. Jung also called the "counter-sexual components", the Anima (female) in males and the Animus (Male) male in females. The Anima, means soul (a type of Womb) in Latin and the Animus is Latin for spirit (a type of Phallus). Thus we can see that THE EMPRESS is Anima and THE EMPEROR is Animus, making the perfectly developed male type on the Paths THE EMPEROR and the perfectly developed female type, THE EMPRESS. These are the pure intelligent forces that we meet and actually converse and/or intercourse with on the Paths. If we think of the One as a Human Brain, albeit a simplistic comparison, then One has become two, female and male in One Intelligent organism (The Tree of Life) on the Path of Heh.
Since the Sun of Tiphareth is in the sign of Aries, which is the sign of This Path, indicates that THE EMPEROR exercises some control over the Solar forces of the Higher Self.
Thus, we have the term Constituting Intelligence meaning that THE EMPEROR assists in the building up of Light of Tiphareth from the utter-darkness of Limitless Light of the Supernal Triangle; The Shadow Side(see past blogs). This Path of Heh, could also be considered as the "start of the Law of Time" in infinity. In the Thoth Deck card, this importance of Tiphareth to THE EMPEROR is illustrated by the Sun behind his head and the overall two colored scheme of Martian reds and Sun yellows. These two colors also suggest a furious/"divine frenzied" rush of often short-lived activity.
In the Qabalistic text-Sepher Yetzirah, the letter Heh (or He) is a simple word meaning, sight. This is well represented in THE EMPEROR, since he is the "Fiery Aspect of the Garden of Eden" of which the Higher Self relates as a Self-observation of the One. It is the first path that is attributed to a function, suggesting that sight is the first of the senses, as Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac. This Path of Heh, THE EMPEROR, is an extension of what I call the First "I" sight, who is Chokmah, while the EMPRESS is the "Am" of understanding (an inner sight I call a "Womb with a view")...Together they are the "I AM"., the Counter Sexuality of the One Mind/Energy. Therefore, the Path of Heh, is the First active "I", or the "all seeing eye".
All this contributes to the understanding that the Constituting Intelligence is the first phase of a natural cycle, such as Aries bringing forth Spring. This understanding is shown as the lamb at the Emperor's feet and the Ram headed wand. Paternal Power is shown by the bees and Fleur de Lys. The two headed Eagle in front of a crimson disc that is on the Emperor's shield, symbolizes the Alchemist's red tincture related to the Sun and Gold. There is a similar eagle on THE EMPRESS card that refers to the Moon and Silver. The Empress is "Will to Form" and the Emperor is " Will to Force" being expressed as "Laws of Physics".
When THE EMPEROR card is thrown during a reading it emphasizes:
- The Principle of Personal Power and Leadership.
- Building a pure base of Knowledge while remaining open minded, pointing towards success, authority, stability and ambition in gain or achievement.
- Self realization of Life Force and Personal Power.
- It mirrors to you your own creativity, leadership and able responsibility.
- Like the element of fire, you are warm, nurturing, electric, dynamic and vital in those activities that appeal to you as well as challenge you .
- This is an important symbol to meditate on in order to visually implant a model of how to use power and leadership in ways that expand and liberate yourself and others from self- perceived weaknesses and becoming an actively divine creative force.
- If ill defined by attending cards, the querent is up against :
- a dominant boss, or authority figure (s) who sets rules, boundaries, definitions and analysis.
- Supporting belief systems of sacred and profane, stating that we can never know the sacred and that bodies are profane or that all mundane is not holy.
- Scientific materialism, lack of inspiration.
- Lacking spiritual ideas.
Thank you for your interest, comments and supportive donations. May you live long and prosper.
