The Emperor - Holding His Emotion

I so down with aspects of The Emperor and what he represents. I know it's my own issues with authority figures and I'm often uncomfortable, weary and I often question authority.

The power of Zeus's personality gives me pause to think, as he grew up with a violent, sociopathic father Cronos, who killed his five children except for Zeus. Cronos had intended Zeus to be among his murdered children but his mother presented Cronos with a swaddled stone instead of a baby, which Cronos promptly swallowed. Zeus escaped his fate at the hands of his violent father thanks to his mother Rhea, who'd saved her son's life.

Zeus representing both the positive and negative aspects of the father, he typifies the archetypal man who holds his emotion in check, with the kind of personality that could become oppressive, tyrannical with ideologies that interfere with life and personal growth.

Zeus's dark side can express rigidity, self-righteousness, inflexibility, arrogance, anger, and vindictiveness when and if his authority is challenged. This negative and destructive part of Zeus's personality is the worst  face of authority, is an abuse of power and control, embodying so much of what is wrong with our world today.

Many of us can be dominated by an inner dialogue and a scenario that we can repeatedly replay and act out in our lives, where there exists a dominating inner father, which restricts and constrains our relationships and happiness, especially if we've had emotionally unavailable or absentee fathers for whatever reason. It's been my own personal experience that we have to find ways to heal from this legacy or we are bound to repeat it with the next generation, passing it on to our own children, and on to our children's children.

The positive characteristics of The Emperor encourage us to foster self-respect, self-discipline, the spiritual ideals and ethical principles we need, in order to meet life's challenges, learning to rely on our own
resources and or to learn how to reparent ourselves if necessary.

The Emperor - Is The World Unraveling?

The Emperor is the counter part to the Empress, though concerned with the inner world as opposed to the outer world. The Empress is the All-Mother, the Emperor is symbolic of the All-Father, creator of all the gods, a spiritual figure who concerns himself with high ideals, ethics and spiritual values.  He does have his dark side. Tyrannical authority can rear it's ugly head, where there is an abuse of power.

When I reflect on the very positive characteristics of the Emperor, he is a kind of the ideal of what men should be in this world. Unfortunately this is seldom the case, but there are some men that I can think of who set the bar high, and are men of integrity, great kindness, with a deep faith and belief in what is true and good. They stand for right, are defined by the courage of their deep spiritual convictions, to love their fellow human beings, and they set an example for others.

The world as we know it, can really seem like it is unraveling. I sure felt this way over the past few days watching the news, and it has not been the first time, nor the last time I am sure, I will feel the same way in the future.

 I could easily ask myself, where is God in all of this? What kind of a God allows for such tragic events to happen, and why is there such inhumanity toward humanity, and all living things?

It is difficult to make sense of it all, or to find some kind of resolution. My own personal experience is that sometimes the only resolution there is, is to accept that there is no resolution. I know this may sound hopeless and rather dissolute, and I might agree in some instances. It isn't the way I choose to think, in spite of what is going on around me in the world, because there is hope and that means a lot. Having hope is where acceptance enters our lives in knowing what we can and cannot change, and having the wisdom to know the difference, that is stated in the Serenity Prayer.

I am certainly not a Pollyanna, although I do love her. Rather pessimism, desolation and discouragement it is simply not a luxury I can afford, being a person in recovery from a disease of the emotions, alcoholism.

Today I recognize the things that upset me, and so I try hard to live by the law of spiritual progress, not perfection. I don't allow myself to be discouraged. I expect better things ahead, and try to be a part of the cure toward the world's ills, rather than be part of contributing to this malaise, and to be a force for good, much like a good mother and good father should be.

The Emperor - Egg Tempera on Porcelain Tile 12"x12" 2015, Catherine Meyers

The Emperor - A Blues Man of The Mind

Drawing this card today I immediately thought of how I learned of an man yesterday, who reflects the positive qualities of the Emperor card. I'm certain he would never consider himself an Emperor, but he embodies what I would expect to find in this mythic figure. His name is Dr. Cornell West. He is not an Emperor, but a very fine human being, who has the courage to fight for social justice. Here is a description of what he is, and some of his quotes that might give you an idea of what I am talking about.

He is a lover of music. " I am a jazz man in a world of ideas. "
" I am a blues man of the mind. "

He is a scholar. " Deep education requires a habitual vision of greatness. "

He is an activist. " Justice is what love looks like in public "

He is a servant. " You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. "  "You can't save the people if you don't serve the people. "

The Emperor - Earthly Father

The Emperor, the fourth card in the Major Arcana is associated with Aries the ram, and represents the earthly father. His is the compliment to the Empress and is the personification of temporal power suggested the accumulation of material wealth. Although he is disciplined and visionary he keeps his emotion in check. A desire for independence can be indicated as well leadership, dominance, authority, governance and control. There is knowledge through experience and power is exercised for good. He is Zeus and King of the Gods. In Greek Mythology he is called All-Father. Zeus was the father of Athene (goddess of justice).

The father embodies our spiritual values and ideals, determining our ability to be self-sufficient. Domination by the inner father can be a tyrannical force and so we cannot allow ourselves and our beliefs to be crushed by inflexibility and rigid control that interferes with our life and personal growth. At some point we need to find our own inner authority that we believe in, balanced with self-respect and humility, to meet the challenges in life regardless if we have a temporal father present or not.