← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 5/121
The Emperor
The Emperor is the card of order: the structures, plans and boundaries that let a life or a group stand firm. He is often read as leadership, responsibility, discipline and protection — the steady hand that sets the rules and keeps them. He can describe an authority figure, or the part of a person able to take charge.
The image
A crowned, bearded ruler sits on a stone throne carved with rams' heads, the sign of Aries. He holds a sceptre shaped like an ankh, the Egyptian sign of life, and an orb, the world he governs. Under his red robe he wears armour. Behind him rise bare, rocky mountains with only a thin stream at their foot. The stone and the mountains are usually taken as permanence and resolve; the armour as readiness to defend what he has built.
Upright
Stability, authority, structure, protection, a firm plan. Waite gives "stability, power, protection, realization" and also "reason, conviction". The card can point to a time to organise, to set boundaries, to take responsibility, or to work within — or create — a clear framework. It can also describe a supportive mentor, employer or parent.
Reversed
Waite's reversed list is mixed: benevolence and compassion, but also obstruction and immaturity. Modern readers often see the reversal as control turned rigid or domineering, or the opposite — a lack of discipline, structure that has not been built. Some readers do not use reversals at all.
Correspondences
Major Arcana, card IV. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, he carries the Hebrew letter He ("window"), the 15th path on the Tree of Life, joining Chokmah and Tiphareth, and the sign Aries, so the element of fire — initiative, courage and command. French tradition (Papus, the Marseille deck) gives some Majors different letters and signs.
In a reading
In the past, the Emperor can describe a time of order or of a strong authority. As an obstacle, he may point to rigid rules or a controlling person. As advice, he tends to say: make a plan and hold to it. Beside The Empress he is often read as structure and care in balance.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Sign: Aries
Element: Fire — the element of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius
Mode: Cardinal — Aries is a cardinal sign