“Structure, organization, and the rulebook will get you good results. But the past is past and, in the here and now, those principles might not apply.”

The Emperor is standing tall with an almost defiant look on his face. He wears a gold crown and a red tunic over a suit of armor. In his right hand is an ankh (the Egyptian symbol of life) and he is leaning on it. In his left hand is a globe. He has a long curly beard. The top two corners of the card show goat heads facing forward. The bottom two corners have the goat heads looking outwards.

The symbolism on this deck is clear, the Emperor is the Father figure of the entire Tarot Deck. He has complete authority. His crown points to the fact that he is a ruler. His long beard represents ancient wisdom. The globe in his hand symbolizes his influence over the world. And the ankh represents life. The goats are a nod to Aries, which is a fire sign, and indicates a passionate, motivated, and confident leader. His suit of armor hiding beneath his red tunic (red representing passion) is his preparedness for anything that comes his way.

The Emperor being the ultimate father figure means a traditional approach to life. He is the archetype of the father figure (meaning a very typical example of a certain person or thing). Dads are taught by their fathers and then pass down these same lessons to their children.

The obvious is, “are you having some father issues” today? Are you applying lessons that your father passed on to you? The Emperor is emotionally rigid in his thinking. He stands for the tried-and-true teachings of the past.

It is true that structure, organization, and the rulebook will get you good results. But the past is past and, in the here and now, those principles might not apply. Look at what is going on today. Do you need to draw on the rock-solid principles that you were taught? Or do you need to lighten up and adjust the rules?