Welcome to the final day of Tarot Week here at White Rose of Avalon my Darlings! Today’s post is about the Emperor card in Tarot. The Emperor is the fourth card of the Major Arcana. He is the Divine Masculine in the physical realm, differing from the Magician as the Divine Masculine in the spiritual and ephemeral realms.
The Emperor is the ultimate King figure, the ruler of the land and protector of the physical natural world. He is a natural leader and a figure of power, authority, and an overarching father figure. When he appears in a reading, he is suggesting a time of stability and security in how the querent’s life is going! As an energy and archetype, the Emperor invokes the ideals of Kingship.
The Emperor is a card that can often be renamed in decks to better suit the theme of the individual deck. In particular, Celtic decks often do rename Major Arcana cards to fit a specific theme. The Arthurian Tarot obviously uses Arthur himself as the Emperor, in this case representing the iconic and ideal King, the Once and Future King, adding an element of immortal energy to the card. The Llewellyn Tarot features Bran the Blessed on the Emperor card, who is the giant King and protector of Britain, as well as the elder brother of Branwen. The Wildwood Tarot renamed the Emperor card the Green Man, which I find to be an ideal woodland and Celtic Faery association name for the card since the Green Man is quite literally the King of the Wild Woodland and a figure of the wildness of nature incarnate! In each of these iterations, there is the association between the Emperor and the authority over the land itself, a nature God energy being put forward. That aligns with my general interpretation of the Emperor being the Divine Masculine in a very grounded sense, firmly of this physical world.
At the end of the day, the Emperor is a very powerful and often comforting figure to have appear in your reading, especially with his energy of empowerment and protection. However, I would be remiss if I did end this post with a brief note that the unhealthy Emperor’s energy can present as tyrannical, which is why having balance and groundedness is so important for the Emperor. I hope that you have enjoyed this look at the Emperor in Tarot. What is the most profound aspect of the Emperor in your opinion? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a compelling Emperor artwork. I found the image on https://www.redbubble.com/i/poster/Tarot-Card-The-Emperor-by-Melinore/134582355.LVTDI.
Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services! I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon! Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/
Further Reading
- The Only Tarot Book You’ll Ever Need by Skye Alexander
- The Arthurian Tarot by John & Caitlin Matthews
- The Llewellyn Tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson
- The Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan & John Matthews
White Rose of Avalon 
Whenever anyone talks about the Emperor, I have to bring up “Tarot of the Old Path”. This deck has my all-time favorite Emperor. He’s illustrated in a loving way. Children are playing in the background. He is there as protector, father, ruler — and I love him.
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I’m not familiar with that deck, but that image sounds absolutely lovely! I adore seeing nuance in the cards, and seeing him visually portrayed as loving and not just fearsome, because he is loving, is beautiful. I will definitely have to look up that card. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Oh, yes, do look for the card image. The entire deck is very “quiet” in appearance, very soothing, yet it still delivers powerful messages. Sometimes we hear more when someone speaks quietly. We have to be still and listen. That’s how I see reading with Tarot of the Old Path.
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I definitely think that having soothing images on a deck can help get us into that meditative state where we can more easily interpret the cards, finding meaning in the soothing energy. I think we also gain so much from having a variety of decks to turn to for different purposes, like this deck will give some tough love when we need a push, or that deck will be soothing and give answers quietly, for instance. Maybe that’s why I collect and use so many decks!
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LOL. Same here. Each one is a bit different, and I love them all… well, except for a couple I don’t really care for. How many decks do you have?
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I have over 20 if we count the Oracle decks too! But Tarot wise, I think it’s like 12 or 13 lol.
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LOL… I’m close to 400 now. I’ve been collecting since the 1980’s so I have some nice OOP decks and some lovely original editions, such as a black-and-white version of Daughters of the Moon.
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That’s insane! Really cool though lol. I’ve been collecting them for a little over nine years, so who knows how it will grow over time.
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It gets a bit addicting after a while LOL.
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Oh definitely!
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