Our story continues with the 
introduction of the Emperor, Key 4. The Empress is his consort, which is the term used for the wife of an emperor. As you recall the High Priestess was transformed into the Empress when she became active. In the same way, the Magician is now transformed into the active Emperor. He is the father of her children.
The title Emperor means he is a sovereign ruler of great power and rank. Here we find a Key which represents order, reason and manifestation. It implies both authority and paternity. Implied is that he represents the source of war and war-making power. As we look at the symbols on the card we immediately see that it is representing the sign Aries, ruled by Mars and the Sun. Let’s explore this Key further.
The Hebrew letter assigned to this Key is E, or silent H, Heh. It’s pronounced “hay”. It is the 5th letter in the Hebrew alphabet, so its value is 5. On the Tree of Life this Key is on the Path of Wisdom 15, The Constituting Intelligence. To constitute means to establish laws and create form in the material world. In our case, it would be to learn how to create your life and not be tossed about by the winds of fate.
The letter E means window. The function of this Key is sight. A window admits light and air into the house. As an extension of this, a window is a vantage point for overseeing all our surroundings. As a result of this vantage point we are able to perceive and begin to create order and control over our personal universe. After examining all that surrounds us, we learn to refine, improve and clean up our vision. This is accomplished by looking within Mother Nature and within ourselves. The Tarot tells us on how to do this. I have a wonderful concentration exercise, called the Orange Exercise, which would be very helpful in accomplishing this. You can find it on this site.
Rather than merely looking at things around you, the Tarot teaches you how to allow them to speak to you, to guide you. You begin to see things as they are beneath the surface, not just as they appear. Rudolf Steiner delves into this in a very practical way in his book “The Way of Initiation.” He discusses the need to develop feelings that will awaken your five inner senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Yes, you have inner senses. According to the quality of our vision we define and create ourselves, and where we live.
Remember that the Emperor’s consort is the Empress. She will eagerly make for you whatever you wish. She’s pregnant with Life. Be careful and clear what you wish for. She will provide it in abundance! If your perception of your surroundings is based upon their appearance only, then what she creates in your life will be truly superficial, possibly terribly boring, and may even destroy you. This ruling monarch, the Emperor, represents your own true Self; you must take steps to establish its dominion through clear sight.
Astrologically the Emperor represents Aries, first sign of the zodiac which begins the fourth month of the year. Symbols of Aries are evident throughout the Key. The ram is a symbol of Aries, acting as leader of the flock. On top of the Emperor’s helmet is a solar disk. Aries rules the head, which exercises control over the whole body through the brain. The Sun is exalted in Aries as shown by the gold trim of the helmet and globe. Gold is the metal of the Sun. One of the colors assigned to the Sun is orange. The entire sky is orange. All these are indicators of the Emperor’s high office.
Aries is ruled by warlike Mars so the Emperor is wearing armor. Behind the Emperor are cliffs of bare red rock, the color corresponding to Mars. So we have here bare, hard rock behind the Emperor, yet Red is used to express fiery activity and creative energy. Expressed here is that an Emperor cannot rule just by stagnant rules, judgments and regulations, but needs insight from Mother Nature to rule with reason and love. Note that behind him flows the stream from the High Priestess, which dilutes his judgement with mercy, and from which he receives the memories held by the her. This stream gradually erodes the red rock and combines with it, to form the new earth that the Emperor sits on.
In his right hand is the Egyptian Ankh, a symbol of Venus and the Empress; he rules with love. Her color, the green of nature, forms the ground upon which he rests, balanced and poised. The 10 small circles on his helmet refer to the 10 Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life illustration at right is from Paul Foster Case’s book The Tarot, a Key to the Wisdom of the Ages. On the Fool card we found out that a robe or cloak represents protection. Here his cloak is violet, a symbol of royalty and is the color associated with Aquarius. Aquarius rules Key 17 The Star, whose function is meditation and revelation of truth.
The sphere in his left hand is a symbol of dominion. It’s red and on it is an inverted, gold T. The color red indicates action, courage and strength. The Hebrew letter Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and is ruled by Saturn. Saturn’s influence is to create limitation. Here we have that limitation reversed. Through correct reasoning and truth we are set free. This includes accurate understanding of the messages received from the material world aka Mother Nature. The cross on top indicates the four elements of Fire, Air, Earth and Water. Upon these he has complete dominion.
The white shield on the ground refers to purity of spirit. Its five sides reminds us of the 5-pointed star, which represents uplifted mankind. The double-headed eagle on the shield suggests initiative, swift creative energy, and regeneration. The two heads indicate equilibrium, or the balance of opposing forces.
His legs are posed in the form of the number 4, or a cross. The posture of his whole body resembles the symbol for alchemical sulphur, which is a triangle above a cross. This implies that the Law of the Triangle is standing above, and victorious over, the cross of the material realm. The Law of the Triangle is how Creation manifests through the first three Sephiroth at the top of the Tree of Life. Alchemical sulphur stands for two passionate fires. One is to tempt man to turn aside from his spiritual path. The other is to burn what is worthless from his life.
Order is achieved with the help of reason – the two principle functions of this Key. Use this Key to strengthen the pattern of order and control in your own life. Whenever a new condition of any kind enters your life, take immediate steps to put it in its rightful place. Remember, any attempt to put order in your life must begin by establishing order in your thinking. How do we organize the flood of vibrations received by our senses? The interpreter is Chokmah, meaning Wisdom. Wisdom is the beginning of polarity on the Tree of Life. Wisdom is found at the top of the masculine column on the Tree, on the right side. The Emperor gives us this ability to create order in our thinking by requiring us to use discrimination to interpret what we receive.
Wisdom interprets the signals received from our senses and radiates his interpretations to Binah on the Tree of Life. Binah means Understanding, and Intelligence. She is the Mother Principle of Nature on the Tree of Life. She’s found at the top of the feminine column, on the left side. She takes the radiant energy that she’s received from Wisdom and begins to condense it into form.
The ancient divine name for Binah is Elohim. Elohim means “One that is also Many”. The remaining seven Sephiroth on the Tree of Life come from Binah. The Tarot and the Cabala teach that God is both male and female at once. This is also a Hindu idea. In the Cabalistic tradition, the masculine and feminine elements are in a state of perfect balance within you. The Emperor is challenging you to find that Balance, that Unity, and set yourself free!
The Emperor’s throne is a stone cube, as is that of the High Priestess and the Empress. Let’s explore what this means. The word stone in Hebrew is eben and looks like this: אבן. The Aleph, א , is the first character in the Hebrew alphabet and represents God or Heavenly Father. The Bet, ב , combined with the Nun, ן , means Son in Hebrew, or Jesus Christ. Hence, stone in Hebrew means the Father and the Son, they are One.
That the throne is a cube refers to The Book of Creation, which teaches that the universe is represented by a cube. In the book it’s called the Cube of Space. The cube is derived from the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The six faces and interior center are assigned the 7 double letters. The three interior coordinates have the 3 mother letters. The twelve edges represent the 12 simple letters. So, in addition to the Emperor knowing he is one with God, the Universe is his Kingdom. There will be more about the Cube of Space is in another lesson.
The Emperor is a benevolent figure. We see him in profile, and therefore only see his left eye. This is considered a reference to the all-seeing eye, or Eye of Providence, which can be found on the dollar bill, and in several cathedrals in Rome. It represents the Eye of God watching over humanity. It conveys the concept of divine providence. It also expresses our ability to see within ourselves, to see the Self within.
Keep an eye on things all the time; stay awake! Your life is eternally being invaded by things that don’t belong there at all! The first thing that you should do is shut the door. Look out the window, but don’t necessarily accept all that you see. The law of life is rule or be ruled. I don’t recommend letting someone else rule your life, but that’s your choice. Get to know the Emperor and accept spiritual responsibility for yourself.
From the Emerald Tablet: “and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.”
Gates of Light 