Shadowscapes Tarot

THE EMPEROR

The Emperor remembers....

He remembers when once there was another man. Was it his father? A mentor? Or was it a vanquished king? His mind arcs back, grasping. Once.... There was another, and he relinquished the dragon orb.

He remembers his own fascination with the orb upon first laying eyes on it - how as he touched it, the strength of the creature within surged through his arms and possessed his senses. You are now the lord of these mortal realms. Was it the other who had said that? Or was it the dragon? He was now the dragon!

"Yessss," he said, and knew it was so.

Meaning:

Creating order out of chaos, authority, leadership, strength, establishing law and order. The carvings on the wall bear the symbols of the domain, and of dominion. The eagle rises above mountains and sea, night and day, ruling over all. The earthly creatures bow to that mastery. But even though the imagery of the carvings may be magnificent, still a wall is a man-made edifice - man's measure and means of controlling the wildness of the world by attempting to carve it into unchanging stone, man's desire to control end etch out and write the story of his own destiny. The Emperor is a man rooted in his ways and views and regimens but confident that this is the right structure and way of things.