Tag: Emperor

Posted in Matilda's, Memoir Writing, Narrative Therapy, Tarot Story Exchanges, Women's Health

Simone Young – Emperor

Posted on by Heather Blakey

The Emperor is often read as the archetypal ‘Father’ (with the Empress as ‘Mother’), there are Freudian and Jungian explanations for this that are rooted in father-child (and mother-child) relationships. Beyond ‘Father’, though, the Emperor also represents social structures, norms and codes. The Emperor can represent the rule of law, decision-making by out-of-touch leaders, and so on. The Emperor typically prizes order, conformity, commercial success, strong hierarchical leadership.

The LeGrande Circus and Sideshow Tarot matches prominent figures from the Circus/Carnival world with the Major and Minor Arcana. It depicts the Ringmaster as the Emperor and there is no doubt about the power of this key figure. Like the Captain of a warship he reigns supreme and commands the entire performance. Nobody moves without his instruction.

Similarly, the conductor of an Orchestra holds the baton and controls every aspect of a performance. Simone Young is considered one of the most important conductors of our time. After completing her musical studies in her native Sydney, she began her career on the podium in Germany. This launched her international career, which has taken her to all important opera houses and symphony orchestras around the world. She is regarded as a trail blazer in a male dominated world.

Executive produced by Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, Knowing The Score gets up close and personal with this celebrated Australian conductor.

Feeling the Qualities of the Emperor

Whoever you are, sooner or later you will meet with the constrains of authority, discipline and power in yourself and in others. From an early age we are influenced by authority figures who have some control over our lives. The ultimate challenge is how we respond, how we balance and harness these qualities.

  • What is your understanding of the correct use of power, authority, control and discipline?
  • How do you utilise power in your life?
  • Consider, dispassionately and without judgement, how you are empowered or disempowered?
  • Be aware of what power means for you? How has controlling or being controlled impacted on your life?

“It’s a very hard thing to learn to know when to release control

Simone Young

More Emperors

This card is suggestive of stability and security in life. You are on top of things and everything in under your control. It is your hard work, discipline and self control that have bought you this far. It means that you are in charge of your life now setting up your own rules and boundaries.

Posted in Matilda's, Memoir Writing, Narrative Therapy, Women's Stories

The Emperor – Elizabeth Macarthur

Posted on by Heather Blakey

The Emperor wants you to know that in order to go out into the big world you need both inner and outer authority. Inner authority allows you to make the best decisions for yourself while outer authority enables you to create your place in the world and be seen and recognized.

The Emperor represents stability, order, and dominion. In the most practical terms, the Emperor Tarot card represents the highest leadership, a head of state, or the most exemplary and powerful person in the realm.When this stern fellow shows up in your reading, issues of power and control may be at play.  However the appearance of this card in a spread, given that it alludes to achievement through hard work and discipline, may also provide an opportunity to ask about the qualities which will successfully support a business venture. 

Within the Tarot community the Emperor is generally believed to represent dealings with male authority figures. However there are many women who have the same qualities. So, be you male or female, when you see this card in a reading it is an opportunity to take a moment and acknowledge your potential for mastery of your personal realm. It is a time to reinforce a sense of sovereignty within yourself, despite any self-limiting beliefs, habits, or appearances to the contrary.

Elizabeth Macarthur (1766-1850), was born on 14 August 1766 in Devon, England, daughter of Richard Veale, farmer, and his wife Grace, who were apparently of some education and affluence. Elizabeth received an education which allowed her to write letters of eighteenth-century style and grace and which equipped her to manage the complicated affairs of her husband’s business in later life. She married John Macarthur in October 1788. In June 1789 he joined the New South Wales Corps and Elizabeth accompanied him when he sailed to take up his position in the colony.

By 1794, the Macarthurs had built Elizabeth Farm, a brick house at Parramatta. They had a beautiful garden and the children received an excellent education. In 1809, her husband was forced to leave the colony and return to England. Business partners administered his mercantile affairs but Elizabeth was responsible for the care of their valuable merino flocks, the Camden Park estate and their convict labourers. She did so successfully for eight years, visiting their estate regularly despite the danger of venturing into the bush.

If the Emperor appears in a Tarot spread as a woman, that means that this person is a figure of authority, control, and discipline. This is someone who exudes an air of command, evident in her carriage, her gaze, and even the space she occupies. You can sense her influence and leadership capabilities, leaving little room for doubt that she’s a person of significant power.

Michelle Scott Tucker lives on a small farm in regional Victoria with her husband and children. Her first book was Elizabeth Macarthur: A Life at the Edge of the World

Michelle Scott Tucker wrote a biography of Elizabeth Macarthur, highlighting that it was her who established the Australian wool industry (although her husband received all the credit).

In the words of historian Clare Wright, Tucker’s bio brings Elizabeth Macarthur out from the long shadow of her infamous, entrepreneurial husband.

The truth is that Elizabeth oversaw every aspect of the management of their flocks and communicated with her husband while he was in England. As a result of their joint interest they were able to sell their wool competitively in the British market and effectively established the reputation of the colony as a centre for this industry. It was Elizabeth’s critical contribution to the establishment of a local fine wool industry that helped set the course of Australian prosperity, and gave the wool trade’s its long-held significance to the national economy.

More Emperors

This card is suggestive of stability and security in life. You are on top of things and everything in under your control. It is your hard work, discipline and self control that have bought you this far. It means that you are in charge of your life now setting up your own rules and boundaries.