How are you ruling over your kingdom right now?
No, I don’t mean your imaginary kingdom where you’re a titan of industry or maybe a pirate.
I don’t mean the video game kingdom where you’re the greatest slayer of orcs of all time.
I mean your kingdom.
The one with socks on the floor.
Laundry that’s piling up.
Bills that still need to be paid.
Dishes waiting in the sink.
You know…
The kingdom you actually have control over.
The Emperor and The Empress
The Empress and the Emperor are the only true matched pair in the Major Arcana. In a previous post, I suggested that the Empress represents our ability to receive abundance. The Emperor represents our ability to organize it.
The Empress is how we receive the world.
The Emperor is how the world receives us.
The Empress is the generative principle.
The Emperor is the organizing principle.
Both of these energies live within every one of us. They aren’t male and female so much as complementary ways of being. Like the Emperor and the Empress themselves, they’re opposite ends of the same spectrum.
The Empress is relaxed, open, and completely at ease.
The Emperor is covered in armor from head to toe.
The Empress is soft and receptive.
The Emperor is firm and projective.
The Emperor is Our Place in the World
Sooner or later, every one of us has to leave the safety of the family nest and make our way in the world. We have to earn a living, work with other people, find a place to live, pay the bills, keep the house in order, and somehow hold it all together.
Yes…it’s that dreaded stage of life we call . . . adulting.
The Empress is the part of us that nurtures our identity as it grows.
The Emperor is the part that carries that identity into the world and quietly says:
“This is who I am. I have a right to be here.”
If The Empress is the Universal Garden, The Emperor is the guy who built the garden beds, carried in the sacks of manure to fertilize it and remembers to water it all every morning.
So How Do We Claim the Emperor’s Energy?
By developing self-control without becoming controlling.
By cultivating quiet confidence instead of arrogance.
By becoming competent at what we do.
By keeping our promises to ourselves.
The Emperor doesn’t ask us to dominate other people. He asks us to govern ourselves.
Not as a tyrant.
As a wise ruler.
Not with harsh self-criticism.
With gentle but strong guidance.
Despite his throne, his crown, and his armor, the Emperor’s work isn’t really about kingdoms at all.
It’s about picking up those socks.
Paying the bills.
Keeping your word.
Creating healthy boundaries.
Standing up for yourself without trampling someone else.
Every small act of self-government strengthens the Emperor within us.
And perhaps that’s the real lesson of this card.
Before we can rule a kingdom, we have to learn to rule ourselves.
Just the Tarot 