Archaeology nerd that I am, I'm digging up Sutton Hoo artifacts to use for The Emperor. I think for the background I'll use some very strict mathematically designed figures. All the talk about The Man makes me want to find a picture of the Ticktock Man, but I'm not sure that's quite the image I have in mind. I'll think about it, though.

Pity so much Medieval art is either abstract or of Popes. I want a Medieval king, goddammit! Maybe if I search for Arthur...

I think I'll do this in snap-to-grid. Very rigid, very strict spacing.

Is there a reason the Emperor doesn't have the black & white? He's not a metaphysical binary, but he is a practical/temporal binary. Binary thought, like Lisa complains about all the time.

Charlemagne. Maybe I want a picture of Charlemagne...

Notes on The Emperor -

He advocates a four-square world where trains are on time, games are played by rules, and commanding officers are respected. In chaotic situations, the Emperor can indicate the need for organization. Loose ends should be tied up, and wayward elements, harnessed. In situations that are already over-controlled, he suggests the confining effect of those constraints. ... creating order out of chaos ... taking a leadership role --http://www.learntarot.com/maj04.htm

Just as the Empress embodies the female power and force, the Emperor encapsulates the male dynamic force in life. Here we find action, decisiveness and high energy. There are also many connections with fatherhood and kingship for the Emperor. This is a card that indicates responsibility, a sense of commitment, protection and strong leadership. -- http://www.angelpaths.com/majors/emperor2.html

(Ooh, hey. How about some old Anglo-Saxon attributes of royalty?)

Competitiveness, forcefulness in development and execution. Authority, structure, governmental and corporate identities. Worldly power, self control gained through experience. Ability to shoulder responsibility. Powerful individuals, ambition together with the possibility of long term achievement. -- http://www.paranormality.com/tarot_emperor.shtml

The EMPEROR is the one who determines patterns -- http://www.free-tarot-reading.net/forum_archive/p1829.php

(OOh! Mathematical patterns!)

Aries is the infant, the first sign of the Zodiac. Like an infant, he is filled with enthuiasm, energy, aggression. He is direct, guileless and all too often irresistible. Unfortunately, like a baby he can also be a tyrant. ... The Emperor card is the "Who's the boss?" card. It is an important question. --http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/basics/emperor.shtml

In his right hand he holds an Egyptian Ankh and in his left hand is the globe of domination. ... DIVINATION MEANING : The fruits of toil, the results of action. Represents the father or figure of authority. --http://www.paralumun.com/tarotemperor.htm

The Emperor represents the feeling of “I AM” which we all possess. -- http://www.toniallen.co.uk/theemperor.html

There can be no winners without losers. ... This is the card of a real go-getter, but perhaps one who does not mind leaving a battlefield strewn with bodies for the sake of a conquest -- http://goldentarot.com/maempe.htm

The Empress has a great self-awareness. She is very aware that she functions as a symbol, and she is comfortable with her role....The Empress is the card which represents the concept which many call the Great Mother: she who is the Queen of Life. She also represents birth, the heterosexual woman and intuition over intellect....The Empress is strongly related to time, cycles, being born and dying, seasons. Demeter is a good classical example of the Empress.
--http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2282/tarot/3.htm

Her throne is one built of endurance, tenacity, loyalty and sheer determination. She stands for the mother, and for the daughter.....who will in turn become mother. ...In recent times we have tended to overlook the importance of the innate strength in womanhood. We can get blinded by the dynamic power inherent in male strength, and completely forget the necessity for the counter-balancing influence of female power. There's nothing mushy about this power - it's no accident that many Goddesses are regarded as destroyers - but it is infinitely different to male strength. The entire dynamic of its expression is unique and enduring. --http://www.angelpaths.com/majors/empress2.html

While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born....The Empress card is one of the easier trumps to read. She's Mother. Generally, Mother in a good sense. Patient, loving, giving, generous. --http://www.aeclectic.net/basics/empress.html

This Empress is a pregnant woman from the fertile crescent between the two great rivers Tigris and Euphrates, where historic civilization came into being...The Empress wears red because she personifies the bleeding and fertile woman, and red is the color of her life-blood. Red is a symbol of the living creature and the passions of life, and represents action that leads to creative change. --http://www.mcn.org/b/thewheel/EmpressText.html

Here is also found initial sensation. This is the first really physical experience of the world that The Fool has entered. The Empress has a rich understanding of the world based on her five senses. In a reading, The Empress represents pregnancy, actual or metaphorical. --http://occult_symbolism.tripod.com/tarot/trumps/empress.html

I am the keeper of hearths.
Barley is mine, and corn.
Kitchens warm by my decree,
malt gives rise to heady mead,
bread is born of wheat and fire.
....
I am the priestess now wed.
Creation is mine, and growth.
--http://www.eosdev.com/Illustrations_Quotes/Cyndi/eos_fool_empress.htm

The Empress is the only card in the Tarot that shows a simple natural unstructured scene as a background. --http://www.psyche.com/psyche/tarot/trumps/empress.html

Maltese Cross: Union of the spiritual with the material ; Lotus: Represents the feminine, passive power ; Revolving Moons: Represents the need for opposition to maintain balance --http://www.tryskelion.com/empress.htm

She is fertility of both the species and of the universe itself. --http://www.earlham.edu/~rinehca/tarot/empress.htm

She blesses, she rules, she loves, she creates, and she sustains all that is in her empire... --http://www.lunaea.com/tarot/tarottour/tour3.html

Is it sad that I had to go look up what the next card after the Priestess is? Yes, yes, I believe it is. I obviously haven't been doing nearly enough work on this. Did a reading last night with my old Rider/Waites and it made absolutely no sense. Absurd.

So. The Empress.

Pretty straightforward matriarchal figure, here. Now, of course, to find appropriate images and all, but pretty straightforward, I should think.

Intuition, intuition...how does one visualize intuition? (Now I see why all these cards have cats on them.) Cat...lightbulb, flash of light...subtlety (how does one visualize subtlety, while you're at it?) ...sharp lines, firmness...does intuition have a color? Green or purple. Greenish-purple? No, that's ugly...green, I think. Maybe a full moon...