Artemis

Major Arcana · 4

The Emperorfor Aries · Self and Identity

The Emperor tarot card

"Structure isn't the enemy. Rigidity is."

Six quick picks first, then your reading

On the card

A figure sits on a firm chair in a rugged mountain area holding a scepter, orb and wearing a crown. The figure is ready to jump into action at a moment's notice

Look closer.

Upright
AuthorityStructureLeadershipStability

You are being called to action, leadership or power. A balance between action and emotions gives you mastery over the realm

Reversed

You are blocked from taking action or true power by a disconnect. Either you are disconnected from your emotions (and are leading without balance) or you are disconnected from your own confidence to take action

Card lore

The references to different rulers (the node to the Ankh, the scepter and sphere, the throne, the crown) all convey a stern authority. The stature invokes King Solomon judging who is the true mother of a child.

Its place in the deck.

Major ArcanaCard 4
One of the 22 Major Arcana. They point to the large themes and turning points in a life, not the day to day. When one comes up, the reading is about something bigger than this week.
StageThe outer world
After the Fool, the Major Arcana run in three stages of seven: the outer world (1 to 7), the turn inward (8 to 14) and the return (15 to 21). This one is in the outer world: building a workable self out of will, learning and structure.

Where it shows up.

In the stars
♂︎
MarsThis card's planet
Drive, anger, and the push to go get what you want.
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The Emperor for Aries in Self and Identity

The Initiator

Mars rules Aries, so this card is not describing an outside force. It is describing Aries to itself, which is why there is no distance in it. Upright, this is happening out in the visible world, where other people can see it and respond to it.

When reading about yourself through an Aries lens, the Emperor card says that you feel like your body is a machine to prove something with, a problem to outrun (or overcome), and the only thing you trust because it does what you tell it to. This has either made you physically strong and brave enough to try what others won't, or left you injured and angry at your own body for not cooperating with your will. You have been so focused on who you think you should be that you haven't checked in with who you actually are. The Aries blind spot in it is the feeling that nothing you do makes any difference, that you are not the center of the story.

In practice that can look like something you cannot un-see about yourself, or a season ending. Whatever form it takes, it is happening in the visible world where other people can see it.

Somewhere else?

WorkRelationshipHealthWealthMy Future

Keep the thread

Artemis remembers what you asked, and tells you when something comes back around.

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