How to Move as Tarot’s Emperor
(Without Being F*cked Up in the Process)
image: two black people with braids and jackets on hug each other on a lilac and lime green psychedelic background.
Rachel Pollack named The Emperor as the archetype of social justice.
When I tell this to my students in Tarot in Community, they generally hate it.
But the pre-Christian emperor she writes about was born for priestesses to kill.
He was born to fertilize the ground. Her Emperor wasn't a forever Emperor. Tearing him down for the good of all was always the intention.
I'm often asked if I read tarot in a political way all the time. Yes, I do. But that looks different depending on the needs of the the audience or client.
I'm critical of over-identifying with tarot's archetypes, particularly only one. Yet I can go my own way without discarding other ways of reading.
Many truths are always at play all at once. It's inconvenient. It's complex. But to deny it is to weaken one's self.
This can be a helpful frame with archetypes that represent our enemies.
Those who live under the Emperor's boot have every right to hate this archetype. Hating tarot's Emperor makes sense.
It can also show us more about how we pedestal only to later tear them down. It can also show us a way out of that cycle of idolization and condemnation.
Keep Power Circulating
What's the allure of only pouring into one person's work? Who does it help to lift one person higher and higher while neglecting all their peers?
It doesn't help community members. We're all fighting for dwindling resources. We all need help.
But it also doesn't help the person getting put on a pedestal. That person too is being robbed of chances to grow and be in community.
We should never lift someone so high that they're up there all alone. We should be skeptical of those who intend to shine all by themselves.
It's not communal behavior, and those who we lend power should understand it as such.
Who said a leader had to be a leader forever? Why do we put the same people in leadership forever?
Those who lead well should consider mentorship part of their mandate. The goal should be to multiply competent leadership.
This could look like helping people figure out what they're best at. It could look like actual teaching and training. It could include apprenticeship.
This is how we ensure the next generation doesn't have to fumble around in the night. This is how we improve leadership with each passing era.
Avoiding Leadership is No Great Virtue
You may think I'm speaking to the people who avoid the spotlight. I'm not.
These are people who love the shine of leadership, but hate the accountability part.
There are so many people who want power but no responsibility. People who want to receive much while benefiting from low standards.
Responsibility and accountability are the better part of leadership. It matters less how you act when you win than when you lose.
The Emperor, to their credit, goes down with the ship. Their honor is riding on it.
These are generally the first people with something to say. And guess, what? That's not a bad thing.
Some people's role is to critique and hone what exists. We need improvers as much as we need leaders.
In fact, these thought leaders are doing their own Emperor work. They are building a responsive leadership.
Those who execute the plans of tarot's Emperor are also leaders. When we choose to be present with the possibility of failure, we are leaders.
But not when we dismiss out of hand without considering why a particular project came to be. Then we critique for demolitions sake.
Many times this emerges out of a desire to avoid critique ourselves. To be blameless in our own lack of action.
This sort of leadership avoidance helps no one and creates nothing.
Build Something
Every artist knows "so easy to condemn, so hard to create" is more than a platitude. It's the way that people who don't make think of making.
People stand by abstract paintings and claim they can do it. To them I say "go ahead and do it." Few will take me up on it.
So too with creating anything, whether it's a movement, a business, or a work of art. People are forever hatin' from outside the club.
The only antidote is to build something. It can be anything that has meaning and value to you.
When we step into the role of The Emperor and work to make our dreams come true, we realize it's harder than we imagined. As Kendrick Lamar said "anybody can get it. The hard part is keepin' it, muthafucka."
As we build what we want to see in the world, we cannot deny that it is difficult work. Making our own work (instead of critiquing the work of others) builds empathy with other doers.
Queers often hold others to inhuman standards. We want some people to be perfect the first time. These are often the same people who dominant society holds to the standard of perfection.
The best poem I've written starts with the lines "queer utopians think human beings are perfectible/ but we're not. We're just correctable."
The Emperor shows us how to learn through imperfect action. There will be time to revise and renovate later.
***
The Emperor reminds us that being the center of attention can be as temporary as we need. It also reminds us that when we're poured into, our job is to pour into others.
This is the archetype of a builder. They create, so they have more scrutiny on them than others.
Some people moving as The Emperor attract more hate than others.
This can be because they hold identities our society doesn't associate with leadership. This can be because of a personality trait or work style. It can even be because of their physical appearance.
We must consider the potential for uneven treatment when we tear down those we once saw as the pinnacle.
The Emperor is as important as any other archetype. The Emperor is doing something they have never seen done.
They are creating from whole cloth that which they believe should exist. This alone is enough to make us rethink tarot's Emperor.
Further Thoughts
image: hey, i'm cyree jarelle. I run Collective Cartomancy. I help queers, feminists, and leftists connect with their intuition using tarot and cartomancy. More on me.
