The Emperor Tarot Card Meaning

the emperor tarot card meaning

The emperor tarot card is a very powerful card. This card emits feelings of leadership and rules. It’s a fairly masculine feeling card, the male to the empress’s feminine energy. This card can represent a father figure or just a strong figure in your life.

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Definition of The Emperor Tarot

the emperor tarot card - a simple definition for the card in a reading!

Simple Upright Meaning

Order, rules, stability, strength

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A Full Explanation

The emperor is a card of power. Where the empress was an earthy feel, this is a card of human creations, of industrial and structure.

When you find this card in a reading, it can represent a person in your life. There might be a strong masculine-energy person in your life that you could look to for guidance with your concerns. But this doesn’t have to be a person in your life; it can be the ideas of rule and order, on a otherwise messy time, or knowing exactly who you are and how you need to get things done.

Keep in mind that rules are good, but only to an extent. It can quickly change from just enough order to keep things in check to a dictatorship where everyone is unhappy.

With this card, look at the rules. Look at what the rules you’ve been living by are, and who set them. Alternatively, if you’re in a place where you feel like there’s only chaos and disorder, try to create order. Try making a way to feel stable. Build rules, even if they’re just for yourself and temporary, just to make it through until the calm comes again.

One thing to remember with this card it does represent seeing things only in black and white. When you see this card, it can remind you that the grey areas aren’t being focused on or looked ad. Only the extremes. But don’t forget about the middle. Not everything is black and white.

My Design

the emperor tarot card
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The emperor is one of the simpler designs I’ve created. But it still speaks power. It is the male symbol, with a crown on it. The colors are grey and gold, because this card is one of strength and no-n. It typically represents a person who has no time for nonsense or anything else that might be distracting. So that idea falls onto this card. Keeping the idea simple- a masculine-energy ruler that creates order Many tarot decks have an image of a ruler in a built up area ruling from his throne for the emperor (like in The Modern Witch Tarot Deck).

Other Thoughts

This is actually my tarot birth card, the emperor. And I had a difficult time connecting to it originally because it just seems so masculine and harsh. But I think the important thing for me with this card and how I relate is with the rules. I relate to rules and order. Ithrive with order.


Are you new to tarot and looking at practicing? Try your hand by picking one card a day, or try one of these tarot spreads! If you’re still having a really difficult time connecting with this card, leave it by your bedside or under your pillow to further connect.