A Foundation for Greatness: The Emperor and Aries
- Meredyth
- Mar 22
- 11 min read
Updated: Mar 23
“Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.”
-Saint Augustine
Welcome to a new season and a New Year on the Wheel of the Year!
March 20th was the spring equinox, when we experienced the daylight as approximately equal to the night.
The zodiac calendar starts over as the sun returns to the very first sign, Aries. This new beginning invites us to fresh starts, unfiltered ambition, and fearless self-expression.
The tarot card aligned with Aries season is Major Arcana IV – The Emperor.
The ultimate mission of The Emperor is to bring structure, order, and discipline to our energies so they may be transformed from the abstract to the concrete.
Though he may look stern, The Emperor reminds us that discipline is not the same as punishment.
It's easy to pay lip service to the bold energy of The Emperor and Aries, but I have found the reality of working with this card to be challenging—for my clients, and for myself.
The Emperor is the patriarch of the deck, and though he doesn't literally represent the patriarchy, his masculine energy can initially be a turn-off for many.
In truth, The Emperor helps us individuate and take up space, unapologetically.
In practice, The Emperor can bring up feelings of self-judgment and shame.
With The Emperor, we begin to individuate first through language: when we can name ourselves and label the boundaries that separate us from others.
It gets tricky when these labels become judgments, and our feelings of individuality lead us to a sense of separation from love itself.
In my personal evolution with the Tarot, my relationship with The Emperor has been more intense than any other single card. I hope these reflections support your own exploration of the card—and of yourself this season.
Ultimately, The Emperor and Aries are here to remind you - you came here to explore the boundaries of your identity, individuality, and exceptionalism.
Early days with The Emperor...
In the early days of my tarot studies, I was house-sitting with a dear friend. Over the weekend, I explained to him the meaning of each card as I understood it. He told me which cards he thought represented his current state of mind, but I explained that it’s actually when we pull a spread and view the cards together, that we can really draw insight.
And so, we traded readings for each other. At the end of his reading, he stood up from the table and left the room. He didn’t like his cards. It wasn’t the message he wanted to hear. It wasn’t anything negative—it was just too true.
If we hadn’t been such good friends, we would have stopped there. Instead, we talked about what he was feeling and why he had such resistance. I'd say he was equal parts stubborn and committed to expansion. Did I mention he’s an Aries?
Then, it was his turn to read for me.
Sure enough, when The Emperor showed up for me, I was ready to stand up and walk away.
I said, “No, that can’t be right.” Intensely, I tried to refuse this card. I saw The Emperor and I feared the worst. I thought he revealed my deepest fear - I was too much.
Instead of walking away, my friend made me sit with the card. My friend loved me, he didn't think I was too much. He appreciated my creativity, ambition, and my ability to take up space.
In this way, I began to understand The Emperor and Aries.
Viewing The Emperor
Take one look at The Emperor in the Smith Rider Waite and you'll guess why I didn't want to see myself in his likeness!
Seated on a ram-adorned stone throne, The Emperor’s legs and feet are clad in pointed armor.
Another ram, the symbol of Aries, is seen on the shoulder of his red robes, which flow beneath his long white beard.
Behind him, giant barren mountains stand tall. His crown is regal, his expression stern. He grips his ankh-shaped scepter in one hand and seems to withhold the golden globe in his other.
He does not look like a fun guy.
Of course, the Rider-Waite deck was published over 100 years ago. This image drips with patriarchy. When I first engaged with The Emperor I thought, I don't want to be anything like that!
Thank goodness, the truth of The Emperor isn't dominance and rule by force—it's creation supported with structure.
Modern deck creators have offered some beautiful upgrades that I’ve found helpful in understanding and embracing The Emperor.
In The Light Seer’s deck, we see a handsome man seated on the throne of Mars, the ruling planet of Aries and The Emperor.
The Ram’s horns are hanging on the wall behind him, a reminder that force need not be mistaken for power. The ankh symbol, representing life, becomes a tattoo, and the globe is replaced by a chess piece. His expression is intelligent and wise, contemplative and assured.
In The Wild Unknown, The Emperor becomes an enormous sequoia tree.
In the absence of a human form, this deck creates the most spacious invitation to experience The Emperor’s loving essence.
The Emperor and Line One of the Major Arcana
When we begin the new zodiac calendar with Aries, we move from Pisces and The Moon in Line Three of the Major Arcana, back into Line One.
The first line of the Major Arcana is in service of helping us understand and articulate that shortest of complete sentences: I am.
Four cards precede The Emperor. I want to take a moment to revisit them, in the context of the hero's journey.
Once upon a time, when we were spirits without bodies, we were boundaryless.
We individuated into human form so we could experience what boundaries even mean.
If we plot the Major Arcana cards 0–IV against the first cycle of human development (ages 0–2), cards 0–III all take place while we are pre-verbal, pre-boundary.
In The Fool, card 0, our spirit takes a leap of faith and chooses to enter a body. The spirit does so because it recognizes some unmanifested potential that requires a body to bring into being.
Next is card I, The Magician. He represents the divine yang energy of manifestation and creation. He draws inspiration from the universe and channels it here to our physical realm.
Card II, the High Priestess, represents the divine yin energy of intuition and connectivity. She takes information from the divine and holds it for internal exploration. These first three cards are part of our conception and our earliest explorations into the world.
Next, in card III, The Empress, we learn how to receive. As babies, we receive everything. Learning to receive with The Empress takes us years because it's so integral.
When we reach IV, The Emperor, at around two years old, we become verbal. We need language for that profound statement of individuation—the point of Line One: I am.
Language, Differentiation, and Shame
Before we become verbal, there can be no I.
Noam Chomsky created a paradigm shift with his theory of universal grammar, which proposes that linguistic competence—the ability to form and understand language—is an innate human trait. Before this, behaviorists believed children learned language primarily through environmental exposure and imitation.
In other words, it was once thought that language had to be taught to children. But since parents don’t speak in childish grammar (think: me want cookie), it became clear that language doesn’t just come from the outside—it arises naturally from within. You can’t stop a human from developing language. Given even minimal exposure, we will find a way to communicate.
In the beginning, there was the word.
As we embark on our journey into selfhood, The Emperor arrives to provide us with the structure of language. It's a structure of labels: you/me, black/white, table/chair, big/little.
As soon as a child begins to speak, their favorite words quickly become mine and no. These are the labels of boundaries.
It can be tiresome to argue with a toddler exploring her boundaries, but this negotiation is imperative to her understanding of herself in the world.
As adults, The Emperor becomes a challenge because it reveals where our experiences of individuation have become attached to self-judgment and shame.
When The Emperor showed up for me in that early reading, I felt confronted with an internalized judgment that I was too much. I didn't want to see myself in that bearded old man because he looked mean and bossy. And when I have stood my ground for what I wanted, I've been called bossy!
This is why I think the alternative deck images help us so much in accessing the true, loving message of The Emperor.
Like the sequoia in the Wild Unknown deck, a tree does not apologize for growing tall. It offers no comparison of itself to a bird or a mountain. It has no judgment or opinion about a fern or the fog. It simply takes up its own sacred space.
A Loving Emperor
The very fabric of the universe is expanding. Like this fabric of existence, The Emperor is devoted to the soul's expansion.
A loving embrace of The Emperor's wisdom understands that when you authentically occupy your expansive self, you are a gift to all of creation.
The Emperor is here to say: discernment, differentiation, and boundaries—none of these are inherently good or bad. They simply are.
I'm certain that we've all been told at some point we were too much or too big. The ego that helps us differentiate so we may expand is the same ego that tells us that if we are too big or too much, we might also become separate from love.
Your inner Emperor wants you to boldly sing your unique song.
A Foundation for Greatness: Embodying The Emperor and Aries
The stern masculinity of The Emperor in the Smith Rider Waite brought up my internalized shame about taking up space. What a gift! Once we can see our judgments and limiting beliefs as fictions, we can choose whether or not to tell ourselves those stories of separation.
Aries energy is about presence, not performance. Here are a few suggestions to honor your inner Emperor this season:
Get Outside
If you're in the Bay Area, try and make the trip to visit some of the old-growth redwoods and sequoias. The sheer power and size of these majestic trees is unbelievable.
No matter where you are, get yourself into nature. The Emperor's presence can be felt in the expanse of the sky, the wingspan of a great bird, and the scale of a mountain.
Claim Your Physical Space
Rearrange a corner of your home to feel more sovereign, more you—a small altar, a new desk setup, a protected workspace. It's also time for spring cleaning. What can you de-clutter that will help you feel more spacious?
Stand tall. Literally. Practice posture, grounding your feet, and softening your shoulders. Do you cross your legs when you are seated? See how it feels instead to sit with your legs apart. It may trigger some shame, a story of being unladylike - even alone at home! Your body is nothing to be ashamed of.
Boldly Start Something New
Aries and The Emperor are both aligned with the element of fire—the spark of will, passion, courage, and initiative. In the tarot, fire lives in the Suit of Wands, which governs creativity, movement, and bold beginnings. The Ace of Wands, in particular, is like a divine matchstrike—raw potential, waiting for ignition.
This energy is fearless, but not because it has all the answers. It’s fearless because it’s willing to begin.
Wearing the color red can help you feel more energetic and powerful. I wear this Red Chrysoberyl stone bracelet to amplify my fire energy.
Right now, we’re about to enter the first quarter of the calendar year, but on the Wheel of the Year, we’re just beginning. This is sacred “seed time”—and The Emperor and Aries both say: plant the thing. Take the step. Speak the truth.
What’s something you’d love to do, but haven’t started because it feels too messy, too uncertain, or too imperfect?
Aries isn’t a perfectionist. Aries doesn’t need a step-by-step plan. Aries just needs a spark and a reason.
Begin at the start. Go first. Let it be clumsy, brave, awkward, real. Let it live.
Set a Boundary—and Keep It
The Fours in Tarot are masters of saying no. They understand that stillness, containment, and sovereignty are essential to growth. Just like The Emperor, they create sacred structure—not by pushing outward, but by holding firm.
Too often, we say yes to things that drain our energy, just to be “nice.”
For example, working when sick, agreeing to attend events you're not interested in, or simply not being able to say - I need space.
But kindness without boundaries becomes resentment. And that helps no one.
You do not need to apologize for having limits. You do not need to justify your rest, your no, or your decision to tend to yourself first. A boundary is not a wall—it’s a doorway into a more honest connection.
One good clue that it’s time to call in your inner Emperor is when you feel a rush of shame, guilt, or fear around setting a limit. That sticky, sinking feeling that says, If I say no, will they still like me? Will I still be safe?
That’s the moment to take a breath and remember: The Emperor protects what matters. You are what matters.
When I struggle to hold a boundary, I visualize The Emperor—not as the stern, armored figure on a stone throne, but as that great sequoia from the Wild Unknown deck. Unmoving. Rooted. Silent, but full of presence. It reminds me that I’m allowed to take up space without always being available. That I’m allowed to be solid.
Your energy is sacred. Your time is finite. And your boundaries are a gift—not just to you, but to everyone who loves the real you.
Create a Structure for Something That Matters
The Emperor isn’t just about control—he’s about care. He reminds us that the structures we build are not meant to cage us in but to support what truly matters.
In my own life, structure has been both a struggle and a salvation. I have ADHD that went undiagnosed until after college. Before I was able to name and treat that, my ideas would scatter, my energy would leak, and I floundered. Once I was treated, I was able to create real structure within my brain's natural tendencies.
Boundaries create space—and structure creates momentum.
A few years ago, I started a very simple morning practice: Wim-Hoff breathwork for fifteen minutes, a gentle meditation, followed by 15 minutes of journaling. That small structure shifted everything. It wasn’t about perfection or performance—it was about remembering myself before the world got loud.
The Emperor would love that. He’d also approve of a cold plunge challenge, a regular writing schedule, or even just committing to walk the same trail each morning and notice how it changes.
What matters is that you show up with intention.
So ask yourself: What would support you in staying consistent—without becoming rigid? What kind of structure would help you honor your energy, your creativity, or your healing?
It might be a time block on your calendar. It might be a rhythm you follow, even loosely. It might be a quiet promise you make to yourself—I will keep showing up.
The Emperor wants you to thrive, not burn out. He wants you to build something real with your fire.
And he knows the only way to do that is one clear step at a time.
The Emperor offers us a throne. Aries hands us the flame. But it’s up to us to claim the ground beneath our feet and decide how we want to fill it.
“Taking up space” might sound like a bold, even intimidating idea—but in practice, it’s often quiet, subtle, and deeply personal.
I’m sending you fire, steadiness, creativity, and love as you explore—and expand—your sacred boundaries this season!
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