The Emperor & The Tower
The Emperor & The Tower
Analysis:
The Tower is associated with Mars and The Emperor is associated with Aries, which is ruled by Mars. This links them both to the element Fire. Fire is also visible in The tower, and in The Emperor, we see lots of fiery hues.
In some esoterically-oriented decks, the lightning bolt that fells The Tower is drawn to mimic the planetary glyph of Mars. Taking it a step further, the circular portion is sometimes filled in with the Sun, thereby depicting both the ruler of Aries (Mars) and the planet exalted therein (Sun).
Both cards touch on themes of stability, foundations, structure and form.
Large stone structures are visible in each image. The jagged rock in The Emperor is also similar to the jagged rock in The Tower.
We see crowns in each image.
The slightest allusion to water is made in both cards. In The Emperor, we see a very thin stream behind the throne. In The Tower, we see Yods falling from the sky, mimicking rain.
The path attributed to The Emperor is often known as the Stable Intelligence, while that of The Tower is known as the Exciting Intelligence. The former can be said to condense energy into a stabilized form, while the latter "awakens" the senses into action. In this regard, one might even link The Tower to the sympathetic nervous system, and The Emperor to its parasympathetic counterpart — which makes sense, since The Tower can certainly evoke those fight or flight instincts when it appears in a reading!
In the BOTA Tarot material, Paul Foster Case links The Tower to the "awakening" stage of spiritual unfoldment, while The Emperor, via his connection to Aries and the vernal equinox, could be said to mark the re-awakening of nature in the spring following its period of rest in winter.
The square and the number 4 are often seen to symbolize man-made structures, much like The Tower. Try as we may to maintain these artificial forms that demonstrate our apparent dominion over nature, change and dis-integration are inevitable.
4, the number of The Emperor, is the square root of 16, the number of The Tower. Both numbers are associated with the planetary square of Jupiter, and if we add them together, we arrive at a sum of 20, the value of the Hebrew letter Kaph (כ), also linked to Jupiter via The Wheel of Fortune. This is especially interesting when we recall that Mars and Jupiter are classically considered to be disharmonious forces.
The number 4 can be linked to the falling Yods depicted on The Tower in a few different ways — there are 12 on the left side of the tower (12÷3=4), 10 on the right side (1+2+3+4=10), and 22 in total (2+2=4). If we go a step further, and multiply the number of Yods (22) by the letter's value (10), we arrive at a sum of 220, which, when divided by 4, produces 55, which reduces to 10, linking the entire sequence back to 4 once again.
The Path of Peh (פ), linked to The Tower, connects the sphere of Hod to the sphere of Netzach on the Tree of Life. Hod is often thought of as the rational, problem-solving faculty — much like The Emperor is linked to reason — while Netzach is seen as the creative, emotional aspect of mind. When these two faculties fall out of balance, it is easy to see how a breakdown in communication can occur, both within ourselves and in our encounters with others. As we all know, we can find ourselves blinded by our intellectual biases just as easily as our passions. The Emperor himself demonstrates the balance that can be struck between these two seemingly contrary aspects of self, as this strikingly masculine figure is linked to the feminine letter of the Tetragrammaton, Heh (ה).
While we're on the theme of communication, we can arrive at an interesting notion by reading the two letter names together as hieroglyphs — the words that come out of our mouth (פ) offer others a window (ה) into our soul.
The letters פ and ה combine to form the letter name of Peh itself (פה), which has a value of 85 — the same number as that of HaYesod (ה יסוד) or The Foundation, perhaps signifying the importance of "building upon a sure foundation," both literally and figuratively. Interestingly, the number 85 is also the value of Milah (מלה), which means "to cut away" or "to castrate," and is linked to the Bris Milah or rite of circumcision in Hebrew culture — which has an interesting connotation when we look at the phallic imagery of The Tower. Milah can also be translated as "word," which has its own significance, given the Tower's connection to the faculty of speech via the letter name of Peh (mouth). 85 reduces further to 13, the number of the Death card — another Martial trump — before reducing once again to 4.
What do YOU see???
Possible Interpretation:
The Emperor and The Tower seem to spell out a tale as old as time. Empires (in whatever sense) rising to power, only to fall in a very dramatic, albeit inevitable way. We don’t think it has to be so dramatic, but, it often is because we don’t know when to let things go! This duo reminds us of the classic poker advice that says you gotta know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em”!
We also see this beautiful dichotomy taking place between order and chaos - two sides of the same coin. As Picasso said, “every act of creation is first an act of destruction”. I think especially when we think of fire’s potential, we can really see how this plays out. Fire creates energy and momentum and gives warmth, but too much and it’s burning down the house. Together, these cards ask us to understand that even the things we think we have under control, are no opponent to nature herself. Eventually, even that which we grip tight, will be washed away with a big enough storm. No form, structure or empire is meant to endure forever.
Another way to view this combo is through the fable, The Emperor’s New Clothes. Sometimes we can be fooled by the allure of status and “prestige”, but, with a quick lightning strike, things may be illuminated and suddenly, we see what’s really going on. In the original story, it took a small child to tell the truth of what was happening, but we’re all capable of it - sometimes it just takes a Tower-like shock to bring that truth to light.