The Emperor in the Tarot and the Senex Archetype

(Based on the representations found on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.)

As I work through the Tarot, I find the astrological associations occasionally puzzling and often contradictory. I have committed to memory Aries’ rulership over the Emperor, despite the card’s common associations with stability, rationality and structure. The stereotypes around the sign of Aries is that, while natural leaders, they are often impetuous, brash, and impulsive. As a cardinal-fire sign, Aries spark creativity or ignite ideas. This is obviously a very different energy than the more stoic depiction of the Emperor implies.

In my various travels, I have seen only one website suggesting an alternative possible astrological association for the Emperor card, namely that of Capricorn-Saturn. The two possible rulerships — Capricorn-Saturn and Aries-Mars — are polar opposites: winter versus spring, old man versus youth, senex versus puer. As James Hillman has shown, the senex archetype appears in images of the “holy or old wise man, the powerful father or grandfather, the great king, ruler, judge, ogre, counselor, elder, priest, hermit, outcast…” and the list continues (Hillman, A Blue Fire, 208). In a way, we might even see echoes of this wise senex figure through other Major Arcana figures, like the Hierophant, Justice, or the Hermit, despite their associations with Taurus, Libra, and Virgo respectively.

These figures all share traits of stability, wisdom, structure, and fatherly counsel. While certain…