The Spirit of the Tarot. Claudine Aegerter

being, starts finding its place in the scheme of things and this is relevant to Number 4. So here the Number 4 (the one that is born out of the 3 of Active Intelligence) will, through sheer endur ance, bring the chaos of the aeons of experience that is in the crea tive experiment, into the cohesive, harmonious and symbiotic life of our Solar System; thus it corresponds to the idea of the fourth ray, harmony through conflict. In this way the 4 can reflect the perfect dance of the cosmos, so that in time a new phase of self-awareness in nature can prevail. The initiate has to become The Emperor in his world.

      At this stage, mental focus has to be held. The mind has to work outside the emotions, needs and wants. If it does not it would eas ily be diverted by the monstrous shadow rising out of the depth of matter, as the lighted mind reveals the many survival tricks of nature’s darkest past. The Emperor has to bring the light, will, force and power into matter so that matter can be organised out of chaos and acquire the possibility of seeing its own spirituality. The Emperor has to achieve all of that without using any kind of weapons.

      If we understand that the law of 3 is the blue-print for divine creation, then we can look at the procession of the cards, 1 to 22 as they are organised by this law.

      (Note in this table that we are using the following convention; in numerology we reduce a double digit number into one, by adding its digits together.)

      If we look at the first descending column, starting with the 1, 4, 7 and continuing with 10/1, 13/4, 16/7, 19/1 and 20/2, this shows the procession of 1, 4, 7, 1, 4, 7, 1, 4. Here we go from the vision that becomes viable, to its perfect manifestation which is a mirror back to the vision. The 4, born out of the 3 and the 7, is the result of the 1 fusing into the 6.

      Equally the middle column 2, 5, 8, 11/2, 14/5, 17/8 and 22, shows the procession of 2, 5, 8, 2, 5, 8, 2, which speaks of the journey from the divine wisdom to the scientific inquisitive mind of man, then back to its karmic work of fusing higher intelligence and wisdom.

      Finally the right hand column gives us 3, 6, 9, 12/3, 15/6, 18/9 and 21/3, which is 3, 6, 9, 3, 6, 9, and 3. This represents Active Intel ligence perfecting the finished vehicle of the Holy Grail (which is represented by the 6), so that it can mirror itself back to its Source.

      When we add up the lines horizontally, they all come to 6; the perfect number. It represents the perfect beauty of the ultimate mes sage for creation, the six days of the scriptures.

      The initiate’s transition from the 3 to the 4 is encapsulated in the symbol of the energy of the 34/7, which can be described as sys tematic, organised, spiritual growth; this describes faithfully this movement in time. The steady mind of The Emperor knows this transformation will take time; he has the strong balance of care and tough love, necessary to meet the responsibility of the task.

      The Emperor’s main quality is misericord. He has known the deepest despair and found mankind’s condition wretched until, with his mind, he has transmuted the despair into wisdom, through the acceptance and understanding of our place in the universe. With this quality he takes on the burden of our pain as he pushes us towards crucifixion, for he knows that we cannot be free of our miserable ignorance if we do not pass through to the next level of initiation. He can only do this work with love; otherwise he would be a dogmatic tyrant.

      This quality of mind (misericord) is the result of being completely at one with the misery of mankind, for when we have done it all, seen it all and risen above it, then, on our descent, we understand every single atom in humanity’s body that is going through mis ery. This work is beyond dogma, it is the karmic will implemented. We will not feel the love aspect until we find a harmonious blend of understanding and acceptance. The righteousness and sever ity of The Emperor are the obvious qualities of the 4, but when we perceive it as true service and love; we can apply misericord to the way we look at people and situations, rendering life so much more generous.

      The Emperor’s visionary mind has to crystallise into matter the quality of mind which is self-aware in the 5. He knows that he has to have the clarity of reflecting the Trinity into the future; this has to happen in matter. He is not matter, but represents that phase in our life when we have had an idea, we have seen some light, we have come home to our true self at some level and then we have to imple ment it. From the 4 to the 5, which can be seen as a 45, we have mis ericord or the deepest wisdom coming out of the deepest despair. The Emperor has to reflect and implement harmony out of conflict. Mankind has to have dominion over his own nature.

      The Emperor’s most important tool is intuition. He has to receive the concept from the 3 (Active Intelligence) and with as little compro mise as possible, bring the vision into the building bricks of matter. He wears a helmet on his head to protect this quality of intuition, for he might fall into the heavy mindsets of the past and go back into self-interest.

      We are in a thick soup of self-survival and self-interest; we have to be aware of that all the time. We can kid ourselves that we have let go of most of our own protective behaviour, but when we really have let it go we don’t know that we have! It is when we are no longer concerned about what others think of us physically, emotionally or spiritually that we can follow the greater will and have no interest in what the world is thinking about us.

      The Emperor has the world on his shoulders. The 4, 5 and 6 rep resent man or humanity. Looking at it esoterically mankind comes first in order, so the primal idea is mankind. Maintaining dominion is what is being looked for in the story of the evolution through the different kingdoms. Humanity was already conceived in the mind of God in the original space, but it was the way to bring it into being which wasn’t truly fathomed. The physical shape that humanity would take was immaterial; the important thing was that it should be the best possible instrument to serve the great life. The world of nature is not a principle, it is the fleeting moment of sensation and a step towards the gem of mankind; this is the Number 5 in the mid dle that can use all the senses, including the higher ones, to perceive what is. Humanity is the one that has to keep on discriminating and going through fire by using the power of truth and honesty, so as to eventually become useful as a witness.

      When you read the Ancient Wisdom, there is always the idea that man came first, which is the opposite of what biology tells us. This is because the idea or the initial concept was of a creature that could become completely aware, so that God could see himself. The animals are experimental steps on the way to man. We have the ani mal instincts, but because of the addiction to sensation we have mis used these pure instincts, so until we have restored and mastered the right use of the instincts, we have to watch ourselves.

      The difficulty for the 4 comes from the fact that all the tiniest details of manifestation have to be recorded, yet it must not be taken in by the picture, or outer appearance. When the 4 finds its uplift in the 13/4 it sees the complete vision, then in the steady opening of the channel of the 22/4, we have the perfect vibration for all the esoteric schools to be used as channels for intuition.

      Many people often misuse their intellect and so we see that they have no idea of boundaries, politeness, or how to help and serve; these are the qualities of the right use of the intellect. They are not aware of their immediate environment, or their historic or scientific background. If we haven’t got the boundaries of the intellect that provide a structure, we only think of our immediate self-gratification rather than the bigger picture of our destiny. Because of this we make mistakes and don’t take responsibility for them. This leads to hav ing no boundaries and not wanting to grow up, and then eventually we will learn through our own mistakes to square again and become our own Emperors. The people who have adhered to those bounda ries are applying the laws of The Emperor.

      The Emperor holds the karmic law. He comes after The Empress, who represents supreme intelligence, universal consciousness and is the Mother of all. She offers us all the possibilities of a virtual world. In the journey of the 1 to 3, everything is seen and is possible, so there is expansion. A 3 that doesn’t expand is a 3 that uses a shal low intellectual energy and so eventually goes into self-destruction, for we cannot regenerate ourselves if we stay at the surface. The 4