Hard to Relate

[Joan Marie]

There have been discussions here about which card is the most negative for you or that you hate seeing the most.

I have a kind of different question.

Which card do just find it really difficult to relate to?
I mean a card that when you see it you just draw a blank.

For me it is the Emperor card.

I'm sitting here trying to think about why that is and even that causes me to draw a blank.

However, if I'm really honest, I probably do know.

I don't get a bad feeling from it. I just can't relate to this figure of a man who is so accomplished and so secure. A man who has taken his place in the world, not with arrogance, but with wisdom and grace. He's beyond being competitive or striving. He still has much to do, much is expected of him. I don't even get the sense that he "knows" everything. But he has a wisdom that is constantly being called upon. And he knows how to summon it, how to actively, and effectively, employ it. He's not always looking for his advantage, but for what will be best overall and for the long term.

Writing this just now has given me more insight into this card than I ever had. But I still don't quite grasp it. Especially in the context of spreads and readings and what he may be bringing to the table.

Maybe it is the card we have the most trouble with that has the most to tell us.

What about you? Which card(s) always seem to just stare back at you?

[Ciderwell]

The Emperor card

I don't get a bad feeling from it. I just can't relate to this figure of a man who is so accomplished and so secure. A man who has taken his place in the world, not with arrogance, but with wisdom and grace. He's beyond being competitive or striving. He still has much to do, much is expected of him. I don't even get the sense that he "knows" everything. But he has a wisdom that is constantly being called upon. And he knows how to summon it, how to actively, and effectively, employ it. He's not always looking for his advantage, but for what will be best overall and for the long term.

Maybe you're giving the Emperor too much admiration.
Looking at the RWS and how the higher arcana cards might fit into groupings of three. Matching colours and motifs sets the first group as, The Empress, The Fool, The Magician. This then puts The Emperor between The Priestess (columns), and The Hierophant (pillars). The Emperor then shares a common characteristic with The Fool.

Based on this grouping assumption, it follows: The Chariot, Wheel of Fortune, Strength -> The Hanged Man, Justice, The Hermit -> The Devil, The Tower, Death -> The Sun, The Star, The Moon -> Temperance, The Lovers, Judgement -> The World.

The World card is for me the one that stares back. It tells me I should be free and unfettered, to go forth and enjoy life to the full. But still my hang-ups, insecurities, and introversions, forever seem to hold me back.