The Emperor is perhaps the alchemist of the tarot.
Literally, the alchemist is the hero whose mission is the “Great Work”. And the philosopher's stone, the object of his quest, gives him absolute mastery over matter... synonymous with eternal life. In Jung, the “Great Work” represents the journey of the soul, where when it is transmuted into gold, the operator achieves awakening. And in the tarot, the Emperor is the being who acquires mastery of the four elementary components of his nature (matter, emotions, passions and intellect). In doing so, it is accomplished in full awareness and in unconditional love.
Like the Empress, the Emperor embodies the sacred masculine. “Father” to himself and to others, he bears the attributes of quiet strength. This iron fist in a velvet glove ensures the safety and well-being of his tribe. If the Empress is the triangle, the Emperor is the square. In this configuration, a square contained in an equilateral triangle, it is exactly half of the universe.
But otherwise, it would be the matter swallowing up the mind: antimatter, the black hole. This is the difference between “authority” and “tyranny”.
According to "Charles V received by François I at the abbey of Saint-Denis", Antoine-Jean Gros (1811 - 1816)
