The Emperor

Back at the top of the Zodiac, we've made it to the Emperor, a card representing Aries! 

Traditionally, the Emperor cards depicts a man (presumably, the Emperor) sitting upon a large stone thrown adorned with four rams' head (oh, hi Aries!) In his right hand, he holds an ankh, and in his left is an orb. Our individual decks at the shop vary: Bryce (Rust Belt Arcana) has a large fish (perhaps a sturgeon) protecting eggs (or maybe tadpoles?) Kelley (Over the Garden Wall/Stitcher's Tarot) has Quincy Endicott on a throne, and a ball of yarn being held by a hand that also holds an ankh and a knitting needle, with a crown on top of the ball of yarn. Chelsea (Weird Cat Tarot) has a cat holding an ankh, but no rams, nor orb. Ashley (Yarn Tarot) has a traditional looking card, but with two full grown rams, rather than four heads decorating the thrown. 

The Emperor card is the father archetype - upright, it is authority, establishment, structure. Reversed, it is domination, excessive control, a lack of discipline, and inflexibility. Upright is giving father, reversed is maybe giving... daddy? (Sorry, sorry)

Pulling the Emperor card upright is generally pretty positive - maybe there are people who view you as an authority figure or a leader. Maybe you're the breadwinner, or somebody's "rock". There's a lot of stability, a demand for respect. It could be that you are either looking for recognition or it's coming to you soon. You have a clear vision of what you want to create and you have a mind that is able to create order out of chaos. With that created order, there is perhaps some rigidity, rules and regulations as well. 

There is also an element of wisdom in the Emperor - after all, a father figure is a mentor, a coach, a teacher, a leader, and to do that well, one must have knowledge of how to lead. 

But with every upright pull, there is a potential for it be reversed - what is your relationship to power? Are you not wielding it as you should? Are you expressing too much? Too little? Are you a petty tyrant? After all, while the Emperor is a father figure, it also represents Aries, the baby of the Zodiac. How do you react to not getting what you want? 

It's important to wield power, with a balance. Are people looking to you as a leader and are you shying away from it? Or are you abusing the power gifted to you? Or, is the Emperor reversed asking you to stand up to authority? The beautiful thing about naiveté is that ability to question why? Why must we accept the powers that be as they are? 

Ultimately the Emperor card, representative of fiery Aries, is a question of authority around you - yours, your dad's, your boss'. Dad may know a lot, but he doesn't know everything, and to come into your own, it's worth pushing back to see where the cracks in his wisdom are.

Our Emperor yarn is a masculine imagining of our Aries yarn. It has warm reds, oranges, and yellows, with speckling of deep brown. 

BASES:

Chester Mini Skein: 20g, 87 yards, 75% super wash merino/25% nylon
Hattie Floof: 50g, 437 yards, 70% Superkid mohair/30% silk (lace weight)
Chester Sock: 100g, 437 yards, blend of 75% superwash merino/25% nylon
Gladys Shawl: 100g, 438 yards, single ply blend of 70% superwash merino/30% silk
Tortie Sport: 100g, 287 yards, 80% alpaca/20% silk
Minnie DK: 100g, 246 yards, 100% superwash merino wool 
Genny Worsted: 100g, 191 yards, 80% superwash merino/20% alpaca
Chubby Trevor: 115g, 136 yards, 100% superwash merino
Chunky Trevor: 100g, 76 yards, 80% superwash merino/20% nylon, single ply
Summer Fingering: 65% silk/35% linen, 115g skein, approximately 438 yards
Summer DK: 65% silk/35% linen, 115g skein, approximately 246 yards
Summer Worsted: 65% silk/35% linen, 115g skein, approximately 181 yards
Piper Fiber: 85% Polwarth Wool/15% Tussah Silk, approximately 4oz braid of fiber for spinning, felting, etc