IV The Universal Father

Tarot traditionalists will remember IV as The Emperor. For all the reasons stated in the description of The Universal Mother, I have chosen to universalize this card into an archetype with which we can all resonate more clearly, The Father.

While the other Mother and Father cards of the deck represents aspects of men and women acting in the world, the archetypal parents, The Universal Mother and Father, represent potent distillations of the concepts of being Mother and being Father. Water Father, for example, represents the feeling aspect of male energy in the world, Metal Father, the will power that can be expressed by man in his integrity. Universal Father takes all the energies, all the aspects into account as Universal Mother does on the female side of things.

I have my favorite images in this deck just as any mother, though she may hesitate to admit it, has favorite children. My favorite images are the ones I was able to find that absolutely, perfectly express the concepts of the traditional tarot as seen through my non-traditional eyes. This image, for The Universal Father, is such an image. In it we see caring, tenderness, strength, devotion, concern and submission to his role. We know, because of what we see, that this man will both treasure and guard the precious responsibility which he has helped to bring into being.

The potency of the image echoes perfectly the potency of the card, the essence of man responsible to his own integrity, responsible to that which he has set into action, responsible to being human. This is a powerfully human card and brings strength to any reading.