2020 has, for lack of a better term, been a hell of a year. It has been a time of intense upgrades and much turmoil in face of collective challenges not faced by the global community at this scale for generations. According to tarot numerology, 2020 has been the year of The Emperor. On January 7, 2020, we posted a piece analyzing this correspondence called “The Emperor & Year 2020: What Does it Mean?” Several esteemed guests of the tarot community contributed some wonderful quotes on Emperor 2020 to the article, I thank them again for their contribution. Half a year has gone by since that publication. Today’s post, on the halfway mark to the end of the year, looks back at our findings and compares them to how this year has gone so far.
This year has seen a pandemic the likes of which humanity had not seen for almost a century. The political, social and economic repercussions in the forms of lockdowns, extreme social controls, and shutting down of economies present some unprecedented scenarios in contemporary history. At some point, the vast majority of human beings on planet Earth were similarly affected and under similar government-mandated restrictions at the same time. This has been a global event of tremendous scale. The novel coronavirus took over the planet, has stressed health care systems worldwide (or outright broke them), causing a wave of disease and death. Our systems are being pushed to their limits. The inherent flaws of our hyper capitalistic, egotistical social systems were exposed. Governments have shown their power and hammered down on populations with all their ability to control.
In the midst of economic downturns, the stock markets have continued going up, revealing for all to see how inflated the market is and how it is falsely built on the back of the workers for the gain of the richest of the rich. The unstable, oligarchic platforms upon which our economic system has been built have been shown.
“…this year, for many of us, will be about doing deep groundwork, and removing from the ground whatever rocks, weeds and junk are keeping the soil of our lives from growing abundantly. … It means shaking off the years-old layers of dust, and the burdens of oppression, so that our true Ground may be found. From there, we can build stable structures upon our lives again.”
The Emperor and Year 2020: What Does it Mean?
Governments have shown their tyrannical and hyper authoritarian tendencies. With the rise of nationwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality, the authorities hammered down with an iron fist. Racism and supremacy gnarled their teeth in a very public, undeniable way. We can all see it. The evil does not even try to hide itself anymore. The Emperor has been linked to the patriarchy, and 2020 has parted the curtains and allowed us to see in new light the pertinent, cruel, shadow patriarchal structures upon which our world is build.
But Emperor and its ruling sign, Aries, can also impart the world with new light. Aries energy gives us power to initiate, and Emperor vibrates as a new platform for us to rebuild. The virus has forced humanity to make some truly positive changes and, in some ways, contributed to our evolution of our species. Much of our uncalled-for waste and pollution has been exposed. Much of our outdated, unnecessary, and environmentally harmful levels of travel and movement have been exposed. We have been forced to upgrade our use of technology to create an even more connected global mental sphere. The commute of millions and billions of people to work has been proven in many cases pointless—the cat is out of the bag. We have found new appreciation for our ability to move and be free on this planet.
“The Emperor for 2020 is a leveling and a restart. After all, this card is ruled by Aries, the sign of a new beginning in the cycle of the zodiac. This is the Big Bang that gives rise to the Cosmos. This is an unapologetic birth. Related thus to the Fire element, The Emperor connects us to pure Spirit, and to the sense of order and structure that pervades the universe. This year invites us to take down our flimsy foundations, and to build while connected to the true Ground of Being. We leave behind our fundamental lies, our outgrown beliefs, our comfortable half-truths, our modes of being that are not in accordance to the good of all life and all beings. Whereas The Emperor has been linked to the patriarchy; to oppressive political authority; and destructive worldly systems; we reclaim that power. The Emperor invites us to step into our utmost power, by being directly tapped into the true spiritual Ground, and in doing so, protecting and bringing stability to a world in the verge of chaos.”
The Emperor and Year 2020: What Does it Mean?
Amidst a grave worsening of race issues and oppression, and empowered by the new generations, anti-racist efforts have gained a new wave of support not only in the United States, but in many nations that joined in protest. Whereas culture had tried to convince us that race inequality was a thing of the past, 2020 has shown us that it is still very much present in even deeper, pervasive ways, because it feeds on ignorance and lack of action. Race oppression has festered within the veil of a false sense of accomplishment. Supremacy is on the rise. A new Civil Rights movement has emerged before our very eyes. The kind of stuff that we remember from history books—it is happening again, and we are part of it.
In its lower vibe, the Emperor becomes the dictator, someone who is hellbent on absolute control. Instead of looking out for the collective, the focus is on “what’s in it for me” and ego. This could lead to the rise of authoritarianism. As the saying goes “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” We must guard against this.
Theresa Reed, the Tarot Lady, for The Emperor and Year 2020: What Does it Mean?
2020, as we understood, has been truly about digging up the putrid foundations of not only our personal, but our collective lives, and building a new world. The Emperor speaks of order. Here, we are building a new order to replace the old one. We are upending the existing thrones and enshrining a new one for the people. This digging up has not come about out of our own collective accord—instead, it has been precipitated by global and nationwide events, from the pandemic, to the new displays of police brutality against African Americans and racial minorities. This sudden, catastrophic change of circumstances calls upon The Tower energy. After all, The Emperor, being connected to Aries, is therefore also linked to the ram’s ruling planet, Mars. Mars, in turn, ruled over The Tower. 2020 has been and will continue being a year of heavily Martian influences. In fact, Mars has recently entered its home base of Aries, and will remain there until 2021. That is half a year of forceful yet potentially empowering action, even at the cost of destruction. It is no wonder that 2020 has at times felt like a war zone.
In our personal lives, how have these themes of destruction and rebuilding showed up? 2020’s relentless series of events have served as once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to reexamine our lives. Many of us had no choice but to re-think or re-build their lines of work, their relationships, their livelihood. Wherever we are on the globe, we have been called to reexamine our relationships to race inequality, and our support for systems of racial oppression. Whereas we often try to encapsulate our lives and live a life that is to a point “independent” of what is happening on Earth, 2020 has not given us that option. We were all affected in tangible ways in one way or another. 2020 has highlighted our interconnectedness and associated vulnerabilities. That makes sense, since The Emperor is also related to the Divine Masculine sense of order and structure of the Cosmos. Our individual parts in the collective structure of existence have revealed their importance.
High vibration Emperor energy embraces and cares for all with justice and compassion. Amidst the absolutely horrifying actions that have taken place in the public stage, countless souls have also risen up to the occasion to save lives, to fight to accountability and justice, to speak truth to power. Whereas the cosmic Emperor seems to have stricken 2020 with the wrath of its shadow sides, such as oppression and usurped control; many of us have met that force by embodying the liberating and just aspects of this card.
By looking at the half of 2020 that is behind us, we can only nod to the fact that yes, this has truly been an Emperor year. And it is not over yet. For the remaining months left, we are called to continue engaging with that same deep work—uncovering the dusty, heavy blocks that serve as a foundation of our individual lives and of our society; revealing the cracks and the rotten platforms upon which we are built; and finding power and courage to tear them down and reconstruct.
In 2021, we will need stronger foundations more than ever. It is a Hierophant year, bearing the energy of Number 5. This is a digit that can indicate contractions, conflicts, and hurdles. We will be undying some difficult knots in 2021. For the rest of 2020, we are called to build up our strength.
Related:
2020 is a Master Portal [5 year zodiac sequence]
The Emperor and Year 2020: What Does it Mean?