Comparative Tarot

Depiction:
As I have already stated in a number of my card reviews for this deck, the cards in this deck are all real-life, unretouched & unenhanced photographs. So this card is simply, yet powerfully, a majestic shot of Mr. Eagle... and he must be a RW eagle as he is shown in frontal view, not in profile [g]

Ted Andrews: pp 26-27 [snip]
"One of the largest birds of prey, the eagle is often seen as a sacred symbol of authority-- mundane and spiritual. There are four categories of eagles, a number long symbolic of balance and authority in the mundane world. The eagle is a symbol of heroic nobility, vision, and healing and its lore is filled with mysticism.

Eagles see eight to ten times better than humans, and so their appearance always reflects new vision. Things seen poorly before will become clearer.

The appearance of the eagle reflects a need to look at things from a new perspective and to take a different course of action for new health and life to unfold.

The feet of the eagle, with talons, are designed to grasp and hunt, representing the importance of taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves... Those with eagles showing up must learn to see their opportunites and must snatch them as they arise.

Eagle teaches us vision while staying grounded. It teaches the laying of a solid foundation before trying to soar.

Questions to Ask:
Are we not accepting our responsibilities?
Is there a lack of control or a lack of self-discipline?"

My take:
Given that you can accept animals to portray archetypes at all, I don't think anyone will have any trouble relating to Eagle as The Emperor. Especially when the eagle is pictured in one way or another on so many of The Emperor cards.

My problem is seeing this as both a mundane and a spiritual card. There are a lot of cards in the tarot deck that are incredibly spiritual, but I have always seen The Emperor as very very mundane.

Those eagle *traits* that are very emperor-like to me are: Power, authority, regal carriage, the ability to be aware of and seize opportunities, etc. Vision I can also accept as I think that all true leaders should have vision. And The Emperor is a consummate leader. But healing is just not something that I put in The Emperor's portfolio. I see healing as being a trait better attributed to Strength and a few other cards and/or card combinations.

I also found the link to the number four [i.e. "four categories of eagles"] to be an interesting correlation. In the majority of decks The Emperor is very much a Four.

Valerie
shamnaar@aol.com

Comparative Tarot
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