"IV The Emperor" THOTH TAROT CARD and "Knight of cups" THOTH TAROT CARD: READING/s. These cards were pulled as a double reading. The Order of the reading is from left to right

 

As noted with Aleister Crowley's "Knight of Disks" Tarot reading, displaying Crowley's interest in Right Wing power, be it the technological prowess of the 1900s.  Which was advancements in warfare.  Unfortunately, the Age of Enlightenment was a period in time that humanity began to believe that technology would set us free, and science and knowledge holds all the answers to progression.   Of course, this has also lead to a distortion within the sciences, to justify superiority i.e, Fascism, and imperialism fueled global conflicts.  That human desire to be overly structured and controlled.   Crowley was not a counterculture figure, nor any revolutionary persona, his passing in 1947 left us with his Thelema religion, which was Crowley's legacy, that attracted some of the Beatniks, and artists of the 1950s.  And his most famous adherent was Jack Parsons, a rocket engineer who accidently blew himself up 1952.  Crowley's drug induced mishmash of Freemasonry, Western esoteric and Eastern mythology, was more aligned with proto-fascist overtures than not.  Yet, this was before the 1960s counterculture movements, and sexual liberation hedonism of the 1970s and early 1980s, where the male dominated societies of yesteryear took a backseat, and ceremonial occultism was left in the history books.  Witchcraft, and Satanism (even with its theatrics) of the said eras, offered a creative outlet of an understanding of the feminine away from the oppression of the theocratic, and its ceremonial imprint of the importance of equality, and of course peace.  Crowley, despite his importance in Occultist studies, was very much a product of his time.

Reading:

Be wary of the structured male, as he is warring in nature and controlling in desire.  This is not the masculine, like the feminine they are beyond the material world.  And even though you are nothing, the feminine and masculine combined offer guidance to the material world.  Yet, the Emperor in all his arrogance sits upon his throne, and lays claim to authority.  That he knows best, yet he is no master.  Otherwise he would have turned his back on you, to learn the path is to know the self.  I have no answers.  And when he holds the material world as an object, under an arrogance of superiority, offering structure and control.  It will be at your peril.  Do you fear nature?  You shouldn't, yet the Emperor does and denies that we could be annihilated by nature, thus it is his fearful emotion that is destructive by his folly, rather than create and learn from nature.  He wishes to tame the wild beasts, the card explains the theory of being governed.  See the Two Rams either side, with the lamb below holding the flag.  The male, when deluded by his own stupor believes that he can control the unruly feminine.  She is not, but the flame of existence, she knew chaos, as the feminine lives peacefully within the chaotic world.  He, fears this.  Be it that meditation, without the material body is control of the self and acceptance of a chaotic nature.  So I say again, be wary of the "Tzaddi", the righteous one, be wary of the governing male, be wary of the leader, be wary of the authority of man.  Be wary of the one that offers peace, through war.  As his conspiracies of superiority, will be revealed in his madness.  You may reverse the card if you wish, and turn the Emperor into a pitiful mortal.  If you choose to reject structure and control, and embrace the chaotic energy, you will embrace peace.  Because you will have no fear.  And the power of the self, despite it being fleeting, is rejection of his governing world.  As self destruction, is its end.  

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Although a more passive card, as opposed to the abundance of militant and Fascist court cards from the Thoth Tarot, the Knight of Cups does however reflect Aleister Crowley's (d1947) judgey qualities when offering his saintly mythological characters, who are usually always male.  Which would be attune to Crowley's own gnostic and Christian beliefs that have been interfused with his version of Occult practises.  Which prior to the countercultures of the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s had moral standards that were more aligned with Judeo-Christian beliefs than not.  Occultists after and during the Age of Enlightenment saw themselves as proponents of elevated spirituality over the more traditional theocratic belief structures, while sharing the same moral principles.  So, with that being said, Crowley's irritating contradictions of his own moral standards maybe derived from his psychosis driven amphetamine use, who also advocated sexual rituals with his Thelma religion, which was mostly taken from Left Hand path Hindu and Buddhist Tantric practices of using sex as a way to enlightenment, when Crowley visited Tibet in 1905.

The Knight of Cups very much has a self resenting and self judging element to it, which is interesting when compared against the more aggressive Thoth Tarot cards advocating strength and aggression, as though Crowley is judging his passive or feminine side and interests in various intoxication and sexual rituals, he offers a clue with this explanation (Knight of Cups) from the The Book of Thoth :

"When the card is ill dignified, he is sensual, idle and untruthful. Yet with all this he possesses an innocence and purity which are the essence of his nature. But he is, on the whole, so superficial that it is hard to reach this depth. “His name is writ in water...Swiftness and violence ill suit a character naturally placid; it is rare indeed to meet with a person who has succeeded in harmonizing these conflicting elements. He tends to mismanage all his affairs; and unless sheer good fortune attend him, his whole career will be an unbroken record of failure and disaster. Often his mental “civil war” ends in schizophrenia or melancholy madness. The abuse of stimulants and narcotics may precipitate the catastrophe."

A little harsh, don't you think?  Considering the artwork for the card.  Let me see if I can redeem the "Knight of Cups".

Reading:

Who are the worst at judging others?  The ones drowning in sin.  Be honest, be free.  The Knight Holds the Cup towards the heavens, the crab representing Cancer, the sign of water.  Water being the great purifier.  If you indulge in the forbidden, then why do you hide it?  The Knight is honest, he is lead North by his desires, to taste the indulgence, let it be temporary.  Yet he may toy with you, ask what new sensations are to be had, and you may hide your wine and desire and say in feigned judgment, 'do not try and escape this reality'.  But, the Knight is astute, that his high is only for solitude, and to the layman it is for social confusion.   The Knight has already ascended from the material realm, and if he does face South and the card is reversed, he is indeed the fallen, and does so with wryly wit.  It's illuminating spirit is unmistakable, as it is of the great antagonizer and unsettler to the arrogance of man.  If you see the Knight of Cups sitting alone, enjoying sin.  Be wary of inviting the Knight to sit with you, he will play with your contradictions, make you judge his actions and question your own.  Unless you indulge as well.  The Knight of Cups represents freedom of choice.

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(A.Glass 2023, 2024, 2025)

All Thoth Tarot readings to date:  chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/search/label/Thoth%20Tarot%20reading