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June is the month in which we celebrate Father's Day. This is a most difficult day for me, as I lost my father to Hodgkin's disease shortly before I turned thirteen. I was Daddy's little girl - he could do no wrong then, and can do no wrong now. ;-) Yes - I realize that I still see him through the eyes of a naive almost-teenager. My father was a good husband and a good father - without wanting to take any credit for either. He was a family man, a man who went to work every day, and did his stint at home in the yard, and did home and car repairs without a complaint.
How is the archetype of the father reflected in our lives, and in the Tarot? It is up to each of us to gain a personal understanding this archetype so that we can integrate it into our lives. The archetype of the father is that of, above all, the male essence of unconditional love. His energy is that of discipline, over self and others in his charge, as well as that of protector. He is a guide, as well as an authority figure. His energy often reflects the laws of cause and effect. Negatively aspected, this energy becomes one of criticism and disdain.
The father archetype within each of us is the energy that helps us make decisions, the energy that drives us to create that "safe place" around ourselves, and it is the energy that help us make decisions that affect others in our lives. It is that part of us that, along with the mother archetype, acts within a sense of community. Understanding the father archetype and how it plays out in our lives will go a long ways towards helping us to understand our decision making process, as well as "why" we are driven to construct our personal "safe places" as we do.
The father archetype in Tarot is generally accepted to be that of the Emperor, and to perhaps a lesser extent the four Kings, as they reflect the energy of the father through the different elements. I would like to add one more card - that of the Sun (called Father Sun in Native American mythology).
The Emperor is active, male energy. He is the one to implement the creative ideas of the Empress. He represents the ability to focus, make decisions, organize, and follow through with action. Energy and reason come together in the Emperor. He is ambitious, and he is a leader. One of his primary gifts in our life is that of controlling our emotions and allowing our reasoning selves to prevail. He is an authority figure, and as such, holds great power.
The Sun represents pure energy - bringing joy and the ability to acknowledge, accept and celebrate that which we have attained.
The King's each guide us through the wisdom of their respective elements. The King of Wands functions on an intuitive level - he brings us the energy to make the best of our creative selves, to follow our intuitive impressions through to their conclusion. The King of Cups functions on an emotional (feeling) level - he brings us the energy to express love - in relationship with ourselves and others. The King of Swords functions on an intellectual level - he brings us the energy of communicating with others, as well as that of logical thought. The King of Pentacles functions on the level of sensation - he brings us the energy of the authority figure into the everyday physical world, the world of work. He is practical, responsible to a fault, and exhibits a great deal of integrity.
Each of us has father figures in our physical lives - individuals that may be our biological fathers, or may be someone functions in this position. Each of us also carries this archetypal energy within ourselves, as part of the reflection of the Divine. Sometimes these relationship are nurturing, sometimes they are contentious. The following spread is a permutation of the spread that I offered for Mother's Day:
Honoring The Archetypal Mother was the beta version, so to speak, of a spread I developed around integrating the various aspects of the mother archetype into our lives. The following spread is an off-shoot, called Honoring The Archetypal Father. The Tarot itself has many wonderful representations of the father image: The Emperor, with his stern but loving guidance; the four Kings, who exhibit the protective and guiding aspects of the father archetype through their respective elements, and the Sun, the pure energy of love, celebration and achievement.
The following spread can be done in two ways: by going through the deck and consciously drawing the cards that represent the answers that resonate within you, or by shuffling the deck and drawing random cards. You might even want to do it both ways, and compare the readings. I know that I am very good at deceiving myself, so my nature is to always work with the random draw. By doing it both ways, I am better able to see where my take on life differs from the reality of life.
I define the various aspect of Mother within this reading as:
Archetypal Father: The archetype of guidance, authority, decision making and action.
Birth Father: Our Birth Mother can be either our literal, biological mother, or the person who raised us, nurtured us, and supported our goals as we were growing up.
Spiritual Father: This is more of an esoteric concept, representing the Divine as the Father.
Inner Father: This is the inner presence that allows us to act on our creative thoughts, to make good decisions, be authoritative and create a safe environment around ourselves.
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1. What do I need to know about my relationship with my birth father?
Bonnie Cehovet
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