❖ Maple ❖
Stability, Provision, Hard Work, Home
Tarot Association: The Emperor
Depending on your geographic location, your familiarity with maple trees may vary as there are over 150 species of maples around the world! Japanese maples grow wild across the hills of Japan, Korea and into Mongolia and Russia. Where I live in Manitoba, Canada we enjoy the Manitoba maple. The large red maple leaf on the Canadian flag is of the sugar maple. It is the sugar maple that provides the best maple syrup. The cards of Arboretum seem to depict the sugar maple transitioning from orange to deep red foliage, thus I will pull oracle associations from this particular tree.
The Sap Moon
In the Indigenous people of Canada’s 13 Moons teaching, The Sap or Sugaring Moon falls between March and April. It’s name is in reference to the time of year when the sap of the Sugar Maple begins to flow. The arrival of this welcome food source after a long sparse winter is cause for much celebration. The flowing of sap brings people together annually. Through skillful work, the community can share the rewards.
Nanabozho and the Maple Trees
A long time ago, syrup ran from the trees in the spring, not sap. The Nishnabé people were not tending to their duties, rather spending all their time under the maple trees, consuming the rich, sweet syrup. Seeing this, a powerful spirit — Nanabozho — decided to pour water into the trees, which diluted the sap and required hard work to enjoy its sugary bounty once more. (source)
- Justin Neely, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Language Department director
Home Sweet Home
The Emperor is the 4th card of the tarots major arcana. In numerology 4’s symbolize structure, stability, home, foundations and security. It’s quite a serious combination! A potent metaphor can be found in the reliability of the Maple providing sap at a particular time every year, of the traditional work of gathering and processing the sap into syrup, and of dividing and sharing that food with the community. Within this framework, wealth flows. This is the essence of Tarot’s Emperor, who absorbs the responsibility of taking charge, sticks with known procedures, delegates the work, and ensures everyone in the home community is provided for. Although little variation is employed, all are sustained and able to thrive and grow into a metaphorical springtime.