Mastership Studies

A wrap up of the lessons learned with the suit swords.

Whew! We made it in one piece, but not without sustaining some damage from hurricane-force winds. It was a minefield at times, filled with visual extremes to explain subtle nuances that occur only in the mind’s eye.

First, we start with our main characters in this carnival funhouse, which leads us into a house of mirrors where we bump into walls to be consistently met with ourselves. Aquarius, Libra, and Gemini, each with their own natures and agendas. The King (Uranus, Fixed—motto: I know) with his vision focused on the good of all. The Queen (Venus, Cardinal—motto: I balance), slow and determined to find the balance and fairness in her leadership. And finally, the speedy Knight (Mercury, Mutable—motto: I think), able to think quickly and act, leaving others in his dust. The Page, eager and prepared, increases his knowledge to build his future plans with time-tested scientific and scholastic reasoning. All of these players value the mind and intelligence above all. Wind is a power that humankind has learned to harness and is symbolic of technology, whether filling the sails of global exploration, windmills to power millstones to make our bread, bellows to heat the fires needed to forge the strongest steel, or wind chimes to bring calmness through tonal resonance. Think of the power of the wind, able to create arches from sandstone, an invisible force that can howl, whistle, rustle, and whisper as air meets and interacts with the objects of our world.

The first stop was the Ace of Swords, bringing the promise of new learning and an expansion of understanding. The Aces are always gifts from our divine self to aid us in our journey through mortality. Then we move on to meet the Two of Swords and her defensiveness over past hurts that blind her and affect her decision-making, slowing her progress as she judges her new encounters by her past experiences. I hope that now, when you see the Three of Swords in your path, you see the hope of the merging of idea with passion and the release of that energy to grow and shape your future rather than stunt your dreams.

We next walk into the “Tales of the Crypt” with the Four of Swords. We learn that grief holds us and binds us to the past and sometimes limits us from seeing the visions that are illuminating the windows of heaven. From that perspective, we extend our perception beyond what is only in front of us. When we get to the Five of Swords we see the responsibility of our power over others: to be kind and help rather than to humiliate by rubbing salt in the wounds. When we win over something we become tied to it; we can either assimilate it, which equates to eliminating the conquered, or we can support it and make it stronger. At the Six of Swords we hop on board the boat that takes us to new vistas. Moving on is always an investment in our own evolution and growth; we may rearrange our priorities, but only to make way for new growth. Pruning the tree of life gives way to new growth in the next season of the life cycle. I love the Seven of Swords: the master spy, pickpocket, imposter who is exploiting your weaknesses by sometimes creating opportunities to exploit. The coyote and the crow are totem animals that express the spirit of cunning and intelligence. We all love the thrill of spy books and movies where the tightrope walk of deception outweighs the risk of discovery.

Fifty shades of gray seems a fitting theme for our last three cards that begin to do a deep dive into our psyche. The eight of swords is a pitiful image of someone who has turned their back on hope and settled into a prison of doubt and low self-worth. They try their best to stay afloat, but you can’t tread water and make progress. We all know people who limit themselves (degrees of agoraphobia), who never enjoy the full flavor of life because they limit themselves to that which is known or comfortable. The nine of swords is one that invites a deeper look. We are naturally curious about the dreamer sitting up straight from a deep sleep into a waking world. Again, I point you to the scenes carved on the bed frame for clues into the mind of our dreamer. Victim or aggressor? That’s the nature of karmic cycles: it takes two to tango, and we will never cease to attract those who want to dance with us. We finish up our psychological journey into the element of air-mind with the ten of swords. On the surface, it appears to be a card depicting total and complete defeat. The glimmer of hope is that some people have to get to rock bottom in the deepest pit they can get into before they can surrender themselves to rebuilding a new life. There is always hope, and that’s what a new day gives us. We all need to sometimes slow down the pace of the world, reprogram the mental “GPS” of destination coordinates, and, as the friends of Bill say, take it “one day at a time.