Swords, Significators and Souls

The Court
as represented in various decks

There is a small group of cards within the Tarot deck that gives beginning readers some trouble. Collectively they are referred to as the Court cards, or the Royals, because they are comprised of a Page, a Knight, a Queen and a King. There is one of each rank in each of the four suits; Swords, Cups, Pentacles (Coins), or Wands, for a total of sixteen Court Cards.

Each suit tells a story as it relates to the theme of the suit; Mind, Heart, Body or Soul. The story begins with the Ace and finishes with the Ten, then we encounter the Court. I’ve come to see these cards as the characters within the story as it relates to their individual theme. I also see them as reflecting their experience with their story based on their rank and age, then by gender to help differentiate the Queen and the King as they are about the same age. And in my own head, they are a happy little family, when one or more are not reversed or under the influence of some other card’s energy.

When these cards show up in a reading, they can suggest a person with that personality is somehow connected to the situation. They could also suggest an aspect of the individual seeking the reading or even an attitude the seeker might adopt or abandon to further resolve any issues connected to their question. 

In addition, many readers and tarot fanatics select one of these cards to act as a significator within the deck or during a reading.

Let me explain further. 

Swords is the suit of the mind and all that goes on up there; thought, logic, reasoning, understanding, clarity, truth, honesty, communication, etc. The Page is the youngest of the Court so they are learning how to master their thoughts, how to reason, how to express themselves clearly and how to discern fact from fiction, as well as reliable news sources. They can have an air of innocence as well as eagerness.

The Knight is a bit older than the Page, so they have a little more experience under their belt. I think of the Page as still studying while the Knight is the recent graduate ready to take on the world with their new ideas. They can still be a bit on the tentative side or a bit overconfident ready to challenge the establishment and bend it to their will. They lack the life experience to know how to be tactful, when to charge forth and when to hold back until the time is right. 

 

King of Swords
Radiant Tarot

The King, on the other hand, is a master of his suit. He is a man with life experience who continues to seek deeper understanding, truth and education and understands the value of such pursuits. He is also witty and has a keen sense of humor. He is a communicator and loves to impart his knowledge which makes him a good instructor. He can be a  judge or counsellor, as he is impartial since he relies on facts-not emotions. However, he can have a bit of an attitude if you ask his advice and then don’t follow it which will make him feel that you’ve wasted his time. He has little tolerance for people’s lack of understanding the facts of the matter especially when he’s researched them and wonders why they don’t see them. It is glaringly obvious to him, so it should be to others as well. Be careful if you ask him his opinion as his sword wields the truth. And the truth can hurt.

The Water Bearer pouring his
knowledge over humanity

As I was studying the Court cards when I first began reading a couple of years ago, I felt I connected to him, more for his positive aspects rather than his bluntness. Or sharpness. After all, a blunt sword is useless. I shared my connection with my study group when someone pointed out that the King of Swords is also connected to Aquarius as those same attributes describe an Aquarian. And that is my Sun sign. So, that cemented the deal. He is my significator. So, when he shows up in a reading for me, I pay particular attention to where he shows up and whether he’s reversed or not. 

I find he is quite active lately. And maybe not in a good way, perhaps he’s reversed right now. A reversed Court card could either bring out the meeker side of their personality or the darker one.

I’ve been reading reports from virologists and epidemiologists regarding the novel Coronavirus, not solely articles written by news reporters only highlighting the gist of what some expert said. I was also reading firsthand reports of medical personnel and their accounts of what they were witnessing in their patients as well as studying accounts of survivors and their personal experiences. Therefore, I feel I know what’s true, who’s reliable and where to put my trust.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I understand the information we were receiving at the beginning of the pandemic was spotty and confusing which led to some frustration as to what to do, how it was transmitted, how dangerous it was, how it manifested in patients. So, I understand the frustration we were feeling. 

But, come on people! This is a new virus that no one knew anything about at first, like at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980’s which I lived through so I also have some personal experience with such situations. Let’s give the scientific community a chance to find out as much as they can and also not overtax the medical community in a rush to get back to normal, whatever that is or will be. This is the King of Swords getting agitated at the lack of common sense. Okay, it’s me, too. The King has to learn to sheathe his sword and take care of himself and let others do the same, even if it doesn’t make sense to him (me.) Even if it kills them, which it very well could.

The other thing that has been plaguing me as an Aquarian is the injustice that is and has been happening.

Aquarians are a bit of a rebel as we like to march to our own drum. We also have a humanitarian side. We see the bigger picture.

As a child, I was very sensitive to the pain of others, be it physical or emotional. (I still am, but have learned to shield myself somewhat.) My stepfather was very racist, misogynistic and undoubtedly homophobic, though I don’t recall any particular episodes or discussions around the latter. He would drop racial epithets all the time, tell ethnic jokes and degrade women.  It all triggered me. This was during the Civil Rights and Women’s Lib movements of the 60’s and 70’s which made our home very tense. My mother didn’t stand up to him as she knew better since he was taller than she was by at least a foot and she was petite. Plus, his temper was not to be reckoned with. 

The American sitcom All in the Family debuted during this era and tackled many topics once considered taboo for American television. The main character, Archie Bunker, was very bigoted and used many racial and ethnic epithets. My stepfather enjoyed the show, I did not. While I was never made to sit and watch the show I was told that his attitude was one many people shared and I’d better damn well get used to it.

Let’s ratchet this up a notch.

The Libra scales of justice,
fairness, balance and equality

My ascending, or rising, sign is Libra. Astrologers take the rising sign as one of the three key signs in understanding a person’s basic personality with the moon sign completing the trifecta. The rising sign is the way we first present ourselves until we feel comfortable revealing more of our truer personality. It’s our “social mask” if you will.

Libra is the only zodiac sign represented by a non-living symbol, the Scales, or Balance. Librans like to see justice and fairness for everyone involved. So, as an Aquarian with a Libra ascendant, I have humanitarian views that seek fairness, justice and balance for all. When that scale is upset, as it is now, and people don’t share my humanitarian ideals, I go nuts. “Why can’t they see the imbalance, injustices and unfairness as they exist right now?” And then, because both Aquarius and Libra are air signs, these people spend a lot of time in their heads overthinking and overanalyzing everything. And I do mean everything. So, I get the double whammy.

Speaking of double whammies, the Court card for Libra is the Queen of Swords. So, when she appears in a reading, I give her a little more attention as well. She’s like a secondary significator. She differs from her husband in that, as a woman, she brings in some of her feminine intuition. See, I told you gender would play a sexist role.

Like her husband, she is also witty, intelligent and impartial. She will be direct in her advice, but will be there to help if it gets too emotional. She has some sympathy, more than her husband would but less than the other queens of the deck. She is the Queen of her mind, after all. Since she is known more for her intellect than her emotions, she can be emotionally distant. Some readers say she can be downright cold and bitter particularly if she's reversed.

Queen of Swords
Radiant Tarot

She has an underlying strength I feel doesn’t get enough attention from some readers. She wants to be known for her intellect which, let’s face it, is viewed more as a ‘masculine’ trait since men are seen as more in their heads and less ‘feeling’ than women. Why else would we have coined the term ‘mansplaining?’ She’s trying very hard to make it in this ‘masculine’ world. Do not 'mansplain’ to her or you may barely see the flash of her sword as she cuts you down.

The apparent lack of concern for the rest of humanity from many individuals in regards to the coronavirus with its potential toll on the medical communities and the potential health and morbidity risks of this virus, plus the disregard of social inequities and inequalities, the resurgence of Black Lives Matter and the counter-reactions, in addition to the push to reopen the economy without realizing that the economy itself depends on a healthy populace in order to sustain it, all converging at once have my inner King and Queen of Swords readying their weapons to lop off a few heads. But they can’t, so they, and my Aquarius/Libra soul, remain frustrated and somewhat disillusioned with humanity.

As I've been walking, or trying to walk, a more spiritual path over these past few years, I've been learning to detach from those whose political, religious and spiritual beliefs differ from mine. After all, we are entitled to our different beliefs. Plus, as a highly sensitive/empathic person, the fact that many people seem to care only for themselves during these difficult times hurts me, deeply. “Do you not see what you are doing to others? Do you not care? Do you have no compassion?” This side of my nature makes it ever so hard to detach. And judge less.

I continue to study the science behind the virus and the statistics driving the Black Lives Matter movement so that, when asked, I can share what I've learned. I can only hope that someone will listen and change their behavior or at least their beliefs. I just hope I’m not wasting my time.

Maybe my lesson here is that as long as I'm educating myself, I’m not actually wasting my time, but realizing I need to detach much more now, which is a very hard lesson to learn in such a very difficult time. I just need to live and take care of myself the best I can and let those fools others make their own choices and live with the consequences.

But, this seems so much more challenging to detach from.

Perhaps it's because I see people's health-and ultimately their lives-in danger.

And that troubles me greatly.

Credits for the cards in lead photo:
Page of Swords, Illustrated by Siena Summers for Pride Tarot, (c) 2020 US Games, Inc.
Knight of Cups, Crow Tarot, MJ Cullinane, (c) 2019 US Games, Inc.
Queen of Coins (Pentacles), Tarot of Dreams, Ciro Marchetti, (c) 2005 US Games, Inc.
King of Wands, Bianco Nero Tarot, Marco Proietto, (c) 2018 US Games, Inc.
Photo by Jeffrey Ballam


For information on these and other fine decks available from US Games, Inc. click here

For information on MJ Cullinane and her other projects, click here.

Eight Reversed Swords in June

New Palladini Tarot

It's a new month and time to check in with my New Year Reading. The card for June was the lovely Eight of Swords Reversed.

I’ve written about this card before as she popped up last year but let’s have a refresher. Swords is the suit of the mind and encompasses thought, logic, reasoning, learning-anything that goes on in our heads. She’s bound and blindfolded, still trying to move forward but unable to see the swords in the ground around her. If the suit itself represents the mind and all that goes on up there, the individual swords represent the thoughts themselves. She has seemingly trapped herself by her own thoughts. A bit of overthinking, perhaps?

A reversed card can suggest the opposite of the card’s upright meaning. So, I was thinking I’d be releasing myself from the thoughts I was using to imprison myself over the last few months. It seems that was in the cards, so to speak. (Is that where this phrase comes from: the Tarot?)

Another reader I was studying a year ago suggested this idea for a single reversed card. She interprets it as an internal energy rather than external meaning it’s directed more inward than outward into the larger world. In a multiple card reading, the cards would play off each other, influencing the interpretation of the other cards and the position in the spread would also tweak each card's meaning. So, in a way this Eight of Swords could be seen as a single card as it represents one month even if it’s within a larger collective reading for a year with the energies of the cards flowing from one month into the next. Therefore, I could interpret this as a further/deeper entrapment within my own thoughts. That’s one possibility.

Radiant Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Another possibility is that the energy or lesson was there for me to learn how to release myself from my self-imprisonment. But, just because the lesson is there for me to learn, doesn’t mean I will learn it. In other words, I’ll have to face it again one of these days. This reminds me of my teaching days, how many times did I have to review a lesson because the little darlings didn’t get it the first, second or even fifteenth time I went over it? Life can also be like that.

Let’s just say, both of these interpretations could work. Yes, I do feel I am further imprisoned by thoughts and didn’t learn to release myself from this prison. Every method I’ve learned to try and refocus my mind into something more positive didn’t seem to stick.

But, I do need to be fair to myself. I didn’t expect the Covid situation to get so much worse making the month so much more challenging. I did anticipate a resurgence of cases when the states began to reopen which was way too soon in my opinion. But, the extreme of the second wave, if it was indeed a second one rather than an extension of the first one, was overwhelming to me. 

Plus, the attitude of those who still seem to think this is not to be taken seriously disturbs me greatly. I’m getting ahead of myself and another post I have in mind. 

The politics, too, around this situation have weighed heavily on me as well. How bloody difficult is it to put on a simple mask? Did people erupt in violence over “No shirt, no shoes, no service?” Was there such vicious backlash when seat belts became mandatory? Or for driving while on the cell phone/texting? How many people were killed over those policies? Again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Even with the heavier thoughts, I do think I was meant to learn to overcome these thoughts of despair, depression and disdain for those who don’t seem to care about the seriousness of this virus and its effect on others. Or, at least try to overcome those thoughts. Sometimes, we need to learn a lesson at a higher or deeper level to advance on our journey. I feel I did try, but maybe not hard enough.

I understand that getting past these thoughts is necessary for a peaceful life and better health as anxiety and stress aren’t good on the body. Or spirit.

The overall theme of the year, the lucky thirteenth card, is the High Priestess. I really need to go further inward, into the temple and find my inner truth because I have a bit more work to do as another Swords card is next...

Radiant Rider Waite Smith Tarot