CARD OF THE DAY: February 18, 2022

 

Eight of Swords

The Wild Unknown Tarot

by Kim Krans

 

February 18, 2022: In The Wild Unknown Tarot, Kim Krans offers a different vision of the Eight of Swords than what we're used to seeing. No lady bound in rope and surrounded by swords (á la Pamela Colman Smith's Rider-Waite). This time, a butterfly's chrysalis hangs from a sword suspended in mid-air, surrounded by seven other raised swords. A unique story, as I see it.

In this image, there's purpose, indications of the enclosed conditions and time necessary for a butterfly to develop. There's also interesting ambiguity for the storyteller/reader to play with. Is this chrysalis threatened by all those surrounding swords? Or are the swords there to protect it as the butterfly develops?

Of course, you want to steer clear of the folded instruction sheet tucked into this deck's package which merely speaks of imprisonment and frustration. It appears that, while Krans dutifully gives us a dire interpretation of the Eight of Swords, her visual art can't help but provide a positive meaning and an eventual escape route for whomever or whatever is bound.

Whatever this suggests for you today, one ultimate message might be: Leave it alone; give it its due time.

Oh, also: Don't underestimate the power of a Tarot artist to take something familiar and show it to you fresh, with an imaginative spin, and make you care about it again.

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Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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