CARD OF THE WEEKEND: February 5-6, 2022

 

Six of Swords

The Alchemical Tarot

by Robert M. Place

 

February 5-6, 2022: As created by Robert M. Place for The Alchemical Tarot, the Six of Swords shows a distant sailboat, powered by a fulsome, stormy wind, bearing several indistinct figures across an expanse of sea. The almost palpable presence of wind in this image reminds us that the Swords cards represent the primal element of Air and, hence, all things symbolized by Air: mind and thought, speed and sharpness, speech and sound, writing and all things in written form, science and analysis.

The orientation of this image's features--all strongly directed towards the left edge of the card--can suggest movement towards the past. (Forward in time is towards the right edge.) In this case, driven by wind, it would be swift and decisive movement, a kind of doubling back or return with a clear mission and well-crafted strategy in mind.

This is very different from Pamela Colman Smith's Six of Swords which shows a close-up row boat with a rower bearing a draped figure in a rightward direction towards a distant shore. The story there, as I and others have seen it, tells of a journey towards an unknown future--one ideally approached with an attitude of faith and release of one's habitual will to seize control of things.

By contrast, the six distinct and airborne swords of Place's card point towards the left with the determination of weapons in the hands of invisible but determined warriors. Previously, we've seen examples of how different decks can tell different stories. This contrast between Smith's and Place's ideas shows how useful it is to develop one's own strong relationship with a deck, learn what its creator values, and how it communicates.

Since the Place deck came to mind--and hand--today, let's stay with its version of things. Our Six of Swords can counsel a necessary and swift review of some past matter and a crystal-clear plan for how to deal with it, likely a multi-pronged approach or one involving more than a few collaborators, each of whom have unique qualities--look at the differences in those swords--or unique roles to play but work in strong alignment with one another.

****** 

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

"Contact Eva" form to the right! 👉 👉 👉 

Subscribe to get Eva's posts by email! 👉 👉 👉