When studying tarot, we often learn about the Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana, in which the cards form a story. The cards of the Minor Arcana form stories too, and seeing how each card builds on the last can help us understand the cyclical nature of the suits. In this four part series (find Cups, Pentacles, and Wands here), I’ll share the journey of each suit as I have told it to myself. These narratives are heavily based on the Rider Waite Smith imagery. Other decks may tell different stories! Today we examine the suit of Swords, associated with Air, thought, communication, and reason.
Ace of Swords: You feel a flash of lightning, a sudden strike of inspiration. A new idea pierces your mind with perfect clarity. Pure reason is your tool. You feel called to share your truth with the world.
Two of Swords: Where once there was a single clear thought, there are now two ideas in opposition. An impasse. You hold the swords in tension, without resolve or synthesis, and listen to the vibration of steel on steel. Generative, but not sustainable. You have to choose. You want to trust reason, but the lapping of the water and the weird light of the moon on your face tell you that you must listen to your intuition to make the final choice.
Three of Swords: You chose. You thought you chose well. Suddenly, anguish pierces your heart. Words plunge like knives into your breast. Your heart aches with loss and betrayal. Truth, you learn, can be painful as well as brilliant. But as the bad blood drains out, you feel the strong beat of your heart keeping a constant rhythm. Wounded and bleeding, but not truly broken after all.
Four of Swords: After your trials, you need time to heal and process. You lie down, breathing slowly, deeply. You meditate on what has happened and where you are going. This time of quiet contemplation and rest soothes your heart and mind. The confusion and anguish dissipate like fog. Soon you will return. When you’re ready.
Five of Swords: Returning to the world means conflict. You’ve been hurt before, and now you want to win by any means necessary. You want to come out on top this time. But as you size up your opponents, you begin to wonder: is it worth it? Is it worth it to risk defeat and disgrace? Is winning worth it if dirty tactics and hostility turn victory into loss, leaving you alone again? Should you walk away from this fight, or not? Hold ‘em, or fold ‘em?
Six of Swords: You’ve been through so much and struggled to find solutions. It’s time to move on from turbulence to calm. As the Ferryman takes your hand to help you into the boat, you feel a flash of insight, the first in a long time. The Ferryman pushes off from shore. You carry with you all that you have learned, but you don’t look back. As your body travels to a new shore, so too does your mind enter a new state. Once more, pain and strife give way to calm and clarity.
Seven of Swords: Armed with your well-honed wits, you try a new tactic: deception. You have the skills now to lie and steal. You don’t need anyone else when you’re so clever. As you creep away with what you want, high on the rush of your own daring, you pause for just a moment. Why are you doing this? Are you avoiding something you ought to face head-on? Best to stop and take stock, make sure this is what you really need to do and how you need to do it. If it is, then creep on out of there with what’s yours. If it isn’t, now is the time to reconsider your methods.
Eight of Swords: Bound, blindfolded, surrounded by swords — how did you get here? Have others found you out and punished you, or is this a trap of your own making? Your thinking is constrained, limited. You begin to realize that you are trapped by your own thoughts and fears. You might get cut during the process, but if you carefully wriggle free, you can liberate yourself from unhealthy thought patterns and move on.
Nine of Swords: You wake from a troubled sleep and spring bolt upright. In the dark of night, your worries and anxieties surround you. You turn things over and over in your mind — past troubles, present problems, and grim visions of the future. You can’t seem to find solutions. A small part of you whispers that things won’t seem so hopeless in the light of day. You’ll find the way. You always have.
Ten of Swords: Well, that’s it. There’s nothing more to say, nothing more to think about. It’s over. Swords pin you down in the mud, and you feel like you might as well stay there. The world can go on without you. After a while, you start to feel ridiculous. What’s ten swords in the back to someone who’s been through all that you’ve been through? Time to pull yourself together. You gather your strength and rise, and the swords fall off your back, light as needles. As you take a deep breath, wondering what to do next, you get a sudden flash of insight…