Personal Tarot Traits – I was the Knight of Swords!

Personal Tarot Traits – Relating Personal Daily Experiences to a Daily Tarot Card

I was the Knight of Swords.  This card is about obeying one’s own Spirit!  I was the Knight of Swords yesterday… well, at least there was me personifying this archetype.  I spoke my truth.  I was brave.  Someone (like me) with a lot of “people pleasing” and “confrontational avoiding” Libra in a birth chart finds that a challenge.

I took some action involving communicating something that represented my personal truth yesterday.  We could say that I defended my own truth which took a bit of courage in a way that is untypical of me.

(By the way, I’m not referring to anything having to do with yesterday’s King of Swords–I’m writing about an entirely different life experience.)

Sometimes when we do this kind of thing — speak our mind  honestly or make a decision that is in alignment with our inner wisdom — especially if we’re not accustomed to doing so — we may feel a pang of concern about it afterward.  Did I create karma or set into motion something that may come back to bite me?

When I drew this card yesterday,  I had no idea what it could mean for the day ahead. My own habit when I see a knight of any suit is to think “change” in some way. Perhaps “change” was true to some extent yesterday as well since, one thing leading to the next, I ended up changing my office arrangement again!  Which in this small apartment is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  LOL   As I was moving things around the apartment I thought of the Knight of Swords and of my usual tendency to think “change” with this card.   And of course “action” is another keyword that comes to my mind.  So those things fit with my office rearranging.

Yet, the other archetype here has to do with words, verbal stuff, communication — we’re talking about swords after all associated with air and Gemini energy.

The day before we had the King of Swords giving his speech at the local YMCA, but the Knight speaks more in personal terms, expressing personal opinions and ideals and … simply speaking his own mind in a more personal or one-on-one manner.

Yet, the Knight of Swords has to be careful not to be self-serving in his communication and aggressiveness has no place when speaking one’s truth either.

Upon self-examination I don’t think aggressiveness applies and the self-serving part is still up in the air (pardon the pun),  but I call following my intuition, even though it was rather impulsive, something that is fair for all concerned.

How do I know it was my intuition guiding me to speak my truth?  Well, first of all there was a feeling and secondly, there was that familiar thing that happens when I sort of watch that energy that comes in and takes over.  Overpowering confidence and calmness cover the whole scene as well.  That’s how it is when a higher part of me takes over.  It’s happened before, and I recognize it.  The reader may have to take my word for that one.

Moving bravely in pursuit of one’s ideals and honest truth despite any cost and allowing the higher mind and intuition to work without fear or apprehension are descriptions of the Knight of Sword’s energy.  That’s how it acts in the psyche and the world.

Allowing one’s self to be “daring”–that’s a good way to express it.  And that’s what I did yesterday.  Daring myself to speak my truth in way that wasn’t forceful, just matter of fact.

This Knight of Swords doesn’t control his horse but allows himself to lunge forward ‘with’ the horse.

When one obeys one’s own Spirit (my personal experience correlates this fact), the gift that comes is one of avoiding ugly and unnecessarily unpleasant situations.

In astrological terms (if you are an astrology buff) we could think of the Knight of Swords as the aspect called the “opposition”.

ADDENDUM – WHY AND WHEREFORE’S OF THESE TYPES OF POSTS 

In the morning when I first awaken, I let guidance come in and do a waking dream for the day ahead.  On one of these occasions recently I received a directive in the form of an idea laced with intensity.   “Draw a card at the beginning of the day and reflect on its meaning and then revisit it at day’s end correlating the day’s experiences with the card.”  That’s the treasure at the end of the rainbow so-to-speak.  Doing so gives insight into the world of divination for the purpose of adding layers or additional traits to the tarot card meaning.  This deeper understanding to the cards can be applied for use when doing future readings.  It’s like letting Life Itself teach us the cards.  

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Fear of Initiating Change? A Reading: Inspiration and Guidance from Tarot Knight of Swords, 2 of Swords and Ace of Cups

Lately under intuitive guidance when doing a reading, I’ve watched myself add a step to my preparation.  Three tarot cards–one for the issue and two for the guidance.  Usually, I have guidance ready to go already prepared before I get the client on the phone that comes through my meditation time beforehand.  But I’ve gone to adding another step lately–who knows why.  Its just something I’ve been doing.

I felt like writing a blog post today and usually I have some topic in mind based on some recent life experience.  Today, that corner of my consciousness is empty; so I thought to draw those 3 cards to just manifest a topic or be inspired about something to write.

KNIGHT OF SWORDS is the topic/issue/concern and the TWO OF SWORDS and ACE OF CUPS give the insight/advice/guidance.  Ready? Go!

A Knight of Swords topic involves change that comes from action.  Did you ever have times in life when you had to do “something” and sometimes we will say the phrase that comes from the desire to just get things moving.  And so we may something to a friend that goes something like this, “Look; I can’t just do nothing–I’ve go do ‘something’ even if it’s wrong!”

Initiating something just to get the ball rolling.  Suddenly what comes to mind is those pawn shop TV shows where they negotiate over the price of an item for sale or an auction–someone’s got to start the bidding.

The Knight of Swords  represents a time when one takes action and perhaps begins the communication, the dialogue ensues–that is what (my intuition has decided) the issue is that this blog will address.

It takes courage to make the first bid at an auction or begin a difficult conversation with someone or… just had an image of someone who has something like agoraphobia which is that fear of going outside of the house.  Just initiating that first step takes great courage.

What added advice or guidance can we derive from the other two cards?  (The Two of Swords and Ace of Cups)

Two of Swords reminds us of something.  We’ve got to open the heart to the process and look directly at anything that may cause us fear.  Take the blinders off and open the heart is what the Two of cups tells us.  So many times we let our minds run wild with imaginings of what could happen, projecting into future with a good many “what if’s” which keep us trapped.

Personally, with fears I’ve found the best way is to invite them in for tea and cookies–meaning this.  I run through the worse case scenario– what’s the worst that can happen?  Here is a good place to recommend “The Work” which is a system of challenging one’s thought which is a whole program of awareness based on ancient teachings and coined by Byron Katie.  I suggest to Google the name/term if you’re not familiar and want to know more.  Basically, challenge the fears, listen to the wisdom of the heart and don’t let fears inhibit your decisiveness.

Ace of Cups echoes this sentiment, nearly validating my interpretation of the other card. The deck I use the most (Herbal Tarot) pictures a lotus flower, a cup overflowing with light held by a hand in the clouds with the dove of peace nearby and  all these symbols speak to me about finding the peace of spirit through devotion in some way.  One may ask what devotionals such an individual who has such concerns or issues described by the Knight of Swords subscribes.  Where is there any level of devotion that one can draw from?  Some are devoted to their spirituality, their family, their own self-improvement but we all have some level of devotion.  If we don’t the guidance is to find that something that you’re devoted to and use that to help with courage and decisiveness, keeping in mind that we all have help available from… well, what’s the usual expression people use?  Help from above is how most would say it.  So one can draw upon that.

Big decisions are difficult but small one’s are not.   And sometimes just taking one step or making one small decision to get things started (with the understanding that it doesn’t have to be permanent) is what frees up the energy enough to brings new ideas.  And it strengthens faith in the universe as a good place to be and of course enhances self-trust as well.

Just sayen:  I’m a psychic and of course I love divination!  Just had to go there just now. Anyway…

So take that first step out your door or initiate the communication or action!

What ‘is’: Hold it, Dispel it or Accept It?

Neither hold onto ‘what is’ nor try to get rid of ‘what is’ — Nature, Life, The Cosmos or whatever name you give the divine process will move it, change it, or dissolve it for you.

Yes, alright.  You read about The Secret and The Law of Attraction.  Fine.  Apply the techniques but in the meanwhile…. while you wait for the desired result, then what’s the approach?  That’s what I’m writing about here.

The snow photo above reminds me of states in life that we simply cannot do anything about.  That’s the first snow of the season that came last week in the mountains… which by now (a week later) is melted by a warming trend.   Trend is a good word I think.  Stock markets are associated with this word and so is the weather and in our own life there are energy trends as well which may (or may not) be personal karma or group karma or simply life itself.  Things come and go like thoughts during meditation and like snow that comes and then melts away.

It’s tough not to hold on to thoughts and not to dispel them which is what we are told to do in meditation and thus in life.  Thoughts are trendy–they come and go like the fashion trends do, and like stock market trends and like trends in the weather.

I’m thinking a lot about how when it would snow in the mountains and me living all alone up there and in the midst of a large snow that was coming down fast.  I’d start to feel that bit of panic– What if this keeps up?  Will I be snowed in?  When will it stop? If it keeps snowing at this rate….

I can get caught in that kind of thinking when I’m on the treadmill at the gym.  My goal is to hold a particular pace without stopping for a total of 30 minutes.  If I have one nano-second wherein a thought comes wherein I hold one like, What if I can’t hold this pace for 7 more minutes? This is getting tough!  Inevitably,  I cave-in and have to slow down to recover my breath.

If we could do more of just neither holding onto what arises nor trying to dispel it…. right?  I mean this is our whole practice in life, isn’t it?  We hear it called  ‘accepting what-is’.

It isn’t easy.  But like the snow melting, everything is impermanent and eventually dissolves, goes away, or changes form.  The nature of life itself is that nothing last forever–not the good, the bad or the ugly.

It isn’t easy in the meanwhile to meet whatever arises in our self and in our life spectrum and simply be open to it.  To have the courage and detachment to be open to it to discover what is beyond it or behind it without manipulation or opinion or any thought of anything whatsoever.

And then what happens?  We do it again in the next moment and the one right after that one.  We can have faith that the snow will stop and eventually melt, the 7 minutes will pass on the treadmill without heart failure and whatever trend, whatever contemptuous situation of disdain you are facing right now will eventually change and so will the bubbly blissful business as well.  One thing we can know is that everything changes and nothing stays the same for very long.

And that’s why we should neither try to hold or try to dispel anything that arises.  Just observe and be and above all else, maintain the sense of humor!