After all the fiery stuff I wrote about yesterday, today was all Swords. I actually pulled the 4 of Swords for today and as I cut the deck, the 3 of Swords slid out behind it. When I put the deck back, the 6 of Swords was the shadow card on the bottom of the pile. The significance of the 4 today was pretty obvious as I had not been feeling well for a bit and needed a little time in quiet reflection to centre myself. The 3 also was pretty clear: it is my personal “card of the year” (yeh, great, NOT) and it was giving me a nudge about some stuff I need to let go of. However, the 6 of Swords was the one that really jumped out and was the card I decided to work with.
The Cosmic Tribe 6 of Swords is definitely not conventional: nothing like the RWS for example and not a boat in sight. However, as I have been spending loads of time on the computer recently and I am having technical problems with the beast, the blend of circuitry and blue sky really caught my attention. It seemed to be reminding me to strike a balance between the creative push I am having online, and getting outside into the fresh air. I remembered that the lwb calls this card “Interpenetrating Worlds” which is nothing like the more traditional meanings. A quick glance at a comparison between the 6 in all the decks I own, shows how differently this card can be interpreted (Cosmic Tribe is in the bottom right):
Osho Zen, in the top left, calls this card “The Burden”. Now, if you focus on the man rowing in the RWS, his passengers could seem to him to be a burden, although most people focus on the woman and child when analysing this card. The Goddess deck in the top right has nobody steering the boat and the Arthurian, bottom left, just shows an empty boat and focuses more on the “journey” aspect of this card, than the potential problems and issues of the people who are undertaking it.
If you compare more decks, the 6 is shown with even more, quite wild interpretations. Unfortunately, due to potential copyright infringement, I cannot show you a picture of the decks I do not own that I compared for my journal. However, here is a list and a very brief description, plus a link where you can view it in most cases:
Thoth: A geometric arrangement of the 6 swords pointing to the centre with a cross and a grid of lines behind. The cross suggests “faith” to me.
Bohemian Gothic: The passenger in this boat seems to be asleep in the boat, giving a dream-like feel to the card.
Sol Invictus: The oarsman in this boat is seated whereas the passenger, a naval officer, is standing, hand on heart, as he is rowed towards an island: a mermaid guiding the way. I wonder if the native who is rowing, regards his passenger as a “burden”.
Healing: This card has the key word “determination”, which is demonstrated by the upright posture of the person rowing the boat and the way he is looking straight ahead at his destination.
Robin Wood: The boat on this card is swan-shaped providing a graceful passage for the traveller. A ghostly figure watches the boat – maybe the past haunting him?
Phantasmagoric Theatre: I can´t find an online image of this card, which is a pity because it is perhaps the strangest of the bunch. A happy looking figure stands on the top of a tower and waves 6 swords overhead. From the base of his tower, a staircase spirals up to another tower. A door is open at the top of these stairs and a dejected figure looks down the stairs. I haven´t a clue about this card and if anybody has the deck and can enlighten me, I would be really pleased to hear from you!
