Tarot: 2, 3, 5, and 7 of Swords, Their Relationship and Some Events

Previously on Hound of Hecate...
I have been reading tarot cards for years and years, but since the events of the past year in which I stood up for what was right with my last employers, I have experienced a different experience of tarot. I believe this to happen when the witch reaches one of those decisive points where you either go through with something difficult or you go back to your comfort zone. The payoff is that the tarot has started acting towards me in a way it never has before. My understanding of the cards is developing in ways you will never read in any of the text books, and while I would dearly love to have my name on a text book, my own style and natural approach to writing are better suited to this blog format than to the prolonged, orderly writing a book would require.
My day-to-day deck at the moment is the Aquarian Tarot, which is a deck I have reviewed here and love dearly. While it is broadly in the Rider Waite tradition, it does alter the images slightly, so that if you are used to reading with an actual Rider Waite deck, with reference to all the details, it can feel as if too much is missed off in the Aquarian Tarot. Lately I have had that experience by comparing one of my current 'stalker cards' with Pamela's version. I say one of my stalker cards, I have actually been stalked at length for the past few months by the numbered Swords cards, which I would naturally interpret as meaning that the deck is trying to say something to me related to these cards. It has also made me reflect on the relationship as I see it between these four cards, which perhaps I should say is a relationship you only really see in the RWS-based decks, because of the nature of Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations. So perhaps I had better deal with these cards one at a time in an orderly manner and let the relationships fall into place.

Two of Swords

I shall begin by quoting Waite verbatim, because, frankly, his approach to this card is one you will commonly find underpinning people's understanding of it, but is one which personally I would want to avoid:

'A hoodwinked female figure balances two swords upon her shoulders. Divinatory Meanings: Conformity and the equipoise which it suggests, courage, friendship, concord in a state of arms; another reading gives tenderness, affection, intimacy. The suggestion of harmony and other favourable readings must be considered in a qualified manner, as Swords generally are not symbolical of beneficent forces in human affairs. Reversed: Imposture, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty.' Source

The Masonically-minded among my readers will recognise a phrase often used by Masons to refer to a particular piece of ritual paraphernalia, and in fact a word which must be rarely if ever used outside of a Masonic context:

Freemasonry is not the originator of the hoodwink.
Religious rites and initiations of civilizations and tribes dating back centuries before the believed or known origins of Freemasonry used blindfolds to represent going from darkness (ignorance) to light (knowledge).
Hood:  The word, “hood,” in old German and Anglo Saxon refers to a head covering, as in a hat, or helmet.  A hood might also be of cloth. To "hood" is to cover.  Hooded garments have been worn throughout history.
Wink:  The word, “wink,” in old German and Anglo Saxon refers to a closing of the eyes.  The word, “wince,” , is similarly derived from the word "wink".  The word "wink" pertains to the eye.
Therefore, a hood (to cover) wink (eyes) was a head covering designed to cover the eyes. Source

The link above includes images of some very steampunk-looking hoodwinks. The point here of course is that the 2 of Swords indicates a major theme of the Swords suit in the RWS deck, that of not looking, whether voluntarily or otherwise. To Waite the Mason, the hoodwinked woman would indicate that she is awaiting enlightenment, since it is in initiatory contexts that the hoodwink is used in Masonic ritual. I prefer the view of this woman as an initiate awaiting an enlighetnment leading to new understanding, and am opposed to Waite's view that the Swords are generally not benevolent towards humans. While obviously shit happens, and we humans do not operate in a completely free way, as a witch I will resist with every last breath in my body the idea that my future is fated, and will continue to strive to have a hand in it. I see the unpleasant experiences which come our way as tools towards the sort of new understanding the woman in the card is waiting for. After all there is nothing to stop her putting the swords down and taking the blindfold off her eyes.

To Pamela the theatre designer, some different aspects of this card may have had their own significance and suggested slightly different things. For a start this is one of the cards on which the action takes place in front of a straight line, suggestive of the division between a theatre backdrop and the floor of the stage. There is usually a suggestion about these cards that things are not quite real or that somebody is acting.

Perhaps one of the most significant things is the woman's position, since Pamela wrote about the importance of adopting characters' positions to understand what was happening, and nowadays this is actually being mooted as Pam's own approach to reading tarot. The woman on the card is facing away from the rather rocky waters behind her, and even though she is not looking at the them she is faced towards the swords, indicative of her literally turning her back on the uncertain world of emotions and preferring the cerebral world of thought instead.

Now please let me be very careful about what I am going to say next: I do not mean to imply that what I am saying is the only possible meaning of this card, it is merely a personal reflection on it at this time. If what you see or intuit in this card is something completely different, then feel free. For the purposes of this reflection, for me this card makes reference to being hoodwinked, i.e. awaiting initiation and enlightenment, and a turning towards the world of rationality rather than emotion. My own experience is that there are also strong suggestions in this card of having the wool pulled over your eyes, and of being unable or unwilling to make a decision, but I think that I am probably referring to a more 'reversed' meaning here.

Three of Swords

It may seem as if there is no connection between the two and three of swords, but that will become apparent when I get to the five. Of course the conventional relationship between two and three is one of a new thing being born, in this case doubtless a new problem, and in this case Waite is at his most dramatic and Victorian (it probably tells you all you could ever want to know about me that I always want to read Waite's interpretation of this card in a tremulous spooky voice and think it hilarious):

'Three swords piercing a heart; cloud and rain behind. Divinatory Meanings: Removal, absence, delay, division, rupture, dispersion, and all that the design signifies naturally, being too simple and obvious to call for specific enumeration. Reversed: Mental alienation, error, loss, distraction, disorder, confusion.' Source

Of course it is impossible to read this image by getting into the position of the character, since it is a disembodied heart! To the Catholic-leaning Pamela there is an image which this would immediately call to mind, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced by a sword, and its analogous devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The heart of Mary is often pictured pierced by seven swords, because in Catholic devotion there are seven Sorrows (or Dolours) of Mary, making a further connection in my mind to the series of tarot cards I am writing about in this post, and which culminate in the Seven of Swords. Needless to say, the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary does not indicate any of the drama suggested in Waite's divinatory meanings of this card. Personally I feel as if the card is *not* too simple and obvious to call for specific enumeration, and feel that it may often refer to a sacrificial sort of love and suffering, which of course is presaged by the opening of the eyes and the decision make in the two of Swords. At this point, the full nature of the situation has been made intellectually clear and the full extent of the suffering involved made apparent. Once your eyes are opened it is difficult to go back to being being a sheep, and this is the card that indicates that moment; it indicates the moment every whistle-blower has realised what is happening but others refuse to see, it is the moment you know your other half is cheating with your best friend and it is the moment you know you cannot go back.

Five of Swords

Spiral Tarot

After the painful realisation suffered in the three of swords, there is naturally a little pause in the four of swords, and the real action starts. It is also here that we first see the real connectedness between the series of cards here, at least in the RWS deck, because in Pamela's design the man at the front is picking up three swords (in a two and one formation) and leaving two swords lying on the ground. The connection is clear: he is leaving behind his hoodwinked self for good and dealing with the realisation embodied in the the three of swords. This is what Waite has to say about this card:

'A disdainful man looks after two retreating and dejected figures. Their swords lie upon the ground. He carries two others on his left shoulder, and a third sword is in his right hand, point to earth. He is the master in possession of the field. Divinatory Meanings: Degradation, destruction, revocation, infamy, dishonour, loss, with the variants and analogues of these. Reversed: The same; burial and obsequies.' Source

Again I would like to make it very clear that what I am proposing is by no means the *only* way to understand these cards, but the fact that the foreground (therefore at the front of the consciousness) figure is picking up three swords and leaving two indicates that he is preferring his new-found enlightenment over the his previous lack of sight, rather than the more traditional fortune-telling meanings Waite gives. He does, however hint at my preferred reading for this card by indicating that the figure in the foreground is master and in possession of the field. I also find interesting that one of the swords (one sword = ace = clear or new thinking or new understanding) is pointing to the earth, suggesting that the new thinking and understanding implied in this card will lead to action in the real world. I am very interested in the sheer number of interpretations this series of cards is open to, suggesting that there is simply loads going on, which is very much my impression. My beloved Sandra Thomson writes that this card refers to bullying, and she particularly references the Spiral Tarot as indicating that the main figure is a bully. Of course once again, tarot meanings can jump up and down, and apart from the fact that it could indicate either bullying someone else or being bullied, I need little excuse to have a picture of a bare-chested man on here. I particularly like this commentary on this card:

Traditionally, the Five of this suit references the grim and sobering process of cleaning up the battlefield after a conflict. The war as a whole has not been won or lost yet, but in this skirmish there were grievous casualties. This card admonishes the loser to study carefully what went wrong, so that a new strategy can be devised and more setbacks forestalled. There is a need to regroup and rethink the game plan, discover your blind spots and weak links, and take corrective measures before getting back into the field for another round.
In these modern times, when the battle is more often being waged with words, laws and contracts instead of weapons, we have even more reason to examine our approach, our style, strengths and weaknesses. If we have underdeveloped communication skills or lose our objectivity in tense moments, our ability to reach our goals and dreams will decline. But, if we avoid letting ourselves be haunted by the misfortunes and detours that inevitably befall us, we will go on to achieve those goals. Do not obsess. Try to learn something. Source

My own opinion is that the five of swords does not indicate the clearing up after a battle, it rather indicates the battle itself (Of course this is completely opposed to the Golden Dawn Title of Lord of Defeat, but heigh ho).

Seven of Swords

And the reason I think this is that what kicked this post off was a meditation I did on the Seven of Swords when I entered the RWS card, wandered around a bit, and was left with the overriding impression that all the action had already happened, that I had stepped into a situation where so much had gone before that I had no hope of ever getting a simple understanding. I think this is partly because of the relative complexity of Pamela's illustration, which once again could indicate several things happening at once, and of course this run of cards is in itself a very complex one. The apparently-simple Golden Dawn title of this card is Lord of Unstable Effort, and of course indicates a day when the shift co-ordinator at work really isn't staying on top of it. Even Waite hints at the sheer complexity of this card:

'A man in the act of carrying away five swords rapidly; the two others of the card remain stuck in the ground. A camp is close at hand. Divinatory Meanings: Design, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also quarrelling, a plan that may fail, annoyance. The design is uncertain in its import, because the significations are widely at variance with each other. Reversed: Good advice, counsel, instruction, slander, babbling.' Source

Once again the connection for me personally with the other cards in this run, is that the main figure is running off with five swords and leaving two behind. The two left behind look as if they are standing up in the manifestationally-significant earth, although on closer examination this is another 'stage' card and the two swords look as if they are painted on the backdrop, and thus there is a suggestion that they may not be quite real.

Waite refers to the camp in the background, however for me it is plain that there are *two* camps in the background. One of the book meanings for this card is to refer to deceit in some way (which of course chimes nicely with the undercurrent in this run of cards of not seeing or being hoodwinked) however, the situation seems to me much more complicated than merely being deceived. It seems to me that there are actually two camps here, and the man is running away from one of them, which stands behind the two swords 'painted' on the background. The key figure is so obviously running away from this camp, that it can hardly be avoided. It is also so obviously not quite real, that it strongly suggests it is a blind, and reinforces the sense of not seeing and being deceived which is so strong here. The connection with the two swords suggests that that camp is in itself a blind and is the actual hoodwink the man needs to take from his eyes. We don't really have them in the UK that I know of, but if I had to come up with a phrase to describe the camp here, it would be that it is like a Ren Fayre - I'm sure such things also didn't really happen in Pamela's time. I used to work with someone who was a member of the Sealed Know group of battle reconstructionists, and the fact that he would spend his days off re-enacting historical battles in muddy fields had exactly the sort of unreality I am thinking about here. The man is fully aware of this camp, but it is not real. The nature of his awareness of also completely cerebral, because the water which appeared in the two and five of swords is absent here and this image takes place in a completely arid environment.

The danger for the man is presumably therefore in the *other* camp, and for me the fact that he is running with the five swords indicative of a battle and leaving behind the two swords indicates that he will face that danger fair and square, because he has chosen to leave the world of illusion and now he has seen, he cannot unsee. The fact that he is not looking at the men around the fire, and therefore in tarot language is unaware of them, indicates that he is unaware of them at the moment but is going to discover them shortly. Of course once again a look around him would acquaint him with the other men's presence, but let's not forget that this is a Swords card and of course there is an ongoing theme of not looking at things.

I have a feeling that the theme of not looking is actually in some ways the point of the Swords suit, or at least when understood in the light of the hoodwink which starts off the run of cards I have examined here, and which indicates the initiatory meaning of the events of this suit. Of course I have selected a number of cards which are connected to each other by numbers and the events in their illustrations (you wouldn't get this connection if you looked at a Marseille deck, for example) and no doubt the initiatory theme can be expanded to the whole suit, but my purpose here has been to make connections between these four cards and undertake a personal journey into their meaning. If the cards mean something else to you, then if such is your will you must take that meaning and run with it, just as I have here, and just as the man does in the seven of swords.