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Quick update - I didn't ship Tarot decks yesterday, as I was a little busy watching literally nothing happen in the US election. Sorry about that! I learned my lesson, and will try to not wait for news before doing anything. I could be immobile for weeks. Today's card is the Page of Swords, an excellent pull for the day after a confusing election.  Swords are air cards associated with intellect, but many of the numbered swords cards are rife with warnings, endings and pain.
It is the Page of Swords who heralds better news. The Page is the beginning of knowledge, or a fresh academic start. Although the Page of Swords might also be stubborn and intensely opinionated, they are curious and intellectual. Questions answered by Page of Swords: Who? A student What? A lesson Where? School When? The entire season of Winter (Northern Hemisphere), or Summer (Southern Hemisphere); The first day of class Why? News is coming Yes or No? Yes Page of Swords Before any card: Learning more about (card) After any card: Curiosity, a student The Page of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? Yellow ...a movie theme? A studious young mind
...a new career?
Page of Swords combinations With Temperance: Now is the time to find meaning in everyday things. With Eight of Wands: A student travels by air; Curiosity leads to rapid change or movement. With Ten of Cups: Use your mind to make your dreams a reality - plan the steps logically so that the fantasy comes true. With Two of Swords: A difficult choice causes restlessness and impatience. With Page of Pentacles: Two young, intelligent people start an ambitious new project.
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 Great news for a nervous day - The Applied Tarot Decks finally arrived at my house last night! I'll prep 'em for delivery as soon as I have more coffee. If you live locally, watch your doorstep later. The drive will do me good and save me postage.
International orders may take awhile, as the mail system in this country is embarrassingly slow. If you haven't ordered this colorful, playful, and excessively practical tarot deck yet, from now through the end of November, you can get it for 10% off. No positivity here today, sorry all. I'm only glad this card came up today--Nov 2, 2020--rather than tomorrow, election day. Egad, how depressing that would have been.  There is nothing to cheer about when the Ten arrives. Upright, it is pain, destruction, defeat and a terrible end. Even reversed, it can often represent clinging to disaster and not being able to move on. Skilled tarot interpreters are good at finding the card's positive messages, such as "there is nowhere to go but up" or "the future is bright," but in a practical and grounded sense, this card is pretty much the worst. Questions answered by Ten of Swords: Who? A dead person What? A catastrophe Where? The floor, the ground When? The middle of June; Ten days; The end Why? The situation is as bad as it could possibly be Yes or No? No Ten of Swords Before any card: The total devastation or end of (card) After any card: Destruction, end, failure The Ten of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? Black, grey, white ...a movie theme? Rock bottom, death
...a new career?
Ten of Swords combinations With Death: Complete failure. With Nine of Wands: Have bravery in your defeat, we learn from our mistakes. With Page of Cups: (10 before Page) A terrible loss leads to a happy new surprise, like a baby after a miscarriage, or a great job after a layoff. (10 after Page) A happy surprise comes with problems. With Four of Swords: Make sure you've taken proper time to recuperate after a loss. With Knight of Pentacles: Hard work pulls you out of this defeating moment.
So there you go - today you can dig a grave, demo a room just because, eat some boring pasta, and watch Macbeth. Enjoy?  The Nine of Swords is a card of anxiety, pain, and nightmares. While not the worst card in the deck, it is nevertheless foreboding and very rarely divines anything positive. The person in this card is agony and loss personified.
It is a difficult challenge to find practical and simple answers to a card so involved with matters inside the head - but I will try not to get too Nine of Swords about it. Clear and annotated meanings do exist for this card. Questions answered by Nine of Swords: Who? The most anxious person What? A nightmare Where? Your dreams When? The first week of June; Nine hours; Anxious moments Why? Situations we do not deal with right away can haunt us later Yes or No? Oh gosh, no. No no no Nine of Swords Before any card: Severe anxiety associated with (card) After any card: Anxiety, nightmares, being frightened The Nine of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? Black, blue ...a movie theme? fear, anxiety, insomnia
...a new career?
Nine of Swords combinations With Hanged Man: A great sacrifice leads to anxiety and hopelessness. With Ten of Wands: Taking on too much responsibility is a nightmare. With Knight of Cups: A sensitive lover feels anxiety about a relationship. With Three of Swords: Grief is overwhelming and unlivable. Seek therapy. With Queen of Pentacles: An anxious mother or parent. The person usually depicted in the Eight of Swords looks trapped, bound, and jailed. However, upon closer look the bindings are usually loose, and there is space between the swords to escape. The person may be suffering self-victimization and refusing to see the way out. This is a great card for me today, because I was just complaining about the tons of clutter in my home office. It's my home office, so the clutter is mine, so I'm not sure to whom I'm complaining, exactly. After I hit "publish" on this, I'll try to make a dent in my office clutter. Hopefully I can make some headway before the middle of may. You win, eight of swords. Update 05/11/2022: I came back to update this post with some metadata, and I wanted to report that I never did completely clear the office clutter. I'm on new ADHD meds now, so maybe this time I'll get to it? Maybe. Maybe not.  Commonly depicted on the Eight is a person tied and blindfolded, surrounded by eight swords stuck in the ground. The person feels helpless and is afraid to move.
However, the blindfold and ropes are a metaphor for the person's own fears. If they would just take a moment to gain perspective, they would see that they are not bound tightly at all, and that there is a way out of the cage. The Eight of Swords is about breaking free of self-victimization and finding your way out of a bad situation. Questions answered by Eight of Swords: Who? Someone who feels or is trapped What? An excuse Where? Your thoughts When? The middle of May; Eight units of time; When your inner critic stops Why? Often our limitations are self-imposed Yes or No? no Eight of Swords Before any card: Being unable to break free of (card) After any card: Imprisonment, self-victimization The Eight of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? grey, blue ...a movie theme? prison, helplessness
...a new career?
Eight of Swords combinations With Justice: Cause and effect causes feelings of entrapment, but it is likely self-victimization. Look for the truth. With Ace of Wands: Someone stubbornly defends their position, and it could limit their ability to succeed. Move forward. With Queen of Cups: A wise and caring helper can guide you out of trouble. With Five of Swords: A desire to win at all costs leads to fear or loss. With King of Pentacles: Until you break free of the chains that bind you, you may not find abundance; Also, find a new job. The cat in my Seven of Swords should not be on the counter. He's a sneak! Now go be sneaky, too. For a limited time, you can get away with 10% off in my shop using the coupon code: 7SWORDS  The Seven of Swords is about stealth, manipulation, and getting away with something sneaky. In the Rider-Waite, a young person is running away with a collection of presumably stolen swords, glancing over a shoulder to make sure no one sees.
The person represented by the Seven knows they are doing something wrong, but they are doing it anyway. Questions answered by Seven of Swords: Who? A trickster What? A robbery Where? A vault When? The middle of February; Seven days Why? Sometimes a bit of manipulation is called for, but be mindful of who gets hurt Yes or No? Probably not Seven of Swords Before any card: Getting away with (card) After any card: Thievery or manipulation The Seven of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? Yellow ...a movie theme? Thievery, crime
...a new career?
Seven of Swords combinations With Wheel of Fortune: Be strategic in your tricks - karma has a way of exposing deviance. With Four of Wands: A deception takes place at home. With King of Cups: An otherwise loving adult has a trick up their sleeve. With Knight of Swords: A thief or trickster dives right in, but impulsivity might spoil the plan. With Ten of Pentacles: A legacy of deception is left behind; The culmination of deviance might have met its end.  The Six depicts a gradual change or difficult journey. This is a troublesome trip, and one that is not wanted but is absolutely necessary for survival.
In most decks, a family paddles a ship across the sea, huddled with only the clothes on their back and each other. The Six of Swords is about a painful but necessary transition. Questions answered by Six of Swords: Who? Someone undergoing a huge transition What? A necessary trip Where? A boat When? The first week in February; Six weeks from now Why? Great relief is on the other side of difficulty Yes or No? If you make the necessary changes, yes Six of Swords Before any card: A difficult transition involving (card) After any card: Travel, leaving behind The Six of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? grey, blue ...a movie theme? a difficult journey
...a new career?
Six of Swords combinations With Hermit: You may need more time alone to contemplate big changes. With Seven of Wands: You're being defensive about your next big transition - why? With Ace of Cups: New emotions lead to an important situational change. With King of Swords: The logical move is to change course; A knowledgeable person knows they need to make a difficult transition. With Ace of Pentacles: On the other side of a difficult journey is a new and amazing opportunity.  The swords are never at rest for long. The Five represents the time after a battle or conflict. If it is a victory, it is an empty one. If it's a defeat, it requires a major regroup and re-plan.
In the Rider-Waite, a person stands holding the swords they have acquired in battle, but they have lost their comrades in the meantime. While at first it appears to be a win, the card itself represents nothing but discord and trouble. Questions answered by Five of Swords: Who? Either the defeated, or a winner who is not proud of his or her victory What? A fight Where? A boxing ring When? The end of January; After a battle; Five units of time from now Why? Winning is not the most important thing right now Yes or No? No Five of Swords Before any card: A battle over (card) After any card: defeat, empty victory The Five of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? grey, green ...a movie theme? defeat, arguments
...a new career?
Five of Swords combinations With Strength: This may be a rare time where a fight needs to happen, be brave and compassionate. With Knight of Wands: Jumping in with uncontrolled ambition will lead to a hollow victory. With Two of Cups: An argument with your partner goes nowhere and is disappointing. With Six of Swords: After a conflict there is a long and arduous adjustment. With Two of Pentacles: Before you start a battle, weigh the pros and cons carefully - there is more at stake than anticipated. I'm willing to bet every Tarot reader has a card that they just don't like. The Four of Swords is mine. It's not a bad card - in fact, it's one of the more positive swords cards! - but the problem I have with it is that it's a card about rest, waiting, delay, and contemplation. I'm a go-getter. When I get a bright idea I like to act on it immediately. So, when the Four of Swords shows up and tells me to wait, sleep on it, or think about it some more, I become unreasonably angry and frustrated! Maybe the Four of Swords is something that will work better for you. Let's find out!  After the dark and upsetting three comes a period of rest and contemplation. The four of swords is about withdrawal and retreat, perhaps temporary, so you can recover. When the four does not follow a painful experience, it might indicate that there is a delay in plans, or that things may not be going quite as expected. Questions answered by Four of Swords: Who? The sleepiest; a therapist What? A nap Where? A bed When? The middle of October; Afterwards; Four days from now Why? Requiring rest is not a weakness. Yes or No? A mild yes Four of Swords Before any card: meditate on (card) After any card: nap, rest, serious consideration The Four of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? grey, yellow ...a movie theme? Rest, mental work
...a new career?
Four of Swords combinations With Chariot: Restore yourself by maintaining control of your thoughts. With King of Wands: A great leader overcomes challenges through retrospection and patience. With Three of Cups: A restorative getaway vacation with friends, such as a camping trip or retreat. With Seven of Swords: Taking a nap feels devious but may be exactly what you need to think of new strategies. With Queen of Pentacles: A practical and secure person needs to contemplate an idea a little while longer; Mom needs a nap. One thing I refuse to meditate or wait on is the next book in my series, Applied Runes. I have a tentative release date of January 1st, 2021, so I'd best get a move on. In a strange coincidence, earlier I was working on the Rune Isa, which is about - you guessed it - waiting, delays, and meditation. It's a Four of Swords and Isa day. Nothing will get accomplished, so I might as well take a nap.  Pictured is the Four of Swords from the Sasuraibito deck, and Isa, a cold and unmoving Rune.  This is a card of pain and sorrow. The three bloody swords indicate that the head has won over the heart, and the result is loss or devastation. It could be the end of a job or relationship, an accidental injury or death, or something else causing deep and difficult grief.
After despair comes a new beginning, but you must face the grief head on in order to push through it. Questions answered by Three of Swords: Who? The ex; Someone grieving a terrible loss What? A dead body; The end Where? A grave When? The beginning of October; Now; Three units of time from now Why? Failure is the greatest teacher Yes or No? No Three of Swords Before any card: Tragedy surrounding (card) After any card: Loss, sorrow, despair The Three of Swords as: ...an action?
...a place in your house?
...a place in your city?
...a place in the world?
...something to eat?
...something to clean?
...where to find the missing item?
...a color? Grey, red ...a movie theme? Loss, sorrow, unwanted truth
...a new career?
Three of Swords combinations With World: (3 before World) Total heartbreak eventually leads to fulfillment, or (3 after World) the loss of all you hold dear. With Queen of Wands: You possess the courage required to face the heartbreak, plan your way through the stages of grief. With Four of Cups: Failure or loss leads to apathy and disconnectedness. With Eight of Swords: You are imprisoned in your own heartbreak - get help. With Knight of Pentacles: Pain leads to a greater sense of responsibility. |
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