Don't Rock the Boat : 6 of Swords

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Fulgour	19 Feb 2005
Don't Rock the Boat: Six Swords Standing on Points If you enjoy optical illusions, there's a neat one here. Counting from your right as you look at the picture, the 3rd Sword looks to be both behind and in front of the 2nd (it may be seen by studying the handles). Given that we are being notified of the artist's design, by the artist herself, it's as if she's saying, Look here. So now we might look at each Sword one by one and see how each is specially positioned, both in the boat, and in relation to the 2 huddled figures seated therein. Each passenger is as if fixed in place by a single Sword. Then there's a bundle (?) between the legs of the larger figure, the one wrapped in the blanket: 2 Swords fix it. The 3 Swords furthest to our right, now take on a new meaning of their own, and we may notice them aligned along the boat's edge: complete with the optical illusion. What are 6 Swords doing standing thus on their points? Rather a hazardous risk there, piercing through the hull, or tipping over and falling into the water, so lost forever. Is this card is as much about the Swords as the people? (click on) VI Swords

WalesWoman	20 Feb 2005
If you look at the swords as groupings, as if it were a progression of events...going from the beginning, the resistance and acceptance of some sort of loss or painful experience, then it makes perfect sense that these people would be in that state of numbing equilibrium, remaining still so that nothing would upset that precarious balance between logic and drowning in emotion, if the boat did tip. Guess that is why they need someone to steer and guide them from the pain to a place more tranquil so they can heal and regain their own balance within themselves. In fact the boat is needed to carry those swords, because it has become too much for the two passengers to carry themselves, they couldn't stay where they were any longer and have to get to a safe place, even if just for a reprieve...a spiritual retreat. Have you ever noticed when someone is dealing with something almost too painful to bear on their own, how they move...slowly, carefully and very deliberately and almost like a maniquin? As if they moved too quickly, that they might lose their balance and "lose it", doing normal things automatically but with no life force behind it. That they are in a prison of their thoughts, can't think of anything else or do anything to help themselves get over it. They often have reached a point where they can no longer think clearly, passively accepting being steered and guided and watched over. They don't really care where they go as long as it is away from the pain and conflict of their feelings or thoughts. In fact those swords are almost like bars to keep them from flinging themselves off the boat and act as a safety barrier. Wow, how thought provoking! I hadn't thought of the swords as bars, confining them before.

ncefafn	21 Feb 2005
Or maybe the swords are arranged so -- in front of and surrounding the passengers -- in order to shield them from view, or at least identifcation, by the hostile forces they are attempting to escape from. Suddenly I'm thinking of the Scarlet Pimpernel's raids on France's shores, to smuggle the French aristocracy out of the Reign of Terror.

Rosanne	21 Feb 2005
The swords are indeed an optical illusion. I think of them as constricting or confining. The woman? looks in disguise as it does not look particularly cold and she? is very wrapped up. I wonder what price for the journey. Also it is like the noose around the necks in 'The Devil' the people could walk forward inbetween the swords to disembark, so there is the illusion of protection as well. I also get a sense from the placement of the swords that it is like sign of patronage, as when someone is given a ring to get right of passage through enemy territory. What could it mean to have ruffled water on one side of the boat and calm on the other?

MeeWah	21 Feb 2005
Fulgour wrote: ...So now we might look at each Sword one by one and see how each is specially positioned, both in the boat, and in relation to the 2 huddled figures seated therein. Each passenger is as if fixed in place by a single Sword. Then there's a bundle (?) between the legs of the larger figure, the one wrapped in the blanket: 2 Swords fix it. Alludes to 2-Swords. As if figuratively pinioned in place by the difficulties or fears, yet despite the conditions or because of the circumstances they make the decision to take action; to move away or to create separation from same. Fulgour wrote: ...The 3 Swords furthest to our right, now take on a new meaning of their own, and we may notice them aligned along the boat's edge: complete with the optical illusion. Similarly as 2-Swords, these allude to the 3-Swords. That which experienced & the understanding to move past the experiences. Fulgour wrote: ...What are 6 Swords doing standing thus on their points? Rather a hazardous risk there, piercing through the hull, or tipping over and falling into the water, so lost forever. Suggestive of respectively the risk inherent in change & of protection possible. The risk of not knowing if the shore on the other side would appreciably improve the lot, but the main focus is to remove the self from the conflicted, to get away & thus end the cycle. Where protection concerned, conceivably could repel a head-on attack or at least provide a respite from the continuing to further difficulties. Fulgour wrote: Is this card is as much about the Swords as the people? It appears to efficiently refer to the past events leading or culminating in the present. A cycle ended as the number 6 representative of harmony or resolution. Such as achieved through the understanding of that presented & the choices to address same.

MeeWah	21 Feb 2005
Rosanne wrote: The swords are indeed an optical illusion. I think of them as constricting or confining. The woman? looks in disguise as it does not look particularly cold and she? is very wrapped up. I wonder what price for the journey. Also it is like the noose around the necks in 'The Devil' the people could walk forward inbetween the swords to disembark, so there is the illusion of protection as well. I also get a sense from the placement of the swords that it is like sign of patronage, as when someone is given a ring to get right of passage through enemy territory. What could it mean to have ruffled water on one side of the boat and calm on the other? Good observations here, too. The extent of the logic or understanding of a situation play a significant part between that perceived & the actual. The boatman could represent a guide; outside assistance or that needed to negotiate a passage. Also that of a protector. The turbulent water on the right side seems to refer to the conscious mind & its understanding; the manifest conditions of the physical/material. The calm water on the left to refer to the subconscious mind; that which provides guidance, solution or otherwise provides the means to address a situation.

Fulgour	21 Feb 2005
This has always been my view, the calm and smooth waters being such a deeply powerful, creative image. So many delightful wonders in this so beautiful deck. Rosanne's question did also make me think of seeing this in terms of "why?" and so I thought of boating. To launch a punt away from the shore using a pole, as the boat began to sweep out, moving very slowly, the waters would be agitated, maybe as drawn here.

Fulgour	21 Feb 2005
MeeWah wrote: It appears to efficiently refer to the past events leading or culminating in the present. A cycle ended as the number 6 representative of harmony or resolution. Such as achieved through the understanding of that presented & the choices to address same. I was just looking at the card again, and suddenly the three rounded ends of the Sword handles on the right stood out. It appeared for an instant as if three big statues stood there. Then I looked at how those three are above the horizon line, and the three Swords on the left are much entangled below. The harmony of the Six, so gracefully rising like birds in flight.

willowberry	21 Feb 2005
To me, the boatman reminds me of the ferryman taking people across the river styx....or if any of you remember a programme by Jim Henson's workshop called 'The Storyteller' there was a tale called the luck child and the luck child had to go across the water to get the golden feather from the scary griffin in order to marry the one a loved. The boatman said to the luck child that no one ever comes back from the shore and that he was bound to row the boat for eternity. Are the 2 passengers ever coming back? The muted green of the water and land suggest a peculiar unearthly landscape - the colours are not earthed anywhere, the water is not seperate from the land - it seems lunar. The luck child, however does come back, because he is pure and is a luck child and of course there's a prophecy that he will be king and you can't ever cheat a prophecy. The luck child finds out that all the ferryman has to do to release himself is to hand the pole to his next passenger "...and your fate becomes his, and his freedom yours" So who is that boatman? The black of the pole suggests the pole is a mental symbol, the waters the domain of the unconscious. Is this really about his journey and his perceptions of being trapped when all he needs to do is hand the pole over to be free from his mental constraints? Are the others in the boat merely props and their fate will be to become the ferryman?

Rosanne	21 Feb 2005
I loved your different take on the Card Willowberry- maybe thats a possible price for the journey? Fulgours birds in flight; Three swords hilts above the horizen three below great reinforcing pattern. Always something new in this PCS deck. Have you noticed on the V11 Swords one hilt is badly bent-I have never got a meaning from that except the annoyance of taking a useless sword.

WalesWoman	21 Feb 2005
These are all such great insights on this card, usually when the swords point down, it's "bad", a down turn, but if their tips are stuck in the bottom of the boat...with rounded handles...they are sort of grounded in a transcient way. That these swords are a passing thing and maybe can't harm them any longer, tho' the edges are still sharp and cutting. The DM's usually say that this is a temporary calm, time out to regather and regroup before continuing on. That the other shore is in fog, sort of dreamy and illusionary, could be that, losing yourself in some haze until you are ready to deal with the realities again. Like that unclear, unknown, unthinking and withdrawal period dealing with loss, grief and survival. Perhaps that is the bundle between the woman's legs, the "baggage" she may need to leave on that other shore in order to go on from there. Perhaps it contains her feelings, memories, maybe it holds what she needs to sustain her, the most meaningful parts that were salvagable.

MeeWah	21 Feb 2005
6-Swords can represent transition: the period of time & change from one phase of life to another. RWS image particularly expressive of this. As death due to the association with the River Styx & the ferryman who transports souls to a final destination. The status of a deceased woman concerned family as it was detected she had not relinquished the earthly ties & still in residence mainly in a dark, utility lower level of the home. After a "house-cleaning", it meant the soul had made the transition or been successfully sent her way & no longer earth-bound. As Providence where a matter is out of one's hands.

The Don't Rock the Boat : 6 of Swords thread was originally posted on 19 Feb 2005 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.