Steampunk tarot (Moore) - Four of Swords

shadowdancer

An interesting image, but somewhat dark. And I mean in the literal sense as well as metaphoric sense.

Here we have a gentleman lieing down on a bench. It appears the bench is a mechanical device of sorts, and towards the right we see it has clock dial built in. Yet the clock dial is mostly in darkness, so it would be easy to miss its presence.
The gentleman is well dressed, and has his left arm hanging over the edge of the bench. In his gloved hand we see his holding the handle of a long sword. The sword is lying across the floor below him. The floor is made up of black/white tiles in a checked pattern.

On a table to his right we see a very large hourglass. The yellow sand is trickling through, and appears to be approx 1/3 of the way through. Above the hour glass, on the wall is an open window, with a black bird (raven? crow?) sitting on the outside, looking into the room at the prone gentleman. Next to the window, and afixed to the wall, are three swords of the same design as the sword in the gentleman's hand. The point downwards with the pionts being in line with the brow, throat and solar plexus. I mention these, as readers who also incorporate knowledge of the chakra system may find these are relevant.

I guess this card is all about time needing to pass, and therefore a time of rest and contemplation. Barbara does briefly mention the significance of the bird, but I am not sure she has gone into enough detail for me to really feel its presence is profound enough for me to want to use its presence as a main focal point.

I am a little puzzled by the mechanics of the hourglass and the swords. There appears to be a cord of sorts linking the hour glass and the swords on the wall. It is so dark so it is hard to see if it is a real link, or if I am imagining things. If there is, it could be once time has passed the swords may drop. This would clear the brow chakra (bring insight and new found creativity) and also clear the throat chakra (leading to clearer communication).

It would be interesting to see if any other member has a view on this.
 

Ambrosia

I see this as the usual card of rest, but the hourglass reminds us that we then need to pick ourselves up and get moving again. Don't rest too long or we may become complacent.
When the hourglass is empty the swords will fall, do we need to wake up before it's too late?
 

Holly doll

An interesting image, but somewhat dark. And I mean in the literal sense as well as metaphoric sense.

Here we have a gentleman lieing down on a bench. It appears the bench is a mechanical device of sorts, and towards the right we see it has clock dial built in. Yet the clock dial is mostly in darkness, so it would be easy to miss its presence.
The gentleman is well dressed, and has his left arm hanging over the edge of the bench. In his gloved hand we see his holding the handle of a long sword. The sword is lying across the floor below him. The floor is made up of black/white tiles in a checked pattern.

On a table to his right we see a very large hourglass. The yellow sand is trickling through, and appears to be approx 1/3 of the way through. Above the hour glass, on the wall is an open window, with a black bird (raven? crow?) sitting on the outside, looking into the room at the prone gentleman. Next to the window, and afixed to the wall, are three swords of the same design as the sword in the gentleman's hand. The point downwards with the pionts being in line with the brow, throat and solar plexus. I mention these, as readers who also incorporate knowledge of the chakra system may find these are relevant.

I guess this card is all about time needing to pass, and therefore a time of rest and contemplation. Barbara does briefly mention the significance of the bird, but I am not sure she has gone into enough detail for me to really feel its presence is profound enough for me to want to use its presence as a main focal point.

I am a little puzzled by the mechanics of the hourglass and the swords. There appears to be a cord of sorts linking the hour glass and the swords on the wall. It is so dark so it is hard to see if it is a real link, or if I am imagining things. If there is, it could be once time has passed the swords may drop. This would clear the brow chakra (bring insight and new found creativity) and also clear the throat chakra (leading to clearer communication).

It would be interesting to see if any other member has a view on this.

I agree; maybe it's about things becoming clearer in "Divine timing" & he's over-thinking things & mentally exhausted. Ravens are supposed to be Divine messengers/Divine in guise - it's sitting at the window rather than entering; so it may be a portent of synchronicities not yet ready to unfold. I noticed one of the swords pointing down at the solar plexus - maybe the message of the Raven is to listen in to your intuition (gut) - a solution may be found & it may be closer than you think. The swords pointing at the higher chakras could mean to let go of the logical & rational; things will clear by "seeing" with a different eye & speaking your Truth from your heart & soul.