Renaissance Tarot (Jones / Lyle) - 6 of Swords

Sulis

Against a violet background we see a straight road stretching off into the distance.
The road is lined with 6 upright swords, 3 on each side. Each sword balances on it's point at the roadside.
Each sword has a deep blue ribbon wrapped around it's blade and each ribbon seems to blow in the wind away from the road so that the road is clear.

Sixes are about balance, harmony and choices.
We have been through the troubles of the fives and we've learned our lessons, now it's time to make the choices that will bring harmony and balance back into our lives.
There is a feeling of success with the sixes, of getting things back on track.
Sixes are a plateau, there is stability but it's not as potentially stifling as the stability of the fours; there is more movement of energy, an ebb and flow. With the sixes we look back and look forward too.
They are related to The Lovers so often involve our relationships with other people and so they are also cards of communication.

I think that the road shows movement away from the problems of the fives and I like the way the ribbons blow away from the road showing that the road is clear.
If you think of Swords as representing thoughts and words then this could show a movement from a troubled mind or a clouded mind, bogged down with problems to a more objective viewpoint.
This to me is a card about mentally moving away from a problem to get a bit more perspective on it.
It's a card about being able to think clearly because you have put some distance between yourself and your problems.
It's also a card about clear communication and about being able to get your point across well without hurting feelings but without feeling compromised yourself.
 

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Papageno

here I go again, monopolizing this study group LOL
I'll kill this thread for sure.

just a quick observation, this card indicates moving away from the calamity of the 5/swords toward the haven of the 6 but it also speaks of moving out/away from the healing process of the 6/swords, so this card is also an indication of rejuvenation.......not the achieved victory of the 6/wands but it can possibly be a precursor.

on a superficial level, this particular image also resembles the supports of a suspension bridge....... bridge over troubled waters etc. yea yea it's corny

transition......that's the key word here. never the possibility of being static unlike certain other cards.
 

Little Baron

Papageno said:
on a superficial level, this particular image also resembles the supports of a suspension bridge....... bridge over troubled waters etc. yea yea it's corny

No it's not! That's a fab observation! I love it.

I like the idea of the road, as Sulis points out. And how the ribbons provide a pathway [great imagery]. But I very much like thinking of it as a bridge too. The water beneath starts to look a little darker than it did, as violet strands move through it. The problems of the 'five' could still be very much here, but this card provides a way of stepping over them and onto something new. Sometimes bridges can be a bit wobbly. And sometimes, secure - depending on other cards. But there is definitely a chance being taken. We cannot see where it leads, so we place trust in our own instincts and thoughts.

Great observations guys. Such complexity from something so simple.

LB
 

Enchanted

My first thought with this card, was why does the path get narrower? Is it about narrowing focus? Narrowing perspective?

I like the idea of it looking like a suspension bridge. That gives it the same kind of unsure footing feeling as the usual depiction of a woman on a boat.

I saw the ribbons as kind of holding back the swords, softening them, they won't hurt you now, it is safe to cross.

To me this card really emphasised the feeling of no going back, the only way now is forward. Take your time, baby steps, as you are moving into unknown areas but you can no longer stay where you are.

I like the connection to "Bridge over Troubled Waters", very appropriate! I got "Many Rivers to Cross"

"Many rivers to cross
But I can't seem to find my way over"

Perhaps that is why in other depictions of this card, there is a ferryman, or someone to steer your way.

This card isn't an easy card, it is scary to go into the unknown, but is does seem to indicate that it is a road you must take, there is no going back on this card. The only way to find harmony and peace is to move forward, even if it is slowly.
 

Rosanne

Very expressive cards these neh? Six is also luck and chance and the hope that attends that. I like to think of this card as a river carrying you forward, bound by the Swords, to keep your direction from foundering on the banks. It reminds me of a poem about the stream of language and the hope that ones words are balanced and beautiful and find an ear that understands your thoughts put into words.

I place my hope on the water
in this little boat
of language, the way a body might put
an infant

in a basket of intertwined
iris leaves,
its undersides proofed
with bitumen and pitch,

then set the whole thing down amidst
the sedge
and bulrushes by the edge
of a river

to have it borne hither and thither
not knowing where it might end up
in a lap perhaps,
of some Pharoh's daughter. (N Ni Dhomhnaill)
Yes Hope this is a better future, even though the journey might not be easy.~Rosanne
 

Rosanne

Thanks Debra! I love her translated words; makes me want to learn Gaelic.
I have always called the 6 Swords the Tarot Readers Card- you send your reading out on a journey, balanced like a boat, hoping for a good shore that is not dry and boney. Well thats the aim anyway. I wonder what card others call the 'Tarot Readers Card' ? ~Rosanne
 

Debra

For me, it's #1, the Bateleur, the Magician! Got some stuff spread out on a table, the table is a little wonky and may not make it, the stuff is pretty wonky too, I've got one hand up to heaven and the other trying to touch down, the people are watching.....
 

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WooMonkey

I like Sulis and Enchanted's depiction of the ribbons holding back the swords and showing that the road is clear. The path is heading upwards, and it is a positive, healing feeling. I get a definate feeling of movement in the ribbons, and along the path.