Cosmic Tarot 9 swords

paradoxx

Looked for a pic, went into a loop and came back here. This is a card that takes your attention and puts you where you know it best. Its the figure in the card that throws me off guard, it resembles Brent Spiner (on purpose?) as Data of Star Trek 1986 and after. That aside, the general feeling of the card is defying description right now. It is a modern card, the war machine in the guise of a distant plane and a tank in battle tell the tale of the 20th adn 21st century well.

The building being shaken apart on the right looks romanesque, but I aslso accept that I really don't know. The snake, its a touch of the mystic value of the decks symbolisim as it has been identifed as the snake of life.

This card is a very important card in the definition of this decks personality, it has a timeless feeling at times but some cards just pull you back to the present moment. More so now with the current state of the world.
 

LittleWing

for me - - - - this means that too many ideas can be overwhelming. you may be blowing problems out of proportion, and there is despair, fear and negative thoughts.

like you feel like your world is crumbling around you.
 

divinerguy

The theme of overwhelming problems is obvious, and is shown in the multiple swords piercing the man, and the destruction of what appears to be a temple.

What strikes me as interesting is the snake. The snake is not being harmed by the sword - it is embracing it .....

I see the snake as a representation of the original sin of man. In short, the man in the card has brought on the current state of affairs by his own actions, not some external force.

The tank is just a representation of the magnitude of the problem faced by the man.
 

LittleWing

divinerguy said:
In short, the man in the card has brought on the current state of affairs by his own actions, not some external force.

so do you think it is a bit like - 'you need to lie in the bed you have made'. do not resist things - they are more painful this way?
 

divinerguy

LittleWing said:
so do you think it is a bit like - 'you need to lie in the bed you have made'. do not resist things - they are more painful this way?

I'm not sure about that. It might say that.

What I feel confident about, is that this person is responsible for his own fate. He can't blame others for it.
 

Ruby Red Slippers

Cosmic - 9 of Swords


I believe the snake is a key player on this card, as it is so rich in symbology.

The snake has played a major role in the magic and mythology of almost every culture, as few animals are regarded with more awe and reverence. Because the snake sheds its skin each year and appears renewed, it is a symbol of life, death and rebirth. Since they often nest underground, snakes have long been symbolic of the dead returning to the upper world.

The act of shedding skin, of sliding out of the old and being reborn, gives the snake a transformative symbology. The Greeks customarily used the snake as an emblem of healing through wisdom. It also has symbolism with the Great Mother, intuitive wisdom, and feminine mysteries.

I think when we are drawn to this symbol on the card, it can be interpreted as any of the above that applies to the individual reading.

Just my take......
Ruby Red Slippers
 

Myrrha

A man is crouched as if in fear and pain. Swords pierce his body and warplanes are bombing the area. A tank is coming onto the scene and a Greek-style (it looks that way to me) temple is crumbling. A large serpent is coiled around one of the swords.

The title of the card is Cruelty and the astrological attribution is Mars in Gemini.

Mars is all hot and action oriented. It wants to fight and confront everything directly. Gemini is a more scattered energy, it can see several sides to every question and is more indirect. So the fiery, combative energy of Mars is frustrated. Furthermore, although this is the Swords suit, the suit of reason, it is very far down on the tree of life (further from the source) so the energy of rational thought itself is distorted and weak. There is not enough purity and strength of rational thought to restrain the primitive instincts and cruelty indicated by a frustrated Mars.

I think that the crumbling Greek-style temple shows that it is the breakdown and loss of reason that is causing this outbreak of cruelty. The serpent wrapped around the sword indicates that what intellect remains is being used to deceive.

So the card indicates cruelty, people being picked on and bullied, suffering, deceit. Crowley (I'm studying the Cosmic with the idea that its minors are based on the Thoth) gives some postitive meanings for the Nine of Swords: patience, obedience, unselfishness that are in play when the card is well dignified and it seems to me that these are useful meanings for the card because it comes up sometimes in situations where the more unpleasant meanings just don't apply.

Nothing in the Cosmic Tarot Nine of Swords indicates that it refers to something unreal or all in the mind as in the Rider Waite Tarot. I wonder why Waite chose that slant for his deck. Maybe it was a different interpretation of the fact that the card is in the Swords suit, the suit of mental process, the kabbalistic world of Yetzirah? Waite seems to have been determined that his deck should not reveal the kabbalistic teachings of his order so maybe it is a sort of blind.

Sometimes when the card comes up in my readings it does indicate that I am bullying myself or tormenting myself with deceptions and cruel thoughts so I'm still not sure which way to read it, maybe both.
 

Madame Squee

Mars in Gemini is the astrological relationship connected to the Nine of Swords.

I think Norbert Losche has placed clues to the identity and meaning of the astrological relationship in the Cosmic Tarot, and I'm trying to identify them and use the method of their appearance to divine the meaning of the card.

In the Nine of Swords, the central figure in the card seems to point to the clue for Mars in Gemini: an army tank positioned behind twin columns.

The fact that the columns are shown crumbling leads me to conclude that Mars in Gemini is a powerfully destructive force -- one that is destroying itself.

In addition, the body language of the central figure -- with the hands grasping the head, leads me to the conviction that the mind is affected most in this unfortunate, destructive astrological relationship.
 

crazy raven

I meditated on this card yesterday, looking at the strongest emotion associated with this card. I felt alone, isolated, "my world" was rapidly disintegrating. Feeling overwhelmed and totally powerless it's as if my own fearful and dark mind is threatening to devour me. Seeing no other people in this card it seems this is all about me and the reality I created. This is an extremely 'cerebral' card.

Mars is a malefic planet, meaning it's sharp and direct to the point ... a powerful masculine phallic force that cuts straight to the heart of the matter. The person in this card has no where to retreat, they are literally stuck in the deepest recesses of their own negative racing thoughts that have gone horrifyingly haywire.

This person is unable to stop the intensity of their destructive thoughts ... they resist help from others fearing they will become even more powerless by getting the help they need. So their fear and rage becomes all-consuming and overwhelming. Life is unbearable, their world is filled with terrors because their minds are filled with terror.

When people are unable to change in positive ways, it's usually because they don't have a visual or plan of how to get there. Sometimes they just aren't ready for change, perhaps their history has clouded their ability to envision a more positive reality.

I think one of the most important things in quieting the mind is looking for a quiet time, when you can sit back, be by yourself, relax and simply be quiet.



The snake in this picture is quite profound and we know that its symbol is present in all religions. Some say it's the devil, others call it the fiery serpent or Kundalini; I learnt to see it as divided in two .. the lower part dark; the higher part light. When impregnated with negative thoughts, it harms; impregnated with sacred thoughts it becomes radiant and luminous. So the serpent just as the swords contains dualistic polarities (good/bad).

I also read somewhere that the snake is the symbol of all spirits who chose to 'separate' from the Divine/God ... all of them highly evolved beings possessing great wisdom and knowledge...