Quantum Tarot: the King Swords

nisaba

Given that it's the evening before the first day of the school year here and I have a dependent teenager, it makes sense that I iron some brand-new school uniforms, so it is imperative that I don't go anywhere near my computer or my copy of the Quantum, and even more imperative that I don't ...

<shuffle>

<cut>

Damn, I did. Oh well, too late now.

I *swear* I can see breasts in this card! See? Down the bottom of the image, just above the word "King", where a pair of young, pert breasts would be most ironic. Especially since we are looking at Uranus, oldest of Gods and father or grandfather to many of them.

The blue-green sphere, slightly backlit, is surrounded by whorls of eddying pinkness. The not-so-L-not-so-W-B wasn't much help here. Cut down by his own son, who in time became the ancient patriarch of the gods, a sword, the weapon of his undoing, floats in the top-left quadrant, its tip out of view, its handle dark and heavy, and the curve of its hilt could have been worked into one of Uranus' rings, I think. Of the many faces that populate this deck, floating at us through layers of images, there is really only an eye truly visible here, but hints of colour variation suggest the side of a nose, a straggly moustache or mouth, a cheek, a bit of a beard. This, to the right of the image, under the symbol. Bottom-centre, as I said, a pair of youthful breasts on a healthy young nude. Through this colourful turbulence we see stars, not only behind and ringing the planet, but also in front of (or through) the planet, where they would be if the planet, like the murdered god, were no longer there. The parricidal son gave his name to chronometers, making it slightly surprising, given the weirdness that is time-space, that he doesn't appear in his own right anywhere in the deck. But then again perhaps he does, as the Sword that fells the King.

My own personal take on the King Swords through the decades is not a lot different to Kay's: to me he is the man of thought rather than the practical man. He gets practical enough to change your blown motherboard for you, but he has no idea about changing a tyre or repairing fencing, and on garbage night when the bins need to be wheeled out, he's nowhere to be seen. He watches "Catalyst" or "Time Team", not "NCIS" or "The Bill". (Notice my multiculturalism? I'm proud of managing to work so many countries into so few words!) He was doing sudokus when they were obscure and unrecognised: he gave up on cryptic crosswords years ago because they're all starting to look the same to him, and he plays Goh instead of chess because the Japanese board game, deceptively simple, actually requires deeper thought to be played not only skilfully but elegantly. He may or may not be academically educated: if he is, he would have taken steps to make sure he's recognised as an authority in his field, and if he isn't, he's broadly read in many areas, holds erudite conversations and is satisfied when people treat him as a mentor or a walking encyclopaedia.

His shadow acknowledges his own intelligence but in doing so thinks other people to be stupid, and therefore does not listen to them, often not allowing them to have a voice at all. He knows better than anyone what is good for them and dictates how his family, partners and employees should work, think and live. He is a tyrant who plays head-games because he can. He doesn't have to lock you in the house and take away the car-keys and the credit card - your own feelings of inadequacy will do that for him. In the meantime, he will sally forth out into the world without a care, serene in the worship of his students or clients, all of whom think he can do no wrong, most of whom are in love with him.

Comments, anybody?

An interesting juxtaposition just happened: try it for yourselves. Get this card and The Chariot. Place the Chariot beneath the King such that both their left-bottom corners match, but the top-right corner of the Chariot sticks out a couple of centimetres (an inch or so). Line it up so that the King's right eye and Einstein's left eye are the intuitive right distance apart. They form a single face, a third person, completely different to both of them. This third person reminds me a bit of Peter Ustinov, actor and writer. (I can't help it! I was putting the deck back together and it just happened!)
 

Leo62

Love your description of the King of Swords nisaba! :D Though I must admit, I've never noticed any boobs in this card... :bugeyed:

Your outline of the K of S's character is a dead ringer for my SO, who is the model for this card...eerie... ;)

I'll have a go at the Chariot matchup when I get home to my deck...wow it's so creepy that the QT is developing a mind of its own...
 

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nisaba

Leo62 said:
Love your description of the King of Swords nisaba! :D Though I must admit, I've never noticed any boobs in this card... :bugeyed:

Your outline of the K of S's character is a dead ringer for my SO, who is the model for this card...eerie... ;)

I'll have a go at the Chariot matchup when I get home to my deck...wow it's so creepy that the QT is developing a mind of its own...

I bl**dy hope for your sake he isn't in his shadow! (and no, we don't need public declarations).

And <cackle> Doesn't any good deck, surrounded by the attention of strong-minded people- develop its own "stuff"? This is the first time I've had direct physical access to the creator of a deck I work with, and it's fun watching you be surprised by odd stuff that other people see or say. My "comfort deck" (this one will at best only ever come a long-term second, sorry) which has been around for fifteen-odd years, I think, comes complete with its own spirit guide, I think, who is the person who designed it. But the fact remains, your communications are unequivocally yours, whilst hers may well be my imagination for all anyone else (except Colin!) knows.

This guy Colin saw her sitting behind me laughing gently when I was doing readings years ago, and described her to me having never seen the deck - his description was a spitting-image for the self-portrait that is on the card-backs and dances through the Major and Minor Arcanas: a cheerful, plump, elderly woman, wearing symbolically coloured clothes, her hair pulled back in a grey bun. She was *horrified* when, during his description of her, he described her hairstyle as "very bowling club"! <laughter>. Several years ago she kicked in very strongly, and since then is undiscriminating about decks and happy to help - I strongly suspect that at that stage she might have passed on ... I must admit I'm very fond of her as distinct from her deck, and I'm happy when I can feel her around.