Ace of Swords (Rider Waite Tarot)
First Impressions
A slightly luminous white hand, stark against a gray sky, emerges from an even grayer cloud. It’s clenched tightly around the hilt of a silvery sword, so that the upper T-shaped bar (crossbar) is of the hilt, and the polished ball at its base are all that show. The point of the sword is poking through the centre of a golden crown; two fronds of greenery dangle over the top of it. My guess is that the one on the left is olive or something, and the one on the right palm, but they look like mistletoe and seaweed to me!
Six little yellow flames seem to dance around the base of the sword’s blade, three to a side. Like the ones on the Moon, the Tower and other Aces. Yods, I’ve always assumed. The whole thing - hand, cloud, sword, crown, greenery, flames - is all very large, and looms over a disproportionately teeny tiny landscape of blue and reddish-purple rugged mountain ranges. The mountains and the flames are the only spots of colour in the card at all, really. Gray, white and yellow, with a bit of blue and purple at the bottom.
Honestly, there isn’t much to say about this card on first glance. It’s rather blah and gray, lacks the drama of the Thoth version or even the flickers of light along the blade of the Hanson-Roberts or the Robin Wood. Really, but for the lack of armour, it’s very very similar to that of the Tarot de Marseille. Just not as interesting, visually speaking.
I never saw the Ace of Swords as a good card,
per se. A powerful, forceful card, but not a happy one. I always saw it as one of great personal force, of mental energy, of powerful intellect. But a sharp, pointy and even painful card.
Creator’s Notes
Waite is pretty quiet about this card:
Waite said:
A hand issues from a cloud, grasping a sword, the point of which is encircled by a crown.
Whoopee. Very revealing. But it’s worth taking note of the fact that Waite says the crown encircles the sword, rather than the sword is thrust up through it. The crown is clearly the more important aspect.
Others’ Interpretations
In
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Waite said this card means:
Waite said:
Divinatory Meanings: Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest, triumph of force. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred. The crown may carry a much higher significance than comes usually within the sphere of fortune-telling. Reversed: The same, but the results are disastrous; another account says--conception, childbirth, augmentation, multiplicity.
I like that - “the excessive degree in everything”. Clearly I’ll have to look pretty hard at that crown, though, to find out why it’s so highly significant! And I don’t normally pay much attention to reversed interpretations, much less Waite’s, but I do like that first bit. Basically the same, but worse.
And I like this description from
Book T by Macgregor Mathers:
Mathers said:
A WHITE Radiating Angelic Hand, issuing from clouds, and grasping the hilt of a sword, which supports a White Radiant Celestial Crown; from which depend, on the right, the olive branch of Peace; and on the left, the palm branch of suffering.
Six Vaus fall from its point. It symbolizes "Invoked," as contrasted with Natural Force: for it is the Invocation of the Sword. Raised upward, it invokes the Divine crown of Spiritual Brightness, but reversed it is the Invocation of Demonic Force; and becomes a fearfully evil symbol. It represents, therefore, very great power for good or evil, but invoked; and it also represents whirling Force, and strength through trouble. It is the affirmation of Justice upholding Divine Authority; and it may become the Sword of Wrath, Punishment, and Affliction.
The concept of invocation, of calling up or calling forth, is a really interesting one. I think it adds a nuance to this card that could be important, so I made a point of bringing it up.
And what is this about
Vaus? More on that later.
Wikipedia’s interpretation, on the page for the suit of Swords:
wikipedia said:
Ace of Swords: The Reaver. Indicates decisive ability. Cutting through confusion. Taking a radical decision or standpoint. The ability to see through deception, and expose it.
Actually, it doesn’t add much, I don’t think. I just think the quaintness of its title “The Reaver” is rather charming.
Symbols and Attributes
Astrologically Aces are not affiliated with any particular sign. Rather, they are thought to embody their suit’s element in its purest form. In the case of the Ace of Swords, the element of Air. Air is the element of the spirit, of speech, of the intellect, of ideas and (controversially) of conflict. As pure Air, I suppose it can be thought to share aspects with the Fool in the Major Arcana, whose element is also Air. The Fool I see as a being of Spirit or Æther; more free-flowing, unfettered and ethereal than the intellectual, crystalline and unemotional suit of Swords and the Ace of Swords in particular.
As the number one, the Ace represents the point of origin of the suit’s specific energy, and its greatest potential. Given the nature of the suit of Swords this can be either very positive or very negative. My own personal theory of Aces is that they are, as number One, linked to the Magician; they represent the tools the Magician needs to accomplish his task. And the Sword is not just a sharp implement, it is intelligence, quick thinking, articulate speech and swift and decisive action.
The sword is a weapon, an instrument of force and conflict, but it is also a blade, a tool. A sharp implement used in Wicca to channel and direct energy, and to cut through ropes and bonds of knotty problems. A delicate tool with the precision of a scalpel when wielded properly, it can also be as blunt as an axe and be used to hack and stab when used in another way. It is literally as well as figuratively double-edged.
As it is shown in this card it is a shining gray, making me think more of silver than of steel. Silver is the colour of the Moon, but it is also the colour most closely linked with Gemini, an Air sign. But as a variant of gray, silver is also neutral, unemotional. But more shining, resplendent. Thinking about the expression of the “silver tongue”, we can consider it as relating as well to communication. As a metal it symbolizes purity, clarity, focus and purpose. All interesting to consider in terms of the Swords’ focus; it cuts to the heart of an issue, strips away the extraneous matter to get to the most important points.
The hand that holds the sword emanates from a gray cloud. Clouds are typical symbols of the Air element, and also a common aspect of the older cards. But in the Rider Waite Tarot all Aces are held by hands that emerge from clouds in the sky. I think it underlines their role as gifts from the Divine, from the Spirit. In this case it’s a deep gray cloud, like those that come with heavy rain and thunderstorms. The gift of the Ace of Swords is a serious matter, more significant and fraught with potential than those of the other suits. The hand itself is the right hand, as with the rest of the Aces - the hand of masculinity and decisiveness. And it comes from the left hand side of the card’s frame, as if moving to the right, moving forward. It grips the sword tightly, fist clenched firmly around the hilt. There is such focus, such determination in the grasp.
The point of the sword is encircled by a gold crown studded by red gems. The gold is the colour of intellect and illumination. As a metal gold is the ultimate goal of alchemy, symbolizing achievement and perfection. If rubies, the gems on the crown are the stones of royalty and were traditionally used to decorate the armour and weapons of Indian and Chinese nobles, according to wikipedia. So they are a common symbol of aggression and war, but also of defensiveness. As for the crown itself, its round shape is a further reflection of perfection. Being a perfect circle it represents eternity, endlessness of one’s reign. In this case, though, what is the reign? Because we have to consider that the crown has to crown
something. And in this case, it’s the top of the sword itself.
The crown is linked in the Qabalah to Kether, the uppermost of the ten sephira on the Tree of Life. A sephiroth of pure consciousness, of the divine intellect, it ties in well to the aspect of the suit of Swords as that of the intellect or spirit. It represents the triumph of reason and intellect over instinct. Wikipedia sums up Kether in part as follows:
wikipedia said:
The first Sephirah is called the Crown, since a crown is worn above the head. The Crown therefore refers to things that are above the mind's abilities of comprehension. All of the other Sephirot are likened to the body which starts with the head and wends its way down into action. But the crown of a king lies above the head and connects the concept of "monarchy", which is abstract and intangible, with the tangible and concrete head of the king.
So as it crowns the sword in this case, Kether represents the triumph of the spirit over the cold intellect, over the might of the sword.
When considering the ten sephira, Kether is considered to be colourless as far as colour associations go; this is a neat discovery I learned in light of the fact that one of my first impressions of this card is how colourless, how gray, it is! In his
Liber 777, first published anonymously in 1909, Aleister Crowley stated that Kether is associated with the four Aces of the Tarot. So another point for Waite’s emphasis on the crown. Did Waite read this, seemingly simultaneously with the deck being created? Doubtful, but it’s possible that as members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn at one point or another, both Waite and Crowley would have learned this from the same source.
From the top of the crown two fronds of greenery hang over the edge. On the left hand side, the passive, feminine and receptive side, hangs an olive branch. Olive is a sign of peace, but also of purification according to Sandra A. Thomson; this makes me think of the ritual annointment of kings, of pouring oil on them. The olive was sacred to Athena, linking it to wisdom as well. On the masculine and active side, the right, hangs a palm branch. Palm is a masculine symbol of victory and triumph. It makes me think of Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem a week before his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. He rode into the city on a donkey, which indicated he was arriving in peace (he wasn’t riding a warhorse); residents of the city strewed his path with palm branches to show that he was worthy of great honour and therefore should not walk on the bare ground. A precursor to a red carpet, I guess. So I would take this to symbolize the triumph of peace over the lower conflict of the sword beneath.
Surrounding the base of the sword are six yellow flames, three to a side. I had always assumed that they were yods. As we saw in the Tower, and again in the Moon, yod is the first letter of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (the Name of God). It represents divine grace (perhaps it fell from the crown?) and the act of primal creation since tiny yod is a part of every other Hebrew letter. To me it reinforces the vast potential, the sparks of the Divine, that surround the Ace of Swords.
But are they really yods? Why did Mathers refer to them as vaus? Vau is another Hebrew letter, and the third of the Tetragrammaton (Yod, heh, vav, heh). And apparently those in the know state that the flames in this particular Ace more closely represent the shape of the vau (or vav) than that of yod.
What’s the difference, anyway? Well, I found a neat website that kind of summed up the symbolism of the various Hebrew letters:
http://shekinah.elysiumgates.com/hebrew.html said:
Vau Traditionally this symbolizes "Humanity" and the "Restoration of Judgment." As the third letter in the Ha Shem, the Holy Name, vau represents Completion, Redemption and Transformation. It is the letter of continuity, uniting Heaven with Earth. When used with certain vowels (as i the probably pronunciation of the Name of God), vau can be an almost silent letter, more approximating a vowel than a consonant. A soft, vowel-like vau denies validity of the harsh-sounding Jehovah as an English translation for the Hebrew Name of God. As the letter yod is also a so-called half-vowel, Iyahweh, with the w and both h's uttered softly, may be closer to being correct as a possible pronunciation fo the Ineffable Name.
[…] Yod Literally, "hand" and symbol of the Jew. It also means "monument" or "share." Although the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, yod contains as much meaning as the rest of the Hebrew alphabet combined. Yod signifies Creation itself and all of the Metaphysical processes and, on its own, stands as an important symbol for the Creator.
So vau is the letter of transformation, and yod the letter of creation. Yod has to come first, has to create something that can be later transformed in vau.
Kwaw had quite a lot to say in 2004 about the yod versus vau issue in the Ace of Swords:
As Vincent informs us, in Mather's public book the 'dots' are descibed as 'yods', but in the inner teachings of the GD as Vau's. Why is this relevant? Because Waite was a member of the GD, took over an offshoot of it post 1900, Smith was a member of this offshoot, and this influenced the symbolism within their deck.
Vincent mentions that according to Mathers 'public' book the symbols are 'yods', but in the inner teachings [book 't'] they are described as 'vau's.
There is an implication in vincent's post that one or the other must be true; that the secret, inner teaching is the truth therefore the outer public truth is false. I disagree. An inner teaching does not necessarily disagree with, or make false, an outer [or public] teaching, but extends or qualifies it, even when they appear to be opposites.
For example, night and day, opposites. As opposites we may say they are exclusive [it is impossible to have both night and day HERE and NOW], but also inclusive [NIGHT here [ie, one side of the world] DAY there [the other side of the world], or night now, day tomorrow or yesterday] depending upon qualifications of time/space.
Or let us say the letter Yod symbolises the 'father', Vau the 'Son'. All fathers are sons, sons maybe fathers. They are not exclusive of each other.
Looking at Waite/Smiths Ace of Swords the six dots, three on either side of the sword, look like yods to me. Like Mathers, Waite was a member of the GD and valued his oaths. So if as Vincent says Mathers in his public statements made them Yods, but in the inner teachings of the Gd described them as Vau's; Wouldn't this apply as much to Waite’s? A member of the GD, having took oaths, the outer [public teaching] yod, the inner Vau? They look like yods, but there are six, which may relate to vau [the Hebrew letter vau has a numerical value of six].
They look like Yods, but there are six which may allude to an inner teaching of an attribution to Vau. So I think not Yod OR Vau, but Yod AND Vau.
Having two letters of the Tetragrammaton {Yod and Vau of YHVH} makes me wonder if the the other letter {Hei, H} is also included? The sword is crowned, and the crown has 5 'tips', and 5 is the numerical value of Hei. Plus the sword with its crown is very phallic, and one of the Hebrew names for the crown [head, glans] of the phallus is 'aterah' [meaning 'crown, etymologically connected with the turban of an eastern king and the English work 'tiara', in hebrew the crown or glans of the penis, also an alternative name for the tenth sephira 'malkuth', which is associated with the last 'Hei' or 'H' of the name JHVH].
The sword a cutting tool, a blade [an instrument of circumcision]. What is the symbolism of circumcision? The glans are exposed in an uncircumsized penis when in a state of arousal, of desire and readiness for 'unification'. The circumsized penis, the 'aterah' is forever exposed, symbolising the constant unification between man and god [the shekinah, the bride or presence of God, Israel [mankind]].
So in the Ace of swords we have reference to all the three letters in the name of god, yod, hei and vau.
Kwaw
Yow. I know so little about the Hebrew/Qabalistic juxtapositions with Tarot, and the Tetragrammaton and circumcised penis stuff honestly doesn’t make much sense to me. But what I take from the yod/vau thingy is that the Ace of Swords is not a creative force, but a transformative one. Or, if it is as Kwaw says: yod
and vau, it is creative potential and transformation as well. And this makes sense, because a sword I tend to think of as something that can’t create something new, but can change something existing. It can cut a block of wood, hack it into kindling or carve it into a beautiful or useful object. But while it can’t create the block of wood in the first place, it has the potential to create something new from it.
The hand and sword and stuff are disproportionately large, looming over the teeny scene below, making me think of when God appeared to King Arthur and his knights in
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (what is it about the Aces, incidentally, that makes me reference Monty Python?!) - massive and important and dwarfing the mere mortals on the ground. It makes me think of the relative importance of the intellect, of the spirit, how it can seem to eclipse the more mundane earthly cares. The mountains below remind me of those in the background of the Fool and Judgement. Jagged yet very slightly rounded. I am using the pocket Rider Waite Tarot by U.S. Games, and in my copy the mountains are blue and a cross-hatching of red and purple. Blue for the spirit, for ideas, for the alignment of the soul with the divine, with a higher spirit. And purple for authority and spiritual or esoteric insight. Now mountains, with their distant peaks and their connection with spiritual retreats and hermits (think of the monks of Tibet, and you picture pilgrim supplicants hiking up the mountains to seek their wisdom), make me think in this light of quests and spirituality. So I would see the mountains here as referring to a quest, to seeking out the Divine and spiritual knowledge. Such concerns can be eclipsed, can fade to the background, as more emphasis is given to the conflictual aspects of this suit. The hand clenching the sword, wielding it as a weapon, or the flashy gift, detracts from the purity of the knowledge and insight being sought. Maybe this is something that could benefit from the trimming blade - cutting away the extraneous chaff that blocks the view of the pure elemental goal.
My Interpretations
As I’ve said, I prefer to view Aces in the Tarot as tools in the Magician’s arsenal. The qualities he needs to accomplish his goals. And in this case, the Ace of Swords, the tool on the table is that of clarity, the ability to cut through the crap to get to the heart of an issue. And to stab that heart right through the middle, if need be.
There’s a great deal of Qabalistic symbolism in this card that all points to the vast potential in the Ace of Swords. If we see the flames as yods, which I think after much dithering I still prefer to vaus, it is a very powerful symbol and rife with creative potential and power. Combined with the divine intellect of the crown as Kether, and it’s really very impressive. Rather than just the intellect and articulation of Air, it brings the divine spirit into things. Not an approach I’d really considered, so it’s interesting.
Traditionally I’d often heard of the Ace of Swords referring to the natural laws of karma, of reaping what you sow. But in the more retributory viewpoint, that of karma being a bitch. Funny, that never much came up in looking at Waite’s and Colman Smith’s symbols, but it’s always one that is at the back of my mind.
Overall, if I drew this card in a reading I would take it to refer to a situation where intellect is at the forefront. Either it would call for a coldly intellectual approach, or to back off from the current unemotional and uncluttered viewpoint. Don’t forget about the spiritual side of things.
