sapienza
I have always found the Aces notoriously difficult to interpret in readings. This morning I drew the Ace of Swords and dismissed it fairly quickly with the view that Aces seldom say much at all. Well, I was certainly wrong, this Ace was sending me a clear message and it is only now after the events of the day that I can see it.
In the card we see a hand coming from clouds and holding a golden sword which pierces a crown. There are red jewels on the guard and a ribbon with 'ignis' written, which translates to fire. 'X' also appears on the ribbon and I'm not sure what that represents. The background shows a great ball of flames and there are other smaller flames as well. There is also the upward triangle which is the symbol for the element of fire.
Nigel Jackson gives the meanings of this card as conquest and victory against the odds, breakthrough, and just triumph and reversed, hate, retribution, and force. Etteilla gives a long list of possible meanings some of which are extreme, large, excessive, furious, ravaged by, passionately, vehemence, ravagement, anger, fury, rage, last gasp and reversed multiplicity, conception, and enlargement. Waite takes on board some of the Golden Dawn but still combines Etteilla and lists triumph, excessive degree in everything, great force in both love and hatred, and if reversed the same, but with disastrous results.
I was unaware of Etteilla's suggested meanings but having now lived the day I just have I can certainly confirm that the card can indicate anger, fury and rage. Looking at the image it is quite the depiction of the forces of anger, a burst of flame, raging fires, all surrounding a weapon capable of cutting to the core.
It is interesting to me that the suit of Swords is the only one where the implement is in fact a weapon. This is one of the reasons that I became too uncomfortable with the correlation of swords with air. If you consider the classical temperaments then air is linked with sanguine, and there is nothing sanguine about a sword. Even the typically understood characteristics of the court cards leads one to believe that the temperament of choleric is a better fit, which is of course linked to fire. I do understand the Golden Dawn Swords-Air connection as it is commonly understood but have chosen instead to embrace the Swords-Fire match and this card is a great depiction of that.
I also link this card with lust, the kind of burning and almost painful lust that leaves one unable to think or act based on the rational mind. Waite suggests the meaning of great force in both love and hatred and this resonates for me. Sometimes lust acts outside of love or even like. This card could represent the dangers of being controlled by desire rather than rationality. It could even represent a passionate encounter, an event where ones fire is sparked, either sexually or in some other way. But it's a burning fire that threatens to consume one, rather that the type of fire we sit before to warm our feet.
The other possibility that I see in this card is pain. A burning, searing, sharp, cutting pain, the likes of which tend to accompany accidents. I think the card could actually symbolise an accident which leads to pain or destruction. There is definitely the sense of something happening suddenly and with great force.
So, do all these meanings make the card negative? As with other cards that are often considered 'bad' cards such as the Tower, or Death, there is always a silver lining. While the initial events signified by the Ace of Swords may not be all that pleasant, they will inevitably be necessary for ones growth.
In the card we see a hand coming from clouds and holding a golden sword which pierces a crown. There are red jewels on the guard and a ribbon with 'ignis' written, which translates to fire. 'X' also appears on the ribbon and I'm not sure what that represents. The background shows a great ball of flames and there are other smaller flames as well. There is also the upward triangle which is the symbol for the element of fire.
Nigel Jackson gives the meanings of this card as conquest and victory against the odds, breakthrough, and just triumph and reversed, hate, retribution, and force. Etteilla gives a long list of possible meanings some of which are extreme, large, excessive, furious, ravaged by, passionately, vehemence, ravagement, anger, fury, rage, last gasp and reversed multiplicity, conception, and enlargement. Waite takes on board some of the Golden Dawn but still combines Etteilla and lists triumph, excessive degree in everything, great force in both love and hatred, and if reversed the same, but with disastrous results.
I was unaware of Etteilla's suggested meanings but having now lived the day I just have I can certainly confirm that the card can indicate anger, fury and rage. Looking at the image it is quite the depiction of the forces of anger, a burst of flame, raging fires, all surrounding a weapon capable of cutting to the core.
It is interesting to me that the suit of Swords is the only one where the implement is in fact a weapon. This is one of the reasons that I became too uncomfortable with the correlation of swords with air. If you consider the classical temperaments then air is linked with sanguine, and there is nothing sanguine about a sword. Even the typically understood characteristics of the court cards leads one to believe that the temperament of choleric is a better fit, which is of course linked to fire. I do understand the Golden Dawn Swords-Air connection as it is commonly understood but have chosen instead to embrace the Swords-Fire match and this card is a great depiction of that.
I also link this card with lust, the kind of burning and almost painful lust that leaves one unable to think or act based on the rational mind. Waite suggests the meaning of great force in both love and hatred and this resonates for me. Sometimes lust acts outside of love or even like. This card could represent the dangers of being controlled by desire rather than rationality. It could even represent a passionate encounter, an event where ones fire is sparked, either sexually or in some other way. But it's a burning fire that threatens to consume one, rather that the type of fire we sit before to warm our feet.
The other possibility that I see in this card is pain. A burning, searing, sharp, cutting pain, the likes of which tend to accompany accidents. I think the card could actually symbolise an accident which leads to pain or destruction. There is definitely the sense of something happening suddenly and with great force.
So, do all these meanings make the card negative? As with other cards that are often considered 'bad' cards such as the Tower, or Death, there is always a silver lining. While the initial events signified by the Ace of Swords may not be all that pleasant, they will inevitably be necessary for ones growth.
