Crystal Tarot Swords 6-10

Hi everyone,

Is anyone else out there??? Jewel-ry asks herself

OK then - The Swords 6-10
Just like to say here that I wish I knew more about geometry because the LWB (sorry Diana) says about the swords that 'sad geometries are formed'. I am definately going to get the Sacred Geometry Oracle for xmas so perhaps will be able to update these threads at a later date.

Six - This card is called 'contradictions - the search for coherance is not an immediate search'. Well, yes, understanding is difficult!
The sixes speak of harmony, beauty, new beginnings, communication. Is it a contradiction that the card has crossed swords on it? All swords point in different directions. Is that THING a lobster? There is smoother water towards the back of the card and a more erratic flow towards the front. Could this card be talking of connections of life, e.g. lobster, water, sun, fire, seabed, earth, clouds, air. What is the contradiction? Is it just that we dont understand the card?

Seven - This card I get. There is a face in a boxed square of swords. He looks boxed off, I can see hidden secrets, keeping something to yourself, a loner. The face has what looks like a dagger going through it, splitting the face - two-faced?? Traitor, Dont accept at face value. There are darker colours towards the bottom of this card. The water looks murkier, muddier. Is someones reputation being 'muddied'? There is an upturned crescent moon in a triangle of swords towards the top of the card. Any ideas anyone??

Eight - This card is just like the four (you can see a scan of the four in the other thread on the swords) but there are 8 swords. The 8 swords fill all of the gaps. The defenses are up.

Nine - Here comes that THING again. This card is just like the 6 but there are more swords. The card looks like all of the emotions, all of the water is behind a barrier. Need help here Diiiaaaannnaaa, Jewel-ry calls for help.

Ten - This card is like the 8 but even more swords. Now, there is no way of manoevering between the barriers. Its a bit like pick-up sticks. Imagine being in the middle of it and not knowing which way to turn. If your not careful you'll get stabbed.

Thats it. I need help here guys. I'm not giving up though.

J

I see pairings..... 6 and 9.... 8 and 10
.........and 7 seeming entirely different. The fact of different colouration and design suggests to me that this is a particularly important card.

Seven .... the number which “unites the four elements of the body and the 3 elements of the soul..... the pure and perfect number” suggesting inner growth and spiritual awakenings.
Relating to the Chariot ...... victory, a chance to triumph.
Put them together and I get.... an opportunity to triumph over the ego, the transcend the mundane.
The lightening...enlightenment... depicted in the Tower [16....1+6=7] suggests the key.

I see the human head [seat of the intellect, thinking] enclosed into a square formed by swords [the 4 elements of the body].
I see a ‘dagger of light’ [reminiscent of the ‘bolt of enlightenment’] emanating from above [the spiritual plane] and piercing mind and body.
The ‘dagger of light’ becomes more elaborate and detailed outside of the ‘box’ - suggesting the riches to be found if one transcends the mundane?
The central crescent moon also symbolises spiritual enlightenment.

So.... I understand this card to be posing a challenge.
Will we remain locked into thought.... which encloses us and keeps us from experiencing the wealth of spiritual enlightenment?
Or will we seek to triumph over the mundane and escape the world of thought and ego?

Six and Nine

There’s something wrong with the hilts and handles of the swords..... they don’t actually join. Might this suggest unconnected thoughts...... disconnected thoughts?

The arrangement of the swords looks organised, as though symbolic...... and yet there’s also a sense of disorganisation, as though the swords are self-defeating. Might this suggest counter-productive thoughts?

The six relates to the Lovers and the Devil [1+5=6]
The nine relates to the Hermit and the Moon [1+8=9]
Choice and inner knowledge............. bondage and illusion.

So..... are these cards about:
Six - choosing the stay trapped in place by disorganised, counter-productive thoughts? Coming up with arguments and counter-arguments to prevent change?
Nine - being able to discern inner knowledge from delusional thinking?

Eight and Ten

The swords appear to be focused and balanced.
The crescent moons forming the hilts also appear in the background design, symbolic of and suggesting that the issue of spiritual enlightenment is of particular importance. In the ten, four of the sword hilts line up with the background crescent moons.
In the ten the lower two swords are parted to reveal the water lily [almost completely covered in the eight]. The water-lily is symbolic of peace and re-birth.

The Eight relates to Justice and The Star
The Ten relates to The Wheel of Fortune and Judgement

I see both of these cards to be concerned with purity of thought and hope.
The balanced and focused thinking of the eight is carried through to the ten.
By the time the ten is reached, the purity of thought has started to lead towards spiritual enlightenment and there is hope for better to come.

Oh Aoife,

Well done!

Havn't read all of them yet but I have just read your post on the 6 and the 9. How perceptive of you to notice that the hilts and handles dont join! Disjointed thoughts! , fits in perfectly with both cards. I especially like the way you've related the meanings to being trapped, which is something I can see in these cards. On the one hand, the six, its more about choices and on the other, the 9, more about illusion/delusion but both about disjointed thoughts, the one common theme. Thats great! I do find these cards easier to get when related to the Majors. I have found this a lot with this deck. What do you think this creature is? and have you any thoughts on the red/orange earthy (?) line along the bottom?

J

Hi Aoife,

Just read your post on the 7. Brilliant! Such insight! I cant add much to that except to say that when you mention the number representing the merging of the four elements of the body and the three elements of the soul, it made me think about the number 7 and the 7 deadly sins which could tie in with your suggestion of triumphing over the ego and mundane things.

Thanks for your insight Aoife, I certainly need to analyse these cards with others.

More tomorrow

J

Hi jewel-ry!

I agree that the creature looks most like a lobster. There’s a fascinating discussion about the shellfish in The Moon [I've had to remove the url 'cos I couldn't get it to work] - See Firemaiden's Table of Contents at the head of the Using Tarot Cards Board - Major arcana - XVIII The Moon - Why is there a lobester in the moon?
I think symbolically the lobster or crayfish refers to the unconscious mind, the primordial and primitive.

I see the red/orange/earthy line at the bottom of the six and nine precisely as you do...... the earthly realm, the conscious mind.

Looking at the six and nine again in this light, the cards could be said to be split into three.... the conscious mind, the unconscious and at the top, the green spiral-patterned globe of the spiritual realm.

In both cards the conscious mind is kept in place by thought [sword/s] ........ the unconscious is speared by thought.....although the two swords pointing upwards might suggest that focused thinking can lead towards spiritual awareness?

i must apologize, i forgot to upload the scans for these cards and i am not home the whole week. so access to this deck.
will be done asap when home.

Hi Aoife,

I like your angle on some of the cards being split into conscious, unconscious and spiritual realms. This could be said of the Ace too I think.

Great stuff.

J