9 of Swords in the Marseilles decks

If you look at the 9 of Swords in the Grimaud, the Vieville and the Dodal deck, you will notice that the middle Sword, at the top, is not completely centered - it is slightly to the right.

I think this is important. And that the decks that do not respect this have missed out on a detail that is not just a little printing mistake.

I am not sure though what this would mean - I keep on nearly getting the answer and then it slips away.

Diana-

I don't own a Marseilles deck, nor have I ever studied them...
so I probably have no business posting here )

But, I read your thread and this came into my head - so I thought I'd share it just in case..

10s are "completion".. a 9 is "almost" at completion...

the sword being off center could mean that 'it is almost there'... 'almost centered'.. .. and that reaching the 10 will allow one to move that little step from the right to the center...

sorry if this makes no sense... )

Welcome to this corner of the forum, dolphinprincess!!!

That makes good sense. But why to the right and not the left? In those days, I don't think people were aware of the right and left functions of the brain. Although they may have known this intuitively, or through deduction.

I like the inference to the right side of the brain - but I am not really sure why it would be to the right as opposed to the left..

I am now going to be thinking about that all weekend )....

maybe it has to do with how figures in the cards are depicted? you can see in the figure cards, looking to his left/right, left/right orientation of the figure in the card itself.
maybe the orientation of the middle sword in the 9 is along these lines, i dont know, just a suggestion that might (or not) make sense.....

Hi Diana, I've read somewhere that in decoding Marseille majors iconography, the right hand side of the card indicates the future and the masculine.

Perhaps the sword being offset to the right is a reminder that the matter is yet to be completed and that resolution lies in taking action?

That must be a big big part of it, Aoife! And it fits in with what Kaz said as well.

Of course, the Grimaud deck is the most interesting here because the Sword is golden (or yellow) - the only one of this colour in the Sword minors, and the the "guard" (or whatever you call it in English) of the Sword it is touching, is also yellow. The other "guard" is red.

Colours are also very very important in the Marseilles decks.

Diana said:

Of course, the Grimaud deck is the most interesting here because the Sword is golden (or yellow) - the only one of this colour in the Sword minors, and the the "guard" (or whatever you call it in English) of the Sword it is touching, is also yellow. The other "guard" is red.

Colours are also very very important in the Marseilles decks.

Click to expand...

Diana ... I know that you don't put much stock into authors.

Author Marie-Thérèse des Longchamps sees the yellow-bladed sword in the 9 of Swords as corresponding to the yellow-bladed sword from the Justice trump card. (OK, I guess she ignores that the sword handle is differently coloured between the two cards.)

She suggests that the touching of the yellow and non-touching of the red in this case could indicate that one has to decide whether one has "a moral authority to exercise over others (yellow = human laws)" but not whether one should enter into the "domain of higher knowledge (red = divine laws)".

Interesting observation. I don't think that I would have noticed it, had you not pointed it out Diana.

I also noticed that the base of the sword is closer to the left than the right, making the whole sword diagonal. The whole uncentred sword is so 'off centre' that I agree with you that it must been for a reason and cannot be a mistake.

I havn't read with this deck yet but will look out for this when the card comes into a reading. Maybe it is like a hint; pointing at another card in the spread that is a little to the right of the centre and giving the reader a little nudge, saying 'thats the one to look at - thats where the message of this card is at - thats the niggling problem'. The way that it edges to the side like that is kind of sly, don't you think?

I was also thinking (or grabbing at straws, more like) of the Waite '9 of swords' and how that image of the women in bed is related by a lot of people to mean anxieties. If that card was taken from an image such as this, maybe the 'non-centred' sword suggests an inbalance of the mind and a tendancy to see things in an unrealistic way, due to the anxiety. Things can often seem very unclear when you are upset, distraught or confused and maybe this sword is highlighting that; how what is in your mind has somehow become dislodged for that period of time and your focus is not aligned properly.

Am I correct in thinking that the direction of 'right' is the future and left is the past. If that is so, maybe it is worries about the near future that is a problem in this card as well.

I probably have got it all wrong, but working through these cards is becoming very enjoyable and fascinating and opening up so many possibilities for me. I am sure that there will be many more as I get deeper into them. The possitioning of the suit symbols in the cards I have been researching so far are already becoming recognisable and throwing out tons of new and fresh ideas at me.

Best wishes

Yaboot

Just to add to what has been said already....I think of the yellow as indicating intellect/air and red as creativity/fire/passion.

Also agree with Right = masculine/active....(Aoife)
and "almost completions" ...dolphinprincess

Rusty's reference is another way to look at it as well...

This is a wonderful observation, Diana, since it isn't in the other decks I have...

I would say that I see it as an almost there activity/project/phase of life...but one that needs to be moved forward actively through careful thought or wise decision-making....using the yellow as Rusty mentioned only perhaps to the extent of the decisions, thinking being carried out by someone on this plane as opposed to a decision from "higher authority."

terri