Sometimes when you’re contemplating a Tarot card, it’s fun to ask the other cards in your deck for more insight into the image you’re looking at.
I did that today when I was looking at the 2 of Swords from the Rider Waite Smith deck.
In the picture, a woman sits blindfolded on a stone slab by the sea. She effortlessly holds two heavy swords across her chest, while the moon hangs above in the open night sky.
For me this card is typically about mental peace, or at least the attempt to achieve mental peace.
In a reading it might suggest that something weighs heavily on the mind of the inquirer and that they’re doing their best to keep their emotions in check, while at the same time trying to think clearly about their issue.
Normally when this card appears, I’m reminded that mental peace is a balance between emotions and rationality, and that to truly reflect, silence is key.
Looking further into the card, I notice that there’s a landmass in the background, like an island, or maybe the other side of a bay.
I decided to ask my deck what’s over there, and how does it influence the woman with the swords.
The card I got was the Star. It seems kind of perfect.
It’s nighttime in both cards, and both show a woman pictured by the water. In the background of the Star card, there’s also a landmass.
Could that be where the 2 of Swords lady is sitting, unaware that there’s a goddess filling the ocean behind her with hope, compassion, and optimism for the future?
I really like the idea that the Star is hidden in the background of the 2 of Swords. I’d never really connected these two cards so directly before. Now that I look more closely though, there was always a hint.
The woman in the 2 of Swords is wearing yellow shoes, the colour of the moon above her, but also the colour of the Star goddess’ hair and the giant Star that hangs above her.
From now on, I’ll know – the moon in the 2 of Swords is reflecting the Star, and the blindfolded lady is grounded in her shine.
