Weekly Card 2 of Swords Revisited
Since the moon’s in Libra for most of the day today, according to Western Tropical Astrology, let’s revisit the 2 of Swords.
Huh, what?!
What does astrology have to do with tarot and moon . . . Libra . . . 2 of Swords . . . what???
There are correspondences between tarot and astrology and another cousin, numerology. There is more than one system of correspondence, and the one I use is the one I most often run across: the one credited to Aleister Crowley. In that system, 2 of Swords corresponds to the moon in Libra (and also to 56/11 in numerology).
If you know nothing about astrology or numerology, you can file the idea of correspondences exactly where it best suits you. And if you do have some understanding of those systems, you can use what you know to enrich tarot.
Lets look at the images on the 2 of Science in the William Blake Tarot by Ed Buryn.
(Okay, I know I just confused you with all that information about correspondences. I’m about to do more: Buryn’s Blake Tarot uses Science for Swords, Painting for Pentacles, Music for Cups and Poetry for Wands. Remember, we’re under the influence of the moon, where mystery – and often confusion – is a given.)
We’ve got a child standing in supplication by an open door guarded by a howling dog. Could this be innocence at the entry to experience? It’s in our imaginations that we speculate on potentials and possibilities. And there we can get hung up in that famously Libran inability to choose. There’s the rub: 2 of Swords is all about choice without external interference.
There’s a story in the Rider Waite Smith tarot that progresses from the 10 of Swords to the Ace of Swords. At the 2 of Swords point in the story, the widow of a slain warrior is in mourning. Those swords she holds are the swords of defiance. She’s blinded to the way of peace and is seeking revenge. Yet she does not move. Here we have experience, with the potential of an entry to renewed innocence.
Now, with the moon in Libra, you can look to the areas of conflict in your life, to the circumstances that lead you to inner turmoil. Where are you seeking vengeance? Can you find your way from there to Blake’s resolution . . . . .
innocence into a new experience