The Whole Package

From the Ancient Tarots of Lombardy, the Eight of Swords:

Have you ever had an insight that allowed you to see into your thoughts and behavior - a spiritual epiphany of sorts? I always think that once I have such a realization, I'll never again let my thoughts go unquestioned, leading me like a ring in the nose. Yet it takes no time at all before I find myself overwhelmed by emotions caused by thoughts left to run amok. As I look at this card, I see half the swords pointing upward and half downward. The skyward ones imply that half of my ideas are based upon fantasy and assumptions, while the ones with points toward the ground symbolize ideas based in reality. An example would be like me thinking "I would like to build a bicycle" (which might be possible) followed by "and ride it to the moon" (definitely not a possibility). The Eight of Swords encourages me to examine all my thoughts; just because a few are based in reality doesn't mean the whole package should be labeled as truth.

From the Lenormand de Marseille comes the "Rider:"

When I think of the horseback riders from years ago, I imagine them as the Pony Express or visitors who brought information from distant places. The keywords generally associated with the Rider are news, approach or delivery, and because Lebrowski uses the Nine of Cups with this Lenormand card, I interpret it as the arrival of something beneficial. With the tarot card above, I see it as information that will ground my thoughts back into the reality of "what is" instead of "what may be."