Seeing and Seeing Through

From the Roots of Asia, the Queen of Swords; from the Mahjongg Cards, the Sword:

I not only want to be seen, I want to be seen through.

—Rachel McKibbens

The Queen of Swords is not a woman who will pat you on the head and send you home with a platitude. Neither will a wise Queen razor off your skin with a sharpened tongue and leave you bleeding. She recognizes that there is generally some good in the worst of us and some bad in the the best. Yet she will not hesitate to hold us accountable for what we say and do, counseling us to either make restitution or forgive ourselves. The Sword symbolizes a severing of indecision or vacillation. The Queen would tell us it is impossible to walk to separate roads of selfishness and benevolence or self-respect and self-flagellation. But in order to retrain our mind and its habits, we first need to pay attention, as Carol Wilson explains: "When we’re not aware of what’s present in our consciousness, we’re looking through its lens and it colors everything we’re doing."

Change and Effort

From the Legacy of the Divine Tarot, the Wheel of Fortune; from the Tea Leaf Reading Cards, Sword:

These two cards, one representing change and the other discernment, made me think of the phrase that I and others have uttered often lately: "When will I get a break!" The problem is not that things don't change - life is a constant ebb and flow, a movement of losing and receiving - but that we want our situation to be stuck in a way that pleases us all the time. The irony is that even when things are good (say we get a new car), we still worry and get angry (as when someone dings that car at the grocery store). Life is a constant effort, from the time we are born and learn to walk to our later years when we must navigate the process of aging. Yet at the center of life's wheel of change is a hub that keeps us from feeling like we're spinning out of control. It is our connection to the Ground of Being (to use the words of Paul Tillich) which we can tap into through the spiritual practices and rituals that have meaning for us.

Fulfillment, not Filled Pockets

From the Roots of Asia Tarot, the King of Swords; from the Mah Jongg Oracle, Sword:

If we are making spiritual progress, don’t judge by how many visions or kind of lights one sees. What we have to look at is how one behaves. Have I become less selfish? Has my world narrowed down or has it expanded? Do I feel bad for the child next door or is it only for my child?

— Sri Madhukarnath ji 

          The booklet suggests this King represents spiritual fulfillment from earthly endeavors. In other words, he's looking for something more substantial than self-indulgence; he knows that pleasurable feelings lasts about as long as a lightning strike. He represents the middle way when it comes to our resources, neither asceticism nor excess, but a meaningful use of them. But the Sword card - symbolizing a dilemma - suggests what happens when when find ourselves with a surplus. One part of the brain tells us to go crazy and splurge, and the other says to save it for an emergency. The King would tell us to use some, save some and share some. But only if we are looking for fulfillment rather than a momentary high.  

A Seed in the Backyard

From the Roots of Asia Tarot, the Page of Pentacles; from the Mah Jongg Oracle, the 'Sword:'

Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure. 

― George Carlin

          The Page of Pentacles is definitely a 'wet paint' toucher. He (or she) learns by the test of doing, not by accepting someone else's description of their experience. Which is probably why this Page has just planted a seed in a field. He knows it's supposed to grow into a tree (note the hair), but he will test it out and see for himself. He'll check how certain amounts of sun, water and fertilizer affect it, as well as the particular climate of this region. The Sword card represents a quandary, a problem that seems to have opposing solutions or options. One thing scientists have learned about humans is that we hate uncertainty; we are willing to do crazy things to find the security of solid ground. Yet in this life, there are few absolutes that can be generalized to cover everyone. There is no 'one size fits all' in this world of experience, and like the Page of Pentacles, we need to learn what works in our own backyard.