Day Eight, Queen of Swords

 My Inference:

She reclines topless, suggesting a state of relaxation after exertion. The head in her left hand and unsheathed sword in her right hand are further evidence of a struggle she may have just overcome. I get an anti-patriarchal impression. Her fight is not necessarily a personal one. She is enthroned in the clouds, as a goddess. The backrest of her throne is angelic in appearance, perhaps even a living entity. The very spirits that inhabit the heavens are her servants. Her skirt matches the hue of the sky. This is her domain, which she defends. In her position on high, she surveys the world even while she rests.

This is the woman's struggle -- to command, but not without constantly battling. The feminine in all of us is our real strength, not the power and influence at which our masculine side clutches and claws.

At the risk of speaking on behalf of women, this is a reminder that your strength is beyond the material. Your nature is to compel. For the rest of us, this is an invitation to attune to the feminine, whatever that means. As a skeptic, I know I'm dangerously close to invoking a sort of yin/yang concept of spiritual balance, but I don't claim to draw any specific conclusions from this card, other than "celebrate whatever makes us individuals". 

Ziegler:

He mentions "cutting through old masks and roles", which is an elegant way of summing my clumsy reading. He also expands on my inference regarding the masculine fetishization of power and control:

 

"...reouncing the security offered by playing familiar roles means the voluntary giving-up of habitual defense mechanisms. By using the sword of penetrating insight you come to recognize that the masks you wear not only protect and camouflage, but also separate you from your Self and others."

Ziegler's point is further supported by the child's (not angel's) head behind her and the mask (not severed head of a patriarch) that she holds. The crystals supporting the child's head represent clarity. The mask is something we must all cut off so we can understand ourselves better. Ziegler describes how a counselor must help a subject drop their mask, so that trust can be established. We are trustworthy when we trust ourselves. 

Rider-Waite:

The Rider-Waite design is similar in depicting a queen on her throne, but her body language is more taut and authoritative. The theme of their queen is familiarity with sorrow. There is a conceptual relation here, in that in knowing oneself, one inevitably comes to terms with misery. Their reverse meanings include bigotry and malice, which surely are ways a sufferer might channel their negative emotions. 

Combined Reading:

Be honest with yourself. This includes being aware of your public face, and what lies behind it. You don't always like what you find there. Sometimes you might even see something you thought you despised in others. What do you do with the knowledge you discover? 

Day Seven: Five of Swords, "Defeat"

 

My Inference:

Not much about the title is represented in the image. The background is split between two rather pleasant pastel colors, decorated with angular scribbles. Are they suggestive of chaos? Is this the sort of defeat that isn't brought on by a calculating nemesis, but pure dumb luck? An inverted pentagram seems to be outlined by some amethyst-colored stones, and there are figures on the handles of the swords. One of the figures is a fish, another is maybe a snake; I could only guess at the others.

Since this card seems to tell no specific story, but rather warns of a sudden, unexpected failure, I take it as a warning to remain humble in times of peace and plenty, because you cannot always intuit the source of your next calamity.

Ziegler:

It turns out the "stones" I thought I saw in the pentagram are drops of blood. Has the color shifted during the printing process? The inverted state of the pentagram and the curvature of the swords signify unbalance and disharmony. The icons on the sword handles are a fish, snake, crown, ram's horn, and seashell, respectively indicating the past, a lack of renewal, lost awareness, lost momentum, and the need for protection. Ziegler goes on to define the message of this card as a need to acknowledge one's own irrational fear of defeat, then let it go. Not closely aligned with my reading, although there is a thematic link between awareness of one's vulnerability and paralysis due to fear of moving forward. 

Rider-Waite:

Interestingly, the Rider-Waite version shows a man who has vanquished others and presumably collected their swords. This is a much more deliberate defeat than the random failure I intuited and the fear of action that Ziegler defines. Divinatory meanings include dishonor, destruction, and other consequences of actions that have literally failed. 

Combined Reading:

The readings offered by Ziegler and Waite here are the least compatible I've encountered so far. They might still be reconciled by the Stoic principle that Man and the Universe will fail you -- and that's it, take from it what you will. The Universe (and mankind, who are themselves part of it) owes you nothing. The best you can do is be an ally to others as they cope with their own failures.