King of Swords
Mordred
Fortune Cookie: What are your highest ideals? What are your deepest passions? Where do they intersect and support each other? What are the specific, definable, practical steps that will carry you to living them? How can you begin those steps TODAY? And how can you keep to them EVERY day?
Uh…. Ummm…. O…kay. It’s not like I necessarily needed the card for New Year’s Day, and therefore The Card for 2010, to be rainbows and moonbeams and foofoo dust. But Jeeeeezaleee!
Okay. I have to admit this is a card that makes a tremendous amount of sense in times like these. So let’s get to it, for the highest and best of all.
The King of Swords is one of those cards where each Tarot deck, each author writing about Tarot, and each reader has his or her own unique spin on what meanings are most truly representative and therefore accurate.
And then, to assign Mordred (more about him toward the end) to the card. Man!
So here are some of the interpretations I’ve gotten from others:
~ the bloody bastard who never knows when to stop fighting
~ a ruthless and daring person (likely male)
~ one (usually a man or someone of strong masculine energy) who sits in judgement
~ the innovative but probably unpredictable leader
~ a revolutionary
So if any of those interpretations mesh with how it seems you need to be in your life just now and in the year to come (or represent the energy that’s intersecting/interfering with your life), then pay attention and act accordingly – i.e., if the interpretation accurately describes someone else, accept that your perceptions about the person are TRUE! Then figure out what to do from there.
I did a shamanic journey to determine how I should generally interpret this card for my clients. A spirit guide in the form of a great black and silver dragon came by. It said,
This is what you need to know about the King of Swords.
The King of Swords has three major characteristics:
First, he is so idealistic he often lets his head drift away into the clouds and he becomes flakey — which will often cause him to fail.
Second, he is so passionate he often loses track of what’s sensible, appropriate − or even legal − and he blows his own ass up by getting crazy-emotional about what he wants or hopes for — which will often cause him to fail.
As a result of the first and second issues, he has actually learned from the example of the Queen of Swords and he has FORCED himself to develop the will to become strategic about what he wants.
He asks himself what he would need to do in order to be true to his highest ideals AND his deepest passions. He determines how they would best blend together. He refines his goals, and then develops a specific, detailed plan that incorporates every major step necessary to take him from where he is to where his ideals and passions would have him be.
And then he exerts the will to hold himself to that plan, day by day, until higher ideals or deeper passions cause him to rethink his goals and start the whole process over again.
Hard work, but worth the effort.
Would your life be different if you had done that, and held yourself to it, twenty years ago? It’s never too late to start.
[And about Mordred: pretty much everyone knows him as the ‘illegitimate” son and only child of Arthur. According to most legends, Mordred, out of evil or just out of spite, plotted and schemed to displace The King and, in the process, brought down Camelot. Maybe that is how it was. There are a number of variations on that theme throughout the tales. But in one version of the legends, Arthur and Mordred were reconciled in the end; they died fighting side by side against foreign invaders. Maybe so.]
So, for this year: What are your highest ideals? What are your deepest passions? Where do they intersect and support each other? What are the specific, definable, practical steps that will carry you to living them? How can you begin those steps TODAY? And how can you keep to them EVERY day?
Bright blessings, high ideals, passion and success!
And a beautiful, joyous, healthy, prosperous, light-filled New Year!
Quote for the Day:
The Eight Commandments
Today’s Waethyr: Resolution whomping about the firmament, desperately needing a leash. Impish giggles, faerie fire and mild elvish snorts. Look out for the ruby slippers!
On This Date:
In England, January 1 was celebrated as the New Year festival, but from the 12th century to 1752 the year in England began on March 25 (Lady Day).
Most western European countries changed the start of the year to January 1 before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to January 1 in 1600.
In 1700 Russia began using the Anno Domini era and no longer used the old slovian era. According to the old slovian era it happened in year 7209. [Who knew?]
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