Two of Swords

 The two of swords is the second card in the element of air,  representing the mental sphere. Let’s take a look at the card 

We see a woman dressed in a long sleeve white shift dress, blind folded with a sword in each hand, her arms crossed over her chest. She is sitting on a simple stone or concrete bench on the edge of the shore, and while the water behind her is calm, we can see there are rocks jutting out of the water and another land mass on the other side of the body of water. The night sky is clear and the moon is a waxing crescent.

Taking in the entirety of the scene we can surmise a few things, the woman is in a position of defense while also being vulnerable, hence the blindfold. She seems to be protecting her heart, as if her mind or intellect is guiding the moment not allowing for emotion to be involved in the defensive act. But looking at the scene around her, it isn’t clear what she is defending herself from or against. Is it just in her mind? Or is she really in a position of defense, ready to confront whatever challenge comes her way? 

It can be looked at as perhaps she has allowed her mind(intellect) to overshadow/dominate her heart(emotions) and as a result is in a state of defensive behavior waiting for whatever threat could be coming her way. Is that truly necessary? Is she afraid of her emotions and instead of feeling, uses her intellect to protect herself? The waxing crescent is a symbol of increase and to me I feel it supports the hypothesis that she is being overly defensive, or over thinking, when the situation doesn’t require it. If she took the blindfold off and uncrossed her arms, simply taking in her surroundings, she would see there is not much of a threat to be found. The journey to the other side of the body of water, representing her emotions, may be a challenge but is not impossible. But in order to journey safely, she must balance her emotions and her intellect because when used together they will support her safe travels to the other side. 

My first feeling when I pull this card is one of blind ego, fear of letting emotions take control. When I slept with this card in my pillow I started to gain deeper understanding of the inherent peacefulness of this card and then realized the card isn’t disruptive but rather the way the woman is choosing to deal with the situation... sort of like an ostrich sticking it’s head in the ground. What good does it serve her to be so stuck in defense that she misses the mostly benign challenges that lay in front of her? The answer is it does her no good and when pulling this card it can signify a time to meditate on how we are reacting to a situation and if our defense is truly equal to the challenge before us, or if we are just choosing to blindly defend our heart as a reaction. Would thinking things through and feeling them out serve us better if we could look at the whole picture instead of letting a narrow strip of fabric cover our eyes? Could that narrow strip of fabric be our preconceptions or beliefs from previous experiences? What would it truly cost us to view the situation from a place of equanimity? 

I think the answer to that is really up to us.