April 20, 2010 - Strength & The Queen of Swords

I don't usually pick two cards unless I need a little elucidation.  I don't usually share the second card when I do.  However, today two cards came when I picked, stuck together.  And since this is a pretty well-worn deck, I figured I needed both of these cards in my life and blog today.  (The only question is can I actually post two pictures.  We will see.)

Strength is a card that comes up a lot for me these days.  I have always been drawn to this image of a gentle and confident maiden companioned by a lion.  The trust between the two, the caring between them, has always moved me.  They walk together, and for someone who has felt alone a good deal of her life, recognizing that we are always companioned, never alone, brings a smile to my face.

The Strength card asks us to know we can endure and to take heart despite setbacks.  It asks us to be patient, to accept others, to deal calmly with frustration, and to take time.  It also urges kindness and compassion.  Strength is about soft control, not a hard, harsh hand.  It's about guiding indirectly and being able to influence.  It asks you to demonstrate the strength of love, always love.  

This card usually comes when we need encouragement to hang on and be strong.  It tells us with love and strength we can get through the hardest times, not just survive, but thrive.

I did it!  Two images in the same blog.  I'm en fuego.  As an air sign, I've always thought of this card as me.  Certainly now, with all the pictures I'm taking of clouds, I understand this Queen who has seen the world, good and bad; who faces truths, even if they are unpleasant; who is astute, forthright, and witty.  She is a woman who admires honesty.  She is also a woman who doesn't take life too seriously.  This hasn't always been true of me, but I'm slowly coming to walk more lightly in this world.  

In the Jane Austen Tarot,  the Queen of Quills (Swords) is Anne Elliot of Persuasion.  If you read this blog then you know I possess a particular affinity for Anne Elliot, an older but wiser heroine who chose to walk away from love when she was younger and finds herself with a second chance.  Capable, past her first bloom, a being of deep feeling not well understood by her family nor respected by them, Anne has come to a place where she understands the preciousness of life, of second chances.  I too am learning the gift of second chances.  

Balance seems to be what she asks of us.  Balance is the need of my astrological sign and my own particular need right now, and maybe for the rest of my days.  

Not sure what Strength and the Queen of Swords has in store for me this rainy spring day, but I'll keep you posted.