TAROTSCOPE | NOVEMBER 4 - NOVEMBER 10
IV OF SWORDS
A Four is an invitation to focus. It is a reminder that while answers may come when we are open, we are more apt to recognize them when we are still. The mind is one of the messiest spaces we occupy. Faster than planes and trains, the mind is eager to take us on trips. These journeys can, of course, be useful on occasion. But these voyages, when unintentioned, can also be damaging distractions. The Four asks us to create the structure of a firm mind. It compels us to build our most important boundaries, which are not often between us and others but between our ego drives and our genuine soul desires.
Centering creates space. Brings us to a point of convergence. Simplifies multidimensional variations on truth. In his book The Greatness of Saturn, Robert Svodoba writes of the evolution of eastern and western processes for understanding and protracting meaning from mythic stories. If we look back at Vedic, Greek and Roamn mythologies, we notice that each tale of a planet, god figure, battle, or situation has several varying accounts, each serving a vital purpose that feeds our current comprehension of its meaning. Svodoba says that Jyotish (Vedic) perspective suggests “profundity is a function of simplicity”. Our stories are more effective when we recover the point where they all intersect.
Thus, the Four of Swords bids us to not only operate our minds at multiple levels of awareness, but to supervise that operation with a consciousness that contains. When you think, envision a four-sided shape. A box that holds your understanding of what is happening. The Four’s invitation is to visualize the box and to think both inside and outside of it. To feel along its edges with your mind. The Four does not say “don’t get distracted” or “don’t follow your curiosity”. Rather, it invites you to dance along those tangents without losing the center point. It wants you to wobble and to regain balance.
This practice teaches us to recognize our primary internal controversies in the diversion and instructs us in the art of assembling them. Think of a politician who does not answer a question in a debate but instead dances around it, weaving like a serpent, never offering a direct response to the initial inquiry. Or consider a therapist or an astrologer who does not address the concerns voiced by their client. The Four of Swords gives us the tools to not only confront reality, but hold it, without backing away. Or if we retreat, to learn how to return humbly.
The Four of Swords also points to a pervasive flaw in our current collective capacity. We evade the solid and stiff. We reject rigidity. We shun sharp language. We fear what is fixed. It is true that all things change. Yet, plasticity is often most accessible to the ones who remain firmly centered.
It is only when we focus that we see the boundaries of our consciousness are not just safe-holds but also ruptures. Collateral crevices. Cracks in the cement that block us from true freedom.
Bayo Akomolafe says “to be at one with the world is to know we will never get it completely...is to let go of the idea that we can contain, control, master.” The Four of Swords is thus, an invitation to surrender, which ironically takes magnanimous concentration. This single-pointedness is not something we can achieve in a single sitting, a day or even a week. It is realized through small-scale exercises of our will-power implemented over time. It is a persistent examination of our forcefulness and the ritual of pushing our internal pendulum in the opposite direction.
In his translation and commentary of the Bhagavad Gita, Eknath Easwaran writes: “On most occasions we can be pliable and ready to bend without any disloyalty to our ideals. People who will easily bend our way under normal circumstances can stand like a rock when a great crisis comes.” The invitation of the Four of Swords is then multifold. A holographic paradox that challenges us to practice overriding our ego cravings. When we feel urgency to speed up, we must slow down. When we are possessive, we should let something go. When we are self-righteous, we practice turning decisions over to others. There are ways in which we can look to loosen our grip on the little things while remaining steadfast in our values. This repetition of willing ourselves to do what we would rather not, ironically, builds our willpower.
This week, aim your focus on the container. Notice the common thread that runs through the stories you tell yourself. Try to change the story without changing its meaning. Single-pointed focus is the source of expansion. Give yourself opportunities to play amidst compression. When you want to say no, wonder what it would be like to say yes. To be flexible. To amend your boundary without losing yourself. Contemplate the idea that you can’t do it wrong. That everything is an experiment. Choose to anchor yourself intentionally in an ideal that is as vague as it is specific. Earth in the unknown, in love, in devotion, in trust, in accountability, or in any other ideal. If you focus hard enough you might get lost, which is really just a proposition for getting found.
WHAT EVEN IS A TAROTSCOPE? We often think of horoscopes as predictions that are specific to each astrological sign. In Ancient Greek, the term horoscope simply means "I watch the hour." To astrologers today, a horoscope is a chart that maps the planetary bodies in the sky. From this chart, we derive meaning that can influence how we work with energy. Regardless of our unique individual charts, we are ALL working with the same energy from above. Each week, I examine this energy, pull a tarot card and write a guided meditation with the collective in mind. My tarotscopes are meant to be read as inspiration. Please note that because we are all operating with our individual energy, some elements will resonate more than others. Take what you like and leave the rest. Tarotscopes are offered freely in an effort to cultivate collective healing. I am always grateful for your support in sharing this work with anyone you think it might help. If you are inspired or find support here, please consider making a donation to help sustain these weekly offerings.