Barbara Walker Tarot - Four of Swords: Seclusion

The sybil in her cave communes with the earth spirit in a ceremonial square of four swords. Sitting cross-legged like a yogi was once regarded as a way of invoking Mother Earth, as in the Roman rites of Terra Mater, Cybele, or Ops. Therefore, Christian authorities ruled that sitting cross-legged was a form of witchcraft. Signs of spiritual insight in women were usually so defined and the sybil’s four swords may mean protection against attack. The card means inner powers secretly invoked through isolation, as in enforced rest or convalescence, exile, renunciation, introspection.