Why Does The Sword Suit Instigate So Much Conversation?

[Eric13]

Theres a great thread now on the 3 of Swords, I had one going on the 4&7 of Swords, and there's usually one around about the 5 of Swords.

I don't see or notice many others of any other suit, (I'm not counting the Majors her) that spark so many questions and wonders. Could it be only that the Swords penetrate the mind and ask us to think? or try to influence us to think before we speak? Watch that sharp tongue? or are they so metaphorically broad that they naturally instigate so much thinking about what they really mean. I mean, is the 10 of Swords so bad? Is it the end of it all? All your hopes and dreams gone with a stab in the back. How could it be?

That's would "Sword" suit!

Edited August 18, 2019 by Eric13
My bad spelling

[Barleywine]

I mentioned in another post that I have a whole series of blog posts on the subject of the Three and the Five through Ten of Swords (missed the Two and Four but they are covered in my Tarot 101 series) as representing opportunity, in that every one of them has redeeming qualities (depending, of course, on the context of the question). The same is true of all the suits, even if what you need most at the time of the reading is a bracing kick in the pants as a "wake-up call."

[katrinka]

I don't worry overmuch about which suits are getting the most discussion.
If there is an inordinate amount of Swords discussion, it's most likely due to the insecurity people feel when confronted with images of stabby things in hearts, backs, etc.

[Eric13]

Ah, maybe a deep seeded, unknown fear of being stabbed in the back, maybe by this closest to us. Or dumped when it's never seen coming. True life stories. I like that. 

[Saturn Celeste]

1 hour ago, katrinka said:

I don't worry overmuch about which suits are getting the most discussion.
If there is an inordinate amount of Swords discussion, it's most likely due to the insecurity people feel when confronted with images of stabby things in hearts, backs, etc.

Absolutely!  I just don't get all of the negative connotation with the suit of swords.  As an air sign, I quite like the swords!  Along with the Knight of Swords, the 5 of Swords is a favorite of mine also.

[Eric13]

I do like to say the main figure in the 5 of Swords over came the odds against him and won. The two walking away were overconfident thinking they could take him on and win. Thats what his smirk is all about. 

[Saturn Celeste]

6 minutes ago, Eric said:

I do like to say the main figure in the 5 of Swords over came the odds against him and won. The two walking away were overconfident thinking they could take him on and win. That's what his smirk is all about. 

That's not how I read the card. 😉

[Raggydoll]

6 minutes ago, Saturn Celeste said:

That's not how I read the card. 😉

Me neither. I don’t think an overconfident person would start crying right in front of the person who beat them. They would more likely shout that the other person clearly didn’t know the rules and so the match didn’t count 😆 

[Eric13]

That dude's not crying. There's no crying in tarot.

[Cookie]

12 minutes ago, Eric said:

I do like to say the main figure in the 5 of Swords over came the odds against him and won. The two walking away were overconfident thinking they could take him on and win. Thats what his smirk is all about. 

5 of swords is when virtue starts to decay.  5 of swords is when a person takes on the bully/predator/manipulator & wins but becomes a bully himself ... there is a very fine line between righteousness and ritual humiliation.   The dynamics of the card is a force of confusion,  no one is the winner because everyone's morals have been corrupted by their own hollow victory.   

[Eric13]

Yes but you don't know that this man becomes a bully after his victory of possible self defense. After all, in the 4 of Swords we have the strong man at rest, keeping his house at peace. in the 7 of Swords we find we have pleasure in the uniqueness of our own philosophy in life and ideas guiding us through differing social conditionsBreaking through any philosophical conditioning. I mean, that same smile is on the 7 of Swords, a number representing experience. 

[Saturn Celeste]

4 minutes ago, Eric said:

7 of Swords we find we have pleasure in the uniqueness of our own philosophy in life and ideas guiding us through differing social conditions

I don't read the 7 of Swords like that either.  I'm not trying to be contrary today, Eric but again, I like the suit of swords, they are a very necessary suit in tarot readings.  I feel they have more lessons to teach than the other suits.  We need warning cards and cards of caution and the swords have plenty of cards to do that.

[Raggydoll]

25 minutes ago, Eric said:

That dude's not crying. There's no crying in tarot.

That dude near the water has his head bent down and his arm up in his face. And to me that looks like crying. I’ve seen it described that way in several books too. 

[Eric13]

@Saturn Celeste And thank you for writing on the thread. I always respect and value your opinion. I'm just curious about why the swords are the suit, it seems to me, tend to dominate the discussions on this fine learning forum, so Im just trying to understand why they may also come up the way they do in a spread. But there seems to be something people are drawn to about this suit. I think Katrinka was right also. They seem to play a bit more into real life sitch's than the others. I mean, its an age old question to readers, maybe right up there about money to see if there's any cheating going on behind a spouses back. Swords could be a good showing of that. This is all for learning and good conversation. 

[Grandma]

40 minutes ago, Eric said:

That dude's not crying. There's no crying in tarot.

Why would there be no crying in tarot, which holds the whole of human experience in its 78 cards?  The cards which speak of sadness, for example Five of Cups and Three of Swords, could certainly be depicted with people who are crying.

[Eric13]

@Raggydoll Yes, I meant the main character in here though. To me, he's the one who overcame the odds. The guy crying to me thought along with his friends, they had a plan to take advantage of this fellow. To me, what Rachel Pollack had to say is plausible, but I feel many of her divinations and definitions are on the weaker side. it's okay sometimes to swallow your pride and walk away, and maybe someone else will step up to this fellow and loose, and you get to see that. But in real life, I haven't witnessed that, in which it turned out better for me. But, that's just me. Everyone has their correct opinion. I'm just wondering why the Sword suit is talked about more than the others. Maybe people here have their personal reasons. Which they don't have to discuss. 

Edited August 18, 2019 by Eric13
Wrong name

[Saturn Celeste]

2 minutes ago, Eric said:

I always respect and value your opinion.

Thank you!

3 minutes ago, Eric said:

I'm just curious about why the swords are the suit, it seems to me, tend to dominate the discussions on this fine learning forum, so Im just trying to understand why they may also come up the way they do in a spread.

It's because it's about the mind.  People are afraid to look closely at their mental states, it's hard for them to understand.  Swords cut, they cut out all the extra baggage and get right to the point but sometimes getting right to the point can scare people.  Why don't people get upset over the wands and fire?  Fire burns but people have a natural affinity for fire, it is necessary in our daily lives.  But when our minds go haywire it's something that is often too difficult for that person to really understand.  That's why therapists get so much money. 😉

[Saturn Celeste]

Just now, Grandma said:

Why would there be no crying in tarot,

Grandma, it's a joke.  Tom Hanks says, "There's no crying in baseball."  In the movie A League of Their Own.

[Eric13]

@Grandma I was just trying to keep it lite quoting the Tom Hanks movie about "no crying in baseball", from A League of Their Own. Always have a sense of humor. 

[Grandma]

Ohhhh is my face red! I actually have an excellent sense of humor.  What I lack is knowledge of the cultural reference!

[Eric13]

@Saturn Celeste Perfect.

And I feel people are drawn to fire. It's hypnotic.People watch houses burn, they stare at a came fire. Or even stare a bbq grill. But the mind is infinite. With facts and thinking, wondering, learning and even tricks we play on ourselves. That's where the Swords come in. 

[Eric13]

@Grandma Thats alright. If someone was to quote a line from a movie to me from the last 10 years, except for Star Wars, I wouldn't have a clue. 

[Raggydoll]

 

1 minute ago, Eric said:

@Raggydoll Yes, I meant the main character in here though. To me, he's the one who overcame the odds. The guy crying to me thought along with his friends, they had a plan to take advantage of this fellow.

Im not sure if you understood what I meant. You wrote that the people walking away was overconfident, thinking they could take him on and win. I replied that I didn’t see it that way because I didn’t think an overconfident person would allow themselves to show emotions in front of the smirking one who beat them. I’m just applying my personal logic and experience here, nothing more. 

1 minute ago, Eric said:

To me, what Nancy Pollack had to say is plausible, but I feel many of her divinations and definitions are on the weaker side.

Are you referring to Rachel Pollack? And where did she get dragged into this? I wasn’t quoting her? I do have other books on my tarot shelf than those by her, if you didn’t think so 😉

 

 

[katrinka]

2 hours ago, Eric said:

I do like to say the main figure in the 5 of Swords over came the odds against him and won. The two walking away were overconfident thinking they could take him on and win. Thats what his smirk is all about. 

That's not what the image was intended to convey.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/pktsw05.htm

[Eric13]

Yes but in the beginning of Waites book he does distinctly say that his divinations are not to be the sole expression of the cards. He makes it clear to think creatively and metaphorically. There's many ways to interpret all the cards. There is an essence, and I get that. But it also depends on the sitter and the spread. Also, it specifically doesn't say, whose degradation, whose infamy and so on. 

Edited August 18, 2019 by Eric13
wrong word