Another Tarot Contrast: 8 of Swords
The 8 of Swords card is one which has haunted me for a long time. The traditional image is that of a blindfolded woman with bound hands standing within a thicket of swords. At first glance, it looks like she's a helpless prisoner. . . but in most traditionally drawn decks, the Robin Wood included, it becomes clear that the bonds are not tight. At the very least, she is surrounded by swords which could easily cut through them. There would be some risk, as she is blindfolded, but her remaining a prisoner is largely a consequence of her own choice.
The Ancestral Tarot (which I discovered through queenofhalves) puts an interesting slant on the usual imagery. In that card, a Japanese woman stands in a doorway at one end of a bridge with swords on each side, her face half-hidden by a fan. The way out is clear -- but the swords are a warning of the consequences she will face if she ventures beyond her assigned boundaries.
I've been living with these images -- and those of other 8's of Swords -- for the past week, as I take a closer and closer look at the ways I have been my own greatest opponent, my own persistent oppressor. Whenever I feel myself cringing back from a step I know I should take in order to advance my goals and dreams, I think of this card and try to be very, very clear with myself about what exactly I am afraid will happen if I go forward.
Most of the time the fears are phantoms, and facing them is enough to make them dissolve. Sometimes it takes a bit more work, but I have yet to find a situation in which the "threat" some part of my mind is afraid of has its roots anywhere but in my own issues.
My mind is both what holds me back and my tool for escape. It all depends on whether or not I'm willing to take responsibility for cutting through the bonds of illusion.
The Ancestral Tarot (which I discovered through queenofhalves) puts an interesting slant on the usual imagery. In that card, a Japanese woman stands in a doorway at one end of a bridge with swords on each side, her face half-hidden by a fan. The way out is clear -- but the swords are a warning of the consequences she will face if she ventures beyond her assigned boundaries.
I've been living with these images -- and those of other 8's of Swords -- for the past week, as I take a closer and closer look at the ways I have been my own greatest opponent, my own persistent oppressor. Whenever I feel myself cringing back from a step I know I should take in order to advance my goals and dreams, I think of this card and try to be very, very clear with myself about what exactly I am afraid will happen if I go forward.
Most of the time the fears are phantoms, and facing them is enough to make them dissolve. Sometimes it takes a bit more work, but I have yet to find a situation in which the "threat" some part of my mind is afraid of has its roots anywhere but in my own issues.
My mind is both what holds me back and my tool for escape. It all depends on whether or not I'm willing to take responsibility for cutting through the bonds of illusion.