A Reading

Inspiration

The Ace of Swords represents inspiration, brilliant ideas and a new mental direction. It is the seed of the breakthrough.

Out of all the Aces in the Tarot, this is the one that tends to come up the most in my readings. It really underlines to me the importance of our thoughts ? my own belief is that it is our thoughts that create our reality, and so the other suits naturally follow from this one; the Cup tells us from our thoughts how loveable we are, we create the experience of love in our lives; out of our thoughts about what is possible for us, we create opportunities, adventures and experiences and so we have the Wands to inspire us; out of our thoughts about how valuable we are, we create value for ourselves and the Pentacles will count this out for us.

The mental realm

The Swords Suit brings in the element of Air and the mental realm. The Ace is the powerful upsurge of ideas, thoughts and decisions that guide our direction. With the Ace we have the most potency and potential, so this is the stage where you need to set and guide your thoughts to create in your life everything that you want to experience ? it is the Seed that will be fulfilled by the energy that you pour into it.

Thoughts can build worlds, but they can also destroy them. It is not the Sword itself but the intent behind it. As Swords are ruled by Air, which is the most intangible of the Elements, the speed at which thoughts can change indicates that thoughts can be tricky and hard to grasp and therefore hard to control. So in order to control our thoughts, we need to be aware of our intent at all times ? this is the key to managing your experience with the often troublesome Suit of Swords.

The Sword is a tool and it is also a weapon. Talk about duality, and balancing on the edge of a knife! Know that your primary focus is what determines the good or ill that comes to you eventually. Since the Sword is a tool or a weapon, it does not have a mind of its own, it must be directed. Do you have the courage to decide your own future? Or are you at the mercy of the thoughts, beliefs and machinations of others?

Indications

This card indicates that new ways of thinking and therefore new ways of being are possible for you. There is a saying that goes ?Change your thoughts, change your life? and this has the power to completely transform your experience. But there is a conflict inherent in this. In order for you to change your patterns of thinking, you will need to overthrow certain of your old beliefs, those that no longer serve you.

This is a difficult thing to do, because tied in with those old beliefs is your history, your relationships to others who hold the same beliefs, and your world-view in general.

However, the rewards for embarking on a new intellectual journey are great and will transform your life as you know it. It takes courage and fortitude and also faith in this new way of being, but the changes are initiated deep in your psyche and will play out, regardless of whatever resistance comes up.

A time when you will have unusual clarity of purpose ? it is like a bolt from the blue that hits you right between the eyes, and it signifies your belief in the power that you have to put any setbacks or adversity behind you. It just takes a decision.

It is time to awaken to the power of your own mind and decide what you will do with this power.

from Tarot Illuminati Erik C. Dunne