Still The Inner Knowledge is Always There

The Warrior ~ Psycards

Today's draw had me looking at the layout a little differently. Usually I draw my oracle card first and then my two Tarot cards as a way to expand on the theme offered by the oracle. I did this today but the result had me focusing primarily on the first Tarot card I drew as the fulcrum of the draw.

This Warrior stands firmly and confidently on a small, grassy mound in full armor minus helmet. Behind him the kingdom stands surrounded by tents often used as meeting places during battle or festivals. The Warrior spirit feels alive and well within for this fire sign though this fellow is at rest rather than engaged in battle, his sword pointed downwards, its sharp tip softened by the moist earth. The LWB says of this card, The Warrior represents the hero who rescues us from difficulty and danger. The card stands for courage, for bold decisive action, for holding firm and fighting to the top. It stands for psychic as well as physical strength. The negative connotations are insensitivity and crudeness. To that I might add impulsiveness and narrowness of vision.

I'm not sure about 'fighting to the top' but the qualities of steadfastness and courage, of decisive action and strength are certainly areas to examine within, to see where the balance lies. Seeing this warrior's sword reminds me of Manjuhri's sword of discriminating wisdom...

"Manjusri's most dynamic attribute is his sword, the vajra sword of discriminating wisdom or insight. The sword cuts through ignorance and the entanglements of conceptual views. It cuts away ego and self-created obstacles. Sometimes the sword is in flames, which can represent light or transformation. It can cut things in two, but it can also cut into one, by cutting the self-other dichotomy. It is said the sword can both give and take life."

This gives quite a different sense of what it is to be a 'warrior'. Rather than locating oneself within a dualistic view of 'I and Thou' instead there is the sense of cutting through the various strata of confusion and emotion which are occluding the heart that is reaching towards an authenticity and equilibrium rooted in body and psyche.  With this sword theme so prevalent here how fitting that the first Tarot card I drew was Justice.

Justice ~Hudes Tarot

I seem to draw this card a lot and seeing it I'm never quite sure how I feel, ambivalent is usually the first feeling that comes to mind. This is quite a lovely depiction though, full of humanity and feeling, richness and yet maintaining the sense of clarity and unbiased view that this card implies.

Her sword rests at her heart stretching all the way down her central channel. I love this depiction for the message of embodied discrimination it suggests. Flanked by sumptuous green curtains, the color associated with the heart chakra, and with the golden scales resting in balance on the hilt of the sword, clothed in majestic purple and gold robes, the qualities of ruling with compassion and absolute integrity are palpably apparent. The clear sky behind her speaks to a spacious, unimpeded view.

There is an element of fire here seen in the colors used in the middle portion of her clothing. She has passion this Justice, passion for what is right and good and true and she rules from that place. The more I ponder this depiction of Justice the more I really like the way she's being portrayed and the more accessible she becomes. Perhaps it's because the element of humanity is pronounced. Though I don't necessarily associate Justice with the quality of yielding this depiction calls that out for me and I feel I'm being invited to explore the absence of that aspect of Justice in my own being.

King of Pentacles ~ Hudes Tarot

Enter the King of Pentacles. First are there any earthy,  mature men in my life? Yes, plenty. My dh is in an interesting blend of all four suits though I think he is predominantly a King of Cups. However his Pentacle side is good at helping me to keep my feet on the ground as well as talking me down from various inner insurgencies lol, a nod to the warrior aspect of today's spread.

In her book, 'The Tarot Court Cards', Kate Warwick-Smith describes the King of Pentacles with the words, power, instinct, physicality and matter. She has organized each court card with four distinct qualities--how they support, how they detract, their resources and their challenge. For the King of Pentacles she delineates these qualities like this...

Supporter :: Mentor
Detractor :: Miser
Resource :: Generosity
Challenge :: Greed

For me, looking at this King I see attainment in the physical realm as well as the earthly manifestation of his spiritual endeavors, he is a King afterall. He uses good judgement handling money, his resources and his kingdom. He is aware that work done with the right intention and atmosphere enhances the sacredness within and allows a flow from that source into the everyday. The Earth suit is the one I feel least polished in, the element I struggle most with so I definitely see this King here in the role of Mentor, as benevolent guide which is both encouraging and comforting. He is here to show me (rather then tell me) how it's done.

Hudes Tarot ~ Psycards

When I look at these three cards together I see Justice being asked to guide both the Warrior and the King. The King, wisely, looks directly to Justice for guidance, offering his resources in the form of a large Pentacle. The Warrior stands firm and, while it's hard to tell from the card, he is looking very slightly in the direction of Justice also. His face is somewhat worn suggesting he's acquired a certain measure of experience and wisdom and his clothing tells us he serves a higher good. Together these two aspects, the one who creates the earthly laws (King) and the one who carries them out (Warrior) are looking to an embodiment of discriminating wisdom (Justice) as to how to best serve. On an inner level I might see this as the ideal (King) and the actual (Warrior) trying to find a balance (Justice) that is realistic and embodied which could cover just about anything! Rilke named this dance so beautifully in a poem entitled, In the Asylum Garden. Reading it over I can sense all three of these cards today at work here in this poem...

The abandoned cloister still encloses 
the courtyard as if it were holy.
It remains a retreat from the world
For those who live there now.

Whatever could happen has already happened.
Now they are glad to walk the trusted paths
that draw them apart and bring them back together,
so simple and willing.

Some, on their knees beside the planted beds,
are absorbed by what they are tending.
When no one can see, there is
a secret little gesture they make.

To touch the tender early grass, shyly to caress it.
The green is friendly and needs protection
from the rose whose red can be too fierce

and can overpower once again
what they know in their hearts to be true.
Still the inner knowledge is always there:
how good the grass is and how soft.