The Four of Swords

The Four of Swords appears when it is time to benefit from meditation, rest, imagination and renewal.

Are you overwhelmed, perplexed, uncertain? Time for complete rejuvenation.

Take time to sit in the silent neutral void of the heart. Go through your personal flavor of self, back into the universal love flow. Remove yourself from the activity of life to sit in the quiet like a tree.

The Four of Swords indicates that you are being fully supported by the universal flow while you take a much-needed pause.

Timing is within 4 hours, 4 days, months, or the time of the winter season.

Astrologically, the Four of Swords incorporates the energy of Libra (needs to balance relationship contracts).

The Four of Swords astrological relative is the planet Mercury (the planet of speed). Mercury determines the speed at which you gather information, think, talk, analyze, write and travel.

Symbolism: 

The Archetype is thinking about the woman and child in the stained glass window and also trying to understand the truth of a situation by looking through the window in his or her mind’s eye. The window suggests that the Archetype sees this situation through rose-colored glasses and the gray background suggests that the Archetype is not seeing the situation clearly.

The colors of the window represent the different thoughts of the Archetype. Yellow represents the naivete of the Fool, red the masculine energy and passion of the Emperor, blue a future goal that is far away and without timing (lack of mountains), and white the purification that the Archetype needs to understand the current situation.

The color white also represents the Archetype’s connection with the spiritual world and the time to walk with God, so that the Archetype can let go! By not letting go, he or she drags this mental pain around with each step taken, and the mental pain keeps repeating!

My Interpretation of the Four of Wands

The Four of Swords represents a period in your life where you need to rest and recover after a difficult experience with heavy emotional trauma. This card suggests a breakdown in your relationship, troubled times, excessive worry, or a possible operation, or major illness.

The primary meaning of this card is a need to find peace and quiet. You need to quiet your internal and external selves. This is a time to trust your faith and understand that you need to give your body, mind and spirit a rest, just like the bears do when they go into hibernation, because you need this restorative peace.

No matter how you’re pushed and pulled to take action, you need to stop and be still, detain your mind from racing. It’s time to slow down before you overdo it. Your mind is so cluttered with thought that you can’t see things clearly, and failure to stop may make you ill.

A Secret Symbolism of the Four of Swords

The Four of Swords is enumerated four and represents the need to establish a strong foundation like the Emperor, who controls his environment through hard work that will pay off with steady progress and growth.

The four (4) Swords in this card represent the four spokes of the Wheel of Fortune which contain the four (4) alchemical symbols of Mercury, Sulfur, Salt and Water. These symbols are inscribed on the second circle from the inside of the wheel (see locaters and influences below) and indicate that this is the time to quiet your thoughts, desires, actions, and cleanse yourself!

Mercury (mind – seat of thought) is under the letter “T” and represented by a circle with horns and a straight line.

Sulfur (soul – seat of desire) is under the letter “A” and represented by a triangle with a small line.

Salt (body – seat of action) is under the letter “O” and represented by a circle.

Water (purity – seat of cleansing) is under the letter “R” and represented by two wavy lines.

The Swords represent your strength, ambition, and willpower to follow through and cut through something. The Swords also represent authority and power, but the Archetype lying on the tomb reflects that he or she needs to slow down. The Archetype needs a period of rest to allow full recovery after having endured a difficult time. The Archetype went through some trauma and a breakdown in a relationship, causing a restless mind and a need for peaceful thoughts.

The Archetype is expressing a need to retreat within and recuperate, and needs seclusion to recover from pain, stress and anxiety while searching for answers through prayer and meditation.

This Archetype needs to unclutter his or her thoughts and let go of the situation before it makes him or her ill. This is not a time for a decision, but a time for rest. The timing of this rest is undetermined right now because one needs to heal before planning to do anything else.

Positive Position: This is a time of healing. You need to rest and recharge after suffering a difficult, emotionally traumatic experience that took the wind out of your sails. No matter how your mind pushes and pulls you to take action, you should stop and calm your racing mind. You need to go into hibernation to heal — to recover from a traumatic relationship experience, an exhausting situation, a cluttered mind, an operation, or an unexpected illness.

Negative Position: You can’t rest because you feel like the “Energizer Bunny,” trying to accomplish too much at once. Pushing too much will lead to burn out, exhaustion or sickness.

Contemplation

Not time to think. Be still.

Meditation

Sit in the silence.

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Sources:

1. http://www.tarotteachings.com
2. http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/pktwa03.htm
3. Lotus tarot – http://www.free-tarot-reading.net/ap/8086