THE SIX OF SWORDS

So I happened to wonder today when a new Taiga Tarot design would show up. Then I thought about a dream (:-D) I had last night and "voila!" there was the Six of Swords. In the dream I and a vague other person fly in a small plane out over the land of lakes to re-map its changes. I am sitting on the outside of the plane between the wings and they begin to bend. From my weight, I worry? Then I insist we turn around and go back as we are far from home. As we fly back I see the brilliant sunlight on the surface of the lakes. Here's the design this dream inspired:



Traditionally, this card is often said to be about gaining or needing to gain perspective. From the dream I heard getting above or distant to it all is not the only way to achieve a new perspective. Looking below or within is also a way to a fresh view, as in what might have been reflected in those brightly lit lakes as we flew over. Maybe within our own "underneaths" -- :-D -- the higher light from above is reflected, and what could be more of a new way of seeing things than that? I've often thought of this card as saying "As above, so below."

Here's the Six of Swords in the Rider/Waite/Smith deck for comparison:



What's odd here, is that contrary to how it usually goes for me with the RWS deck, I find it a bit of a stretch to get to the idea I'm positing for a Taiga Tarot card. I have to tell myself a story about the figure: The man is concerned about the adult and child he's ferrying to a different place. It's quite a job to pole all three of them across this wide lake. He's focused entirely on the work very literally at hand. The new view will only be found later as a gift, after they've all reached a new place. This, too, is how I sometimes find perspective, if I'm open to it.

BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE TAIGA TAROT (Click here for additional background on the Taiga Tarot.):

Please note: This deck is not necessarily being designed for use in divination, but rather to share taiga based on each of 78 Tarot cards.

When I decided the name of the deck would be The Taiga Tarot, I liked not only the alliteration but the resemblance of the word “taiga” to “tiger.” One of my power animals is the Siberian Tiger (and by extension, all tigers), which first appeared as three tiger kittens in a dream. What I had completely forgotten at the time was that the area of Siberia in which the tiger ranges is called “The Taiga”!

A “taiga” (briefly put) is an illustrated tanka. A “tanka” is a mood poem written in five lines, that usually references natural images and human emotions. Also, there is often a contrast or conclusion or response in the last two lines to the first three. I recognize that the tanka/taiga I’m developing for The Taiga Tarot are non-traditional. As with the dreamku I write (haiku-like poems about dreams), I am not only attempting to bridge two things – Tarot and taiga – but also bringing my own experimental slant to it all.

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‘til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Tarot Gallery & Journal; Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm; and Yahoo DREAMJIN: Group for Dreamku – Haiku-Like Dream Poems. ****