Card of the Day: Four of Swords

I worked with this card a bit yesterday. I was doing a spread by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener that called for starting by removing all four of the Minor 4’s from the deck and choosing the one that most represented the grounding you need right now. I chose this one.

The fours are about structure and stability; when unbalanced they can lead to stagnation and rigidity. The fours correspond to The Emperor, which I like to think of as the embodiment of the healthy masculine (as problematic as that framing is)—structures, foundations, stewardship, protection. What a good leader offers. In the suit of swords, we’re in the realm of the mind and cognition—thoughts, communication, discernment, insight, truth and justice.

In the Three of Swords, the swords are bound together by bloody ligatures. It’s tight and heartbreaking. Here in the four, we find rest. The swords hover, evenly spaced, above a smiling lamb, the light of wisdom shining from her third eye. This is the realm of meditation, rest, retreat, restoring, inviting space into the mental realm to tease apart the anxiety and information overload and find a place of true silence and stillness.

The Monastery residents are in sesshin this week, as they have been every month for the last 40 years. Eighty people are joining sesshin from their homes. Knowing that they are just three miles down the road from me is a great comfort. They are carrying on an ancient heartbeat that holds many answers to the way the world must learn to live together if humanity is going to survive. They are protectors of silence and stillness. They maintain something that is fragile and extremely powerful. The benefit I feel in my own life is incalculable, and I’m just one person.

Don’t underestimate the power of being still and silent, even for a few minutes a day. Pets are great teachers in this. They know how to do it. And we do, too. Sending love to you all.