Card of the Day: Mother of Swords

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The Wild Unknown Tarot [/caption]

Sometimes referred to as the minor arcana equivalent of the Justice card, this Mother/Queen/Artist is not fucking around. She’s come by her wisdom honestly: the hard way. She has undergone hardship, disregard, and disrespect. She’s made lots of mistakes, big and small. She knows how patriarchal white supremacy has harmed not just her, but her mother, grandmothers, grandfathers, and all her ancestors going back, back, back. She’s gone through one or more dark nights of the soul, and come out with a sharp, clear eye and finely calibrated bullshit detector.

She understands the nature of and therefore can make magical use of the mind and communication. Because she knows the truth—not abstractly or academically, but in her hollow bones—she can convey the truth. This is her magic. Her watery Mother/Queen nature gives her a measure of mercy and compassion. But she also knows that sometimes the truth excruciates. She’s for ripping off the bandaid so that healing can truly begin.

I know a lot of women who are the Mother of Swords. To a person they are highly intelligent, witty, self-possessed, and they ask amazing questions that allow others to swim in their own depths and feel seen and heard. I think this is where aging from maiden and mother to crone leads us women/femme/NBs, eventually. Content to carefully observe with a tenderized heart, she knows when to intervene and when to take her hands off the wheel.

Most importantly, she knows that the company of like-minded others is a critical source of nourishment and the joy and aliveness that come from belonging. Our youth-obsessed culture tries to make these Mother/Queens invisible. But they are not invisible. They are awakening. And gathering.