Second guessing

 

When it comes to choices, to make a decision about This 'n That, why when once made, we have tendency to question our decision? Should I have or should of not? Did I do the right thing? Did I choose correctly? This constant battle that we wage with ourselves with fear over wonder, the negative over the positive, black over white, can drive us to the brink.  The raven or dove?  Most would go with the dove because it's  white connotation  is a symbol of peace and harmony whereas the raven harkens something sinister. For the most part the choice is not the problem, but the insistent questioning of our choice that makes us miserable.

When things just don't seem all that positive we might ask ourselves, is it me?

Majestic Earth Tarot

Precarious

 

Do we wait for something to come to us or go out on a limb and take action to achieve? Sometimes we have to dare ourselves; be bold and go for it. Playing safe is usually a good choice, but sometimes...

Spiritsong Tarot

Assuage

 

A lovely and softer version of the typical withdrawn and closed off Two of Swords. It is the differences within ourselves that shape who we are; they are the things that keep us from being a flat projection in the world.  Our contrasts define us. There can be no light with out dark, no dark without light. Finding the balance is our challenge to rise to or ignore and linger in the confusion. 

Artwork: Assuaging of the Waters - John Martin

MAJESTIC EARTH Tarot

Synthesis

 

Similar ideas or reasons, just not quite in-sync. 

This picture reminds me of the twining snakes on Hermes' staff, and in addition, his staff had wings. The procurer of information. The messenger of the gods.

 We have multiple opportunities to chose what information makes sense to us and what to cast aside. I will not be boxed in by others negative perceptions of recent events. I will not identify with the victim status, but with courage and fortitude on a new trail.

Scorpio Sea Tarot

No easy answer

 

Some choices are just not as easy as we would hope they would be.  Advice from others won't necessarily be helpful, because they come from a place of their own personal platforms. I recently did a reading for myself, and swords and pentacles were predominant within the spread. The final card was the Two of Swords. Thought over Reality. We can get so caught up in what we think about that we forget the day-to-day things of life. 

Majestic Earth Tarot

Punctured

 

Movement from the Ace of Swords brings conflict. Traditionally the Two of Swords suggest restriction from a truth revealed, here there is action. What to do with a reveal? Try to deny or be spurred into action. A choice that the twos encourage. We are changed; to know is to know, whether we do anything with it or not.

The Chinese Tarot

How will you pause?

 

Tuning out and tuning in. There are times when we have to separate ourselves from the noise and sit in silence. Listen to our own heartbeat, bring stillness to the moment.

  I miss birdsong in the morning during the cold days of winter. Soon, hopefully, I will wake to the gentle chirps and calls of birds announcing Spring. 

This Two of Air suggests a much more gentle pause than the typical Two of Swords. I like that.

The Gaian Tarot

Refusal

This portrayal of the Two of Swords harkens to Trumps casual dismissal of Dr. Fauci's advise.  Refusal to listen is like hiding our heads in the sand; it does not make the situation go away.  Just because we can't see it  doesn't mean it does not exist.  What can a few weeks of quarantine harm do?  Either way we go to a  future that is uncertain and times will be difficult, but with good health we will do much better on the roads that lie ahead.




Marco Polo Tarot
Lo Scarabeo
Artwork by Severino Baraldi

Double Negative

Does a double negative make a positive?  The Tower and the Two of Swords.  Initiation and Opposition?  Looking to see what the day holds. 
I ain't got no time fer troubles.






The Sacred Circle

Level Up

Another two.  Yesterday Two of Cups, a few days before that Two of Swords.  Pair up, is definitely a message I am getting. 
Maybe competition. One against the other in a soft non-major confrontation, like the Two of Swords.  Sometimes we do not want to compete or confront another because we do not want to upset another. Still it is better to work through whatever that gives us a bit of resistance.  So you can Level Up and move on towards the accomplishment in the Threes.




Celestial Tarot

The one you feed

This card reminds me of the the Native American parable of the two wolves, "The one you feed."
Those two swords brings to mind the crossing of two - Ace of Swords.  Two opposing thoughts that we may have about ourselves, another, or some situation.  The more dominant thought will eventually edge out the other and becomes the one that shapes us.  Today i have a bit of conflict in regards to family, the thought that I should choose is that they love me, not the one that sees the same look of judgement I have received for years for being different.





Celestial Tarot - Kay Steventon and Brian Clark

Old ways

I spend too much time here.  As I have gotten older I have become more contemplative.  More thought, less action.  I kind of miss living by the seat of my pants; well just a little.  Maybe I will spend more time out there than within.  Shake things up a bit.







Gaian Tarot - Joanna Powell Colbert

This or That?

I am not listening.

Shut down and tuned out.  This card reminds me of the times I catch myself with my arms crossed at the chest.  When I realize that I am in that posture, I immediately think what is going on that has put me in a defensive posture of detachment?    I have learned to pay attention not only to myself but others.  What is being said that I or another has begun to withdrawal from the conversation?

Then I took a second look and thought she is a merperson, left the sea for some shore-time and now she has to choose, and she can't.  What can one do when a choice so needed can't be made?





Rider Waite-Smith

Help or Hurt

Double - Double edge swords

Double edge sword, an action or decision that appears to help but can also hinder.
Let's face it, one could not hold up those two heavy swords for very long.  Heavy be it that, making a wrong choice, sooner or later, one has to own up to it and right the wrong.  Or you can choose to make another equally wrong choice to see if you can rectify the first incorrect choice, which is never a good option.
Swords are about the mind and thought, why is there so much water in this card?  Did she let her heart rule her double trouble decision or is she stuck too much in her head and needs to release her defensive posture and open her heart to clear up the mess.
She better take her blindfold off to make a arm sling cause her shoulders are really going to ache. 

Opposition

Sometimes the best argument is to not argue at all.

This morning drifting in an out of sleep I came across an encounter whilst driving.  I pulled into a parking lot and heading down a narrow lane, someone ahead was coming from the opposite direction, so I pulled to the side to give a leave-way and the gal driving began to slow down, and then kind of angled her car across the drive and blocked the lane. She pulled out her phone and ignored me sitting there in my car waiting.  As I sat there trying to decide to honk the horn, get out and ask her "what the heck" or just back up and get on with it, a part of me realized I was having a dream.  Now in dreams everyone you encounter is supposed to be a facet of oneself.  So if I am blocking me, what is the me of me trying to tell me?   We can never win an argument with ourselves.

The Sacred Circle Tarot

Not for me

Ill gotten counsel.

I was whining to a couple of friends the other day.  Just a little venting and their advice was based on what they thought was best for me.  I appreciated their concern and I was a bit tempted by their suggestions, then after further consideration I knew it was not good for me. 
As in the typical Two of Swords, I need to sit quietly with myself and figure out my source of discontent and act on it accordingly.

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." -Terry Pratchett




Marco Polo Tarot