The Tarot Year: 31 Jan–9 Feb

the decan

the VI of swords is the second Aquarius decan, covering the last one or two days of January and the beginning of February.

what does the 6 of swords mean in tarot?

it’s a card of transition, so the balance of sadness and satisfaction here depends on your attitude to change. without change, we cannot grow. but that often means we have to leave behind people, places, and things that we love. change is often painful.

the card is named Earned Success and represents Mercury in Aquarius in the Minor Arcana. it speaks to us about our feelings when we have learned what we needed to, and it is time to move on, and into the future. we often resist change – but try as we like life will always move us on eventually.

we cannot refuse to grow – well, we can try – but the result is stagnation, conflict, and decay. and when you’ve had enough of that… you move on, like you should have done years ago. we don’t have to go anywhere to move on – one of the greatest changes we can make in reality is the reality of who we are.

what does the 9 of wands mean in tarot?

the IX of wands is the Tarot I drew to interpret this decan, astrologically, the Moon into Sagittarius. together, these cards invite us to take stock of just how far we’ve come, and to recognise that part of each journey is having the strength to accept that stopping to reflect is a key part of moving forward.

we can get hooked on development – booking ourselves onto course after course, buying books we don't have time to read, err, buying new decks all the time (eek!) – constant input. but like the tree when it stops growing in winter, creating a new ring, we can only grapple with the changes at our core if we give ourselves space to.

we must grow, and we must stop to grow. we have to move, but sometimes we must stand still to go forward. we can resist change, and turn to stone, or embrace it so much we lose our shape. the key is balance. keeping the balance in the process of change is key to the alchemy of life. nowadays, people call it ‘change management.’ I’m not sure we need the neoliberal jargon. just be a tree.

found out you’ve taken your problems with you? having trouble tearing yourself away from a comfortable situation even though it’s the right thing to do? tired of all this endless transition?

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the advice

after the realisation comes the work

when to move on? when there’s nothing left to learn and nowhere left to grow

the difference between moving on or running away: does the lesson follow you?

the horizon will always be out of reach, but we must always lean towards it

better to learn honesty than to build an empire

build mountains and you’ll never stop climbing; plant trees and you’ll hear birdsong

resist change and turn to stone; indulge in change and lose your shape. find the balance

change has rhythm, change has rests, we can learn to dance its steps

ghosts arise when we change, that is fact, but don’t turn back

if you would learn about yourself confront your fears

pain is a travel companion; it only changes if you take it places

look inside to see the future; in the problems of your soul are the worlds you must build

the symbols

this is one of my favourite PCS designs, and always has been – and the moodiness of the original colour scheme (above) works much better for me than the re-coloured version, which is too jolly.

like the IV of pentacles, and others, the key symbol is the composition itself. the background is the horizon. the idea of a horizon is powerful – a new horizon – something on the horizon – our very concept of it is pregnant with possibility.

the mid-ground of the card is taken up entirely with water, symbolising the unconscious, the womb, the Great Mother (Cooper). in the past, a journey across water was a huge deal. countless more lives have been lost at sea than through the tragedies of aviation. so this journey, into or across the unknown, must be necessary, unavoidable.

and in the foreground, we have the boat, swords, pilot, passenger, and possessions. they face away from us but the boat moves right, and into the future. the very structure of the card is that of a journey, and that's why this is such a powerful symbol of transition.

like the bridge, the boat is a symbol of passage from one condition to another – here we are very much in the territory of rites of passage. the water on the right side of the boat is choppy, but on the left-hand side, calm.

so the narrative is clear, on this level. sometimes we have to choose, or cannot avoid, leaving behind a troubled situation to head for a better future.

the change involves us dealing with our fears, our psychological baggage, and is not immediate – but with the help of the right people, with just a few resources, perhaps, we can take what we have built that is positive – and bring it into a new context.

to be more concrete about it, this could represent a retirement, leaving a job, accepting a promotion which means changing city, or the end of an unfulfilling relationship.

but you’ll notice the pilot is punting, not rowing. it’s a method of propulsion that requires pushing the pole against the bottom. this water isn’t deep and isn’t going to be. it’s symbolic more than dangerous – emphasising the inner aspect of the change at hand.

that pole will stir up the bottom – and ghosts will arise through this process of change that are painful – and which must be dealt with. that’s why both figures face away from us – the pilot knows they are dealing with someone in pain, but to help them, they too must accept the discomfort that comes with change, and not try to fix things.

I used to wonder if the bundle next to the seated figure was a child. but I don’t think this is deliberate ambiguity – the key relationship here is between the ferryman and the passenger.

the pilot is there as a spiritual guide, whispering in our ear. the figure is bundled against the cold – the pilot does not need the same protection as their labours keep them warm – and the differences in their clothes to tell you they are not together in this. the situation is one of help and isolation.

the trees on the horizon suggest fertility and growth lie ahead. the question of the baggage is an open space for us to interpret. are there ashes to be scattered? are these all that can be carried from a happy or unhappy home? or a bundle of psychological issues that cannot be left behind?

as the saying goes, ‘Wherever we go, there we are.’ people will usually try and change their job or relationship before they realise what they need to change is themselves. the shadow of the VI is the one who undertakes a journey of transformation but misses the point.

we don’t need to build empire after empire, we need to learn how to be honest with ourselves and others about what’s really going on.

the genius of the RWS design is that it manages to communicate the sadness within a happy situation, something the Wild Unknown also manages, I think (right).

the IX of wands comes to emphasise the need to address our injuries – whether we are staying put and defending our ground – or moving on.

the IX could be the punt pilot – their clothes are almost identical, and if you look at the two cards as one card you’ll see there’s a symmetry here – with both figures holding an angled wand, pressed against the floor.

with these cards together we might look more closely at the pilot's role as a key figure in the drama. who are the people who help us? what are their motives? what is their pain? what are they projecting onto us?

in these terms, the VI is less a question of paying the ferryman and more of ‘How is this relationship going to affect both of us?’ perhaps this is the shadow side of the IX – Strength – what causes the departure? exhaustion, giving up the fight, or a real desire to change?

the VI is also interesting as one of the few cards to mix suit symbols. in the RWS The Magician I would be the most obvious and extensive example, and if we look at the mirrored hand positions, the comparison extends.

this is the gesture of bringing new realities into being. the ferryman plays that magical role here, perhaps, supporting or triggering the movement forward – but, as he is behind the figure, we might ask if there is an unconscious influence at work, and what our relationship is with that kind of hidden 'magic' in our lives – is this Destiny at work? Synchronicity, or some other divine intervention guiding us?

mythology is rich with ferryman figures, and rivers to be crossed. journeys to the underworld, in particular, require passage across water, the shedding of earthly attachments, and a forgetting of self through an accompanying shedding of earthly memories. the Manara (left) captures that sense of spiritual threshold, through its erotic Tarot.

again looking at both cards as one, we see there are 10 wands here – and that invites us to think about Oppression, the X of wands. the IX, perhaps, is about to face oppression – while the VI is moving away from it. although those six, heavy swords – in a pair and a four – must be accounted for in the balance of the boat and reading the situation.

neither the VI or the IX have much room in their lives – there’s more space on the other shore, sure.

but unless we deal with our injuries, we will always follow the same patterns in our lives, and sabotage whatever it is we are trying to build – because the unconscious forces us to deal with our unresolved injuries, whether we like it or not.

and it doesn’t care about the context we do it in, or how long it takes us. life shoves our faces in it until we open our eyes to what we have repressed.

and then we have a choice. will we again abandon the world we have built? or fight it out?

neither strategy is particularly satisfying. so it behoves us to remember the past is always with us and will always shape our future until we are honest with ourselves about what we are carrying, until we process it, and where necessary, let go of it, as we must let go of ego when we cross sacred waters.

beneath the surface

in Qabalistic terms – with the VI’s assigned to Tiphareth, the Sun, and its qualities of integration, beauty, and harmony – and the IX’s assigned to Yesod, the Moon and foundation – we have a direct pathway to consider between these two cards – pathway 25, representing XIV Temperance, itself assigned Sagittarius in the Major Arcana.

the path is on the middle pillar and so asks us to look at the journey between these two cards – from the VI to the IX we are moving towards the emanation of physical reality.

the change – if balanced, as per the image of Temperance – will transform us through the alchemical process of life itself. we may be left battered and bruised, but here we are moving to a higher awareness, and nearer to the end of a cycle. here we go from the Sun to the Moon – a transformation almost to a polar opposite, if we believed in binaries any more.

the point is that the energy of the Sun acting through Sagittarius on the Moon forces us to embrace not only the challenge of self-integration, but the mystery of the self, with the IX possibly representing that moment when the big change has happened in us and our lives, but the external world is yet to register it. after the realisation comes the work. those mountains in the background of Temperance are not going to climb themselves.

as the Buddhist saying goes, before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. the work will have a different quality once we have elevated our consciousness, but the path has no ending.

a good image of this is in the numerology of the IX – which is also reflected in the VI in the pattern of two swords together, and four swords together. in the IX, we have the pattern of 2-2-4, which is the same pattern as the wands in the VIII.

the central wand in the IX, which touches the numbers at the top of the card, has come to split the stability and security of the pattern established by the VIII.

this perhaps, is why the figure looks resentfully towards it, somewhat over his shoulder. the IX is a challenging image, perhaps, but like the VI, declares balance – however hard won that balance is. we struggle to accommodate the new, but we ossify in a world that has gone stale.

the work ahead may be daunting, but the figures in these cards know they cannot sink back into the complacency which they had before.

having become more aware of self, life, and other, they must now put that awareness into action – evolving energy downwards on the central pillar of the Tree of Life from the 6, to the 9, to the 10th sephiroth, Malkut – bringing the energy of inner transformation into the world to effect external transformation.

after great change will come exhaustion, and after that exhaustion, will come more change.

we must allow ourselves to absorb the struggle, and the wisdom that comes from it, at each stage of our growth – we must spend some time in the moonlight of the IX, reflecting – in order to fully integrate what we have been through, into ourselves.

it’s one reason why the IX is such an interesting card – the quick thinking and fast moving energy of Sagittarius is less certain of itself in the moonlight. ideas and paths abound, and having the strength to pause before the next forward step is positive.

for me, these cards remind us of how people are like trees – we expand outwards, year by year, and each phase of our growth is marked by a ring. if you will, the VI is the year, and the IX is the pause where we see our growth and prepare for what’s next. it's a fine card for Imbolc.

within the pause, we may feel we don't have the strength for what lies ahead, which will not be simpler – life gets more complicated, not less, and more difficult as a result. some say life presents us with the level of challenge we are capable of meeting – maybe.

the economic system we now live in commands us every day to build and build, until our commitments are so many we crush ourselves with life and all our joy disappears – even though we have surrounded ourselves with the things we once loved.

maintaining the balance in the transitions and transformations of life is the key – maybe that’s why the angel of alchemy sits on the pathway between the VI and IX.

to many, the angel on XIV Temperance represents Michael, due to the multiple symbols of fire, and to others represents Gabriel, due to the androgynous, watery image. but to me this is Archangel Uriel, Fire of God, bringer of alchemical knowledge to humankind.

because that’s what change is – the transitions of our lives are the living processes of alchemy. it’s not an abstract study – it’s the actual process of living, and by which we grow as people. all of us are in this process. sometimes we have to leave things out, or behind, and if we don’t, we can fall out of sync with our own progress.

Earned Success tells us to keep only what we need on our journey to higher understanding – because life is not about the complexity of having many things – it is about the cross-fertilisation of having the right things, even a few things, but understanding that it is the interaction of the right elements that provides the richness of our experience – not simple accumulation.

and when we find the balance of career, relationships, and our passions, we may realise that having – not getting – is the greatest challenge of all. having, and keeping in balance – so the minimum number of elements inspires in us our highest potential for growth.

with thanks to the decks and designers – the RWS of Pamela Colman Smith with Mary Hanson-Roberts, Chris-Anne's Muse and Lightseer Tarot, RuPaul’s Drag Race Tarot, Manara, Kim Krans's Tarot, Siri Rose’s Cascadia Tarot, Elisa Poggese’s Sensual Wicca Tarot, Nicoletta Ceccoli’s Tarot, Antonella Platano’s Tarot of the 78 Doors, Jack Sephiroth’s Heaven and Earth Tarot, Marco Proietto’s Capobianco Nero Tarot, MJ Cullinane’s Crow Tarot, and Star Spinner Tarot by Trungles.