February 21, 2021: King of Swords and XIX The Sun

Beautiful sunny day, so my Outer Focus card makes sense.

My Inner Focus card is the King of Swords.  The image on this card shows a confident and happy King of middle age yet without any visible gray hair on his head, in his beard or on his chest, wearing a crown and nothing else.  Our King is having sex with a naked woman on a well-rumpled bed.  He appears to be standing or kneeling on the floor at the far side of the bed, and his upper body is mostly upright.  The woman is laying cross-wise on the bed with her knees wide (to accommodate the King's very round belly), one hand on the King's belly, and her head and shoulders hanging off the near side of the bed, so the viewer is seeing her face upside-down.  The King has one hand on one of her knees for support; the other hand is grasping his royal Sword to keep his body upright, point grounded on the floor in front of the bed.  His royal robe with ermine trim is tossed aside over the pillows.  The key phrases for this card are: don't refuse twilight-of-life intimacy, and spiritual values do not decline over the years, they increase.  

My Outer Focus card is XIX The Sun.  The image on this card shows two naked soldiers, their armor, clothing and weapons discarded around them as they lay on a sandy dune topped with grasses. In the background is a smooth ocean lit by the sun, which is low on the horizon yet shining very brightly.  The soldiers are young and fit, one with dark hair and one with blond hair.  The two soldiers are laying on their sides facing each other.  The blond soldier has his head at about the level of the groin of the dark-haired soldier and his hand appears in that groin.  The dark-haired solder's hand is resting on the head of the blond soldier.  Both have their eyes closed and their lips parted.  The key phrases for this card are: being naked allows us to stop pretending, and affection and love grow through truth, not pretense.

There is power and ecstasy to be had through fearlessly being our true self out in the daylight.  This requires a bit of confidence in our own value and abilities, but sometimes this decision to not be afraid becomes a self-replicating loop of increased courage.  Our King is enjoying a pleasurable romp with a young woman, and their sex was powerful and rambunctious enough to cause the woman to be half-hanging off the bed.  The King leaning on his sword is the metaphor of his belief in his own lovemaking skills, despite his age.  The couple in the image on The Sun may appear to be alone in the dunes, but it is late afternoon and the sun is still shining strongly, illuminating their passion.  They are soldiers, expected to be "manly," whatever that means, but they are enjoying each other in a way that is not accepted by every culture, doing so not hidden away in the shadows but in the light of day, where anyone can see their happiness.

Yes, there are times when we need to modulate our behavior, but but being unabashedly our true self, without shame or doubt, is an empowering experience.  It is not always easy to believe in our own worth, but it is something to aspire to.