Monday, April 12, 2021

April 12, 2021: 4 of Chalices and 6 of Swords

  

Today, my Inner Focus card is the 4 of Chalices.  The image on this card shows a man in a hallway peeking into a partially-opened door.  This hallway looks similar to that of the 3 of Swords, with dressed stone blocks and a heavy wooden door.  We have a narrow glimpse of the lit room inside and of what appears to be a bed.  The key phrases for this card are: an intruder, distrust, and poor self-esteem.

My Outer Focus card is the 6 of Swords.  The image on this card shows several people in a brightly lit room.  There is a man sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, dressed in red with a napkin used as a bib at his throat and an empty container laying next to him on the floor.  He is laughing heartily, his hand on his belly.  A man in the foreground is only visible from the shoulders up; he is wearing some kind of costume and his mouth is open as if he was shouting.  There are two other people in the image, both of whom we have seen before.  There is the person in the dog or wolf costume, seen from the back, and there is a woman in a colorful harlequin-type costume and a belt, also seen from the back.  Both of them appear to be moving toward an open doorway at the back of the image.  The key phrase for this card is: the enemy suddenly becomes harmless.

The 4's of the Tarot Minor Arcana bring stability, but stability is not always a good thing.  The suit of Chalices represents Water, and if Water is left standing for too long it begins to stagnate.  Perhaps for the Decameron 4 of Chalices, the stagnation has at its root the poor self-esteem mentioned in the key phrases for the card.  Thinking that we are not good enough could very well cause us to take actions that are harmful.  We don't believe that others value our opinions, we push our own unnecessary defenses onto a situation, or we check up on what is going on, even if that checking up ends up as spying.  We are only trying to keep safe, we tell ourselves, justifying what we are doing when in reality things might not be as dire as we believe, and our actions could hurt ourself or others.  

The 6 of Swords of the Decameron Tarot presents a really great version of the traditional meaning of this card: healing and moving on.  This is kind of like the suggestion for getting over the fear of public speaking that involves visualizing the audience in their underwear.  The silliness of the costumes in the image of this card renders any fierceness of the people in the image as pretty much non-existent.  There is the healing we need!  Laughter.

We have seen two of the figures in the image on the 6 of Swords already.  The 9 of Pentacles shows a woman in a mask and hat, laying naked on a bed on top of her multi-colored harlequin-like clothing; the key phrases for that card are: a pleasant surprise and long-lasting situation.  The dog or wolf costume is seen in the 2 of Wands card (key phrases: first experience, shyness, and reserve), and we will see that dog mask again when we look at the 2 of Swords (key phrases: the animal within us showing itself, and everything will balance out).  Both cards could very well be connected to the 6 of Swords and the mental and intellectual healing offered by its transformative powers.  After all, we may be hesitant when experiencing something new but once we get past that newness, all is well.  Allowing our wild side to show itself can sometimes be a relief, thus restoring balance.  

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