Thursday, April 15, 2021

April 15, 2021: The Knave of Pentacles and the 2 of Swords


My Inner Focus card for today is the Knave of Pentacles.  The image on this card shows a lower-level room with a stairway upward and a slit of a window in the background, and a pillar with arched supports just beyond a naked woman and a man in a friar's garb having sex on a fancy table painted with images of people with halos above their heads.  We are seeing them from the rear; the woman is naked except for her head piece and she is kneeling on the table, facing away from the viewer but her head is turned back to face us.  Her eyes are closed and she appears to be smiling.  Behind her is a friar with his robes hiked up in the front and sandaled feet on the floor, penetrating the woman from the rear.  Besides his lower legs and feet, the friar is completely covered by his hood and robe.  Beneath her knee on the desk is an open pouch; on the floor below the pouch are coins that have apparently spilled from the pouch.  Her dress is laying on the stairway at the rear of the image.  The key phrases for this card are: distrust of those who appear wearing deceiving attire and offering false modesty, and honor is at risk.

My Outer Focus card is the 2 of Swords.  The image on this card is of a woman laying on her back on a bed, with pillows behind her head and wearing a head piece and a mask. We have seen this woman before, in the image of the 6 of Swords, where she is wearing harlequin clothes and a belt as well as the headpiece and mask, and in the image of the 9 of Pentacles, laying on her back on a bed on top of her harlequin clothing wearing the same headpiece and mask, with a smile on her face.  In this image she is facing us with her feet flat on the bed and her knees wide.  Between her legs is a man who is kneeling on the floor and has his head in her groin with his arms wrapped around her hips; he appears to be wearing that dog or wolf mask that we have also seen before.  The key phrases for this card are: the animal within us is showing itself, and everything will balance out. 

The Knave of the Decameron Tarot is similar to the Jacks of the playing cards deck.  I am seeing the Knaves in this deck as representing a Prince or a young man of high birth who has authority and privileges  ascribed to him, but who might not be mature enough to wield that authority and those privileges in the best interest of everyone, not just himself.  In the Knave of Pentacles, our high ranking man is of the church, and it certainly appears that he is not ready to embrace his vows of poverty and celibacy or respect the sanctity of his religion.  

The suit of Swords is about the element of Air and the thought process and workings of the mind.  It is in the mind that we determine what is acceptable behavior and what is not.  Perhaps this 2 of Swords is telling us that all austerity all the time is not healthy for the human spirit, and  indulging in a bit of wild play every now and then can act as a release valve so we are more able to toe the line at other times.  

Together these cards warn me that I need to be careful about who I am looking up to, who I am choosing to see as a role model to emulate.  Even the person who outwardly appears to be most dedicated to a religious, spiritual or ethical culture is still a human being.  I need to find ethical outlets for my needs that are within my own code of ethics, keeping Harm None in mind, always.

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