Suit of Air and intellect, the Swords govern thought, reason, communication and decisions. They cut through illusion to reveal the truth.
After the materialism of the Pentacles, the emotionality of the Cups and the passion of the Wands, we now enter the universe of reason. The Swords carry us into the spheres of intellect and the mind.
The Swords take our consciousness to where some see the pinnacle of our humanity. For the brain, confined to the cortex, is still frequently elevated as the absolute seat of our intelligence. In Descartes' "I think therefore I am", the Swords would willingly claim exclusive legitimacy over any perception of existence or reality.
In a reading, the Swords encourage us to observe and analyse our relationship to logic, ideas and concepts — as well as to our intellectual faculties and to any temptation to use or abuse them.
It is said that some excel in the art of emotional manipulation. The same is true of our remarkable capacity to manipulate through the mind… or to let it deceive us.
Yet this tendency — just as much as structured and structuring thought — is a prime object of attention that the sharpened awareness of the Swords allows us to discern. Restored to reason, and brought back to the strict complementarity of its nature, the mind can take its rightful place alongside all other forms of consciousness. Neither submitting nor dominating.
