Four of Swords
Rest. Peace. Stability.
The Four of Swords is, perhaps, the most peaceful card in Tarot. We see the image of a knight resting in a church. The card is numbered four. Fours always represent stability in tarot. Swords represent the mind and thinking matters. When this card appears, it usually means it is time to take a break, take a rest and be good to yourself. An excellent word to describe the feeling here is calmness. A calming of the mind.
A new meaning emerged for me yesterday when I pulled the Four of Swords for my day. I have recently begun a serious yoga practice and have for the last few years worked with guided meditation. In both yoga and meditation, one may assume the position pictured on the Four of Swords. The person, while looking outwardly as if they are sleeping, is actually actively at work in their mind and within their body. I lay in my yoga class, exactly in the Four of Swords position, after an hour of hard work, breathing and stretching. I could not have felt more at peace and at the same time more alive and energized.
It is interesting to note that even while you sleep the mind remains active through dreaming. Perhaps the Four of Swords appears to remind us to pay close attention to our dreams. Sometimes, we have a problem are seeking an answer to. If we ask for the solution right before we go to bed at night, we might just wake up with the answer. The mind is an amazing organ we are only beginning to understand.
So, if you were to gaze at the Four of Swords, what lesson would you take away from it? Is it time for you to take a break? Stay home this weekend, sleep in and rejuvenate? Are you finally at peace after the passing of a troublesome issue? Does this card represent a deeper inner working within you? Are and should you be paying attention to your dreams? Could this card be saying something about a deeper spiritual process happening within you? Can you imagine a state of being both wildly alive and deeply relaxed at the same time?