1 00:00:00,017 --> 00:00:03,537 Hello and welcome to My Tiny Tarot Practice. 2 00:00:03,937 --> 00:00:10,457 My name is Amelia Hruby and I host this show where I've been sharing my journey 3 00:00:10,457 --> 00:00:15,777 exploring the tarot card by card, starting with each suit of the Minor Arcana. 4 00:00:16,277 --> 00:00:19,317 Today's card is the King of Swords. 5 00:00:19,977 --> 00:00:25,657 In the Rider-Waite-Smith edition of the tarot, the King of Swords depicts a 6 00:00:25,657 --> 00:00:27,797 person seated on a throne. 7 00:00:28,577 --> 00:00:35,957 They're wearing a blue tunic or gown of some kind with a red cloak on it and 8 00:00:35,957 --> 00:00:37,737 a purple cloak over that. 9 00:00:37,897 --> 00:00:42,657 They have on a crown and they're facing us directly when you're looking at the 10 00:00:42,657 --> 00:00:49,137 card holding a sword in their right hand, which appears to be our left as the viewer. 11 00:00:49,857 --> 00:00:53,757 And they have this really like clear gaze. Like I always feel like the king 12 00:00:53,757 --> 00:01:00,177 of swords is staring right back at me as they hold their sword aloft and sit 13 00:01:00,177 --> 00:01:02,657 a little rigidly on their throne. 14 00:01:03,177 --> 00:01:08,417 And just like we've seen with all of the court cards in the suit of swords, 15 00:01:08,757 --> 00:01:12,797 there is a blue sky with clouds in the background. 16 00:01:13,117 --> 00:01:20,837 And this figure appears to be kind of seated above or at a distance from anything around them. 17 00:01:20,897 --> 00:01:24,617 We can see some sort of trees in the distance, but there's nothing nearby. 18 00:01:24,897 --> 00:01:28,437 There's no like closer sense of place in this card. 19 00:01:28,997 --> 00:01:34,337 In 78 Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack describes the king in this way. 20 00:01:35,097 --> 00:01:37,597 She writes, as a maintainer of 21 00:01:37,597 --> 00:01:41,717 the social structure, the king represents authority, power, and judgment. 22 00:01:41,937 --> 00:01:47,137 He takes the mental energy of air and uses it to uphold and rule the world with 23 00:01:47,137 --> 00:01:50,077 the keenness of his mind and the force of his personality. 24 00:01:51,337 --> 00:01:57,237 And she continues then to draw a connection between the king of swords and the emperor, 25 00:01:57,537 --> 00:02:01,897 pointing out that both are seated on these thrones, you know, 26 00:02:01,917 --> 00:02:07,817 staring directly at the viewer of the card, holding something aloft in their right hand. 27 00:02:08,197 --> 00:02:13,697 These archetypal symbols of power that we've seen repeated over and over again in our cultures. 28 00:02:15,289 --> 00:02:20,449 And speaking to this similarity, Rachel Pollack writes, we can call the king 29 00:02:20,449 --> 00:02:23,449 the emperor's representative in the real world. 30 00:02:23,669 --> 00:02:27,469 While the emperor embodies the archetype of order, law, society, 31 00:02:27,869 --> 00:02:31,729 the king of swords maintains these principles in practice. 32 00:02:32,629 --> 00:02:37,109 So what Rachel Pollack's describing here is the way that in the major arcana, 33 00:02:37,149 --> 00:02:39,749 we have these sorts of archetypal images. 34 00:02:40,249 --> 00:02:44,009 But when we encountered especially the court cards in the minors, 35 00:02:44,009 --> 00:02:46,969 we see actually they're like lived representatives. 36 00:02:47,749 --> 00:02:52,449 So perhaps a ruler that we might think of in contemporary society, 37 00:02:52,889 --> 00:02:58,089 they might not be the emperor, the archetype and everything of the archetype, 38 00:02:58,089 --> 00:03:00,969 but likely an embodiment of the king of swords. 39 00:03:01,769 --> 00:03:08,109 And I do think that the king of swords is closely related to our contemporary 40 00:03:08,109 --> 00:03:12,489 idea of leadership at its best and its worst. 41 00:03:13,389 --> 00:03:20,149 Living as I do, as many of us do, in a patriarchal society that emphasizes logic, 42 00:03:20,389 --> 00:03:24,369 rationality, and very specific iterations of masculinity, 43 00:03:24,889 --> 00:03:32,089 we're often taught to think of leaders as incredibly smart, emotionless men. in. 44 00:03:32,529 --> 00:03:39,329 And I think that when I encounter the King of Swords, often I bring a lot of that baggage with me. 45 00:03:39,789 --> 00:03:45,029 I think of the King of Swords as a stand-in for a contemporary patriarchal ruler, 46 00:03:45,249 --> 00:03:53,289 and I've had to work to try to detach my understanding of this card from that image. 47 00:03:54,429 --> 00:03:58,789 And in fact, I don't know if we need to. I think in pulling this card in a reading, 48 00:03:58,949 --> 00:04:04,749 it very well could represent a a challenging boss, a problematic leader or patriarch. 49 00:04:05,329 --> 00:04:11,369 But for myself and on this show, I'm always trying to reframe the cards in a 50 00:04:11,369 --> 00:04:18,789 more perhaps like uplifting or positive light to be a little simplistic about it. 51 00:04:19,049 --> 00:04:25,709 And so I like to think of the King of Swords then as the end of the journey of the suit of swords. 52 00:04:26,149 --> 00:04:31,349 So I'm imagining them like the utmost wisdom of the intellect in action. 53 00:04:31,729 --> 00:04:36,689 I think with the Queen of Swords, we see the visionary leader who can hold the 54 00:04:36,689 --> 00:04:39,189 vision, even create the strategy. 55 00:04:39,889 --> 00:04:44,789 But I think with the King of Swords, we see the leader who can both hold a vision 56 00:04:44,789 --> 00:04:50,269 and make that step-by-step plan to bring it to life and oversee all that it 57 00:04:50,269 --> 00:04:51,589 takes to bring that to life. 58 00:04:52,837 --> 00:04:56,957 And I think that a positive interpretation of the King of Swords as a leader 59 00:04:56,957 --> 00:05:02,357 would be someone who then surrounds themselves with people who are more akin 60 00:05:02,357 --> 00:05:04,857 to the other archetypes of the tarot, 61 00:05:04,877 --> 00:05:10,257 who bring in the cups and the wands and the pentacles and are able to blend 62 00:05:10,257 --> 00:05:13,377 or merge or alchemize the many elements together. 63 00:05:13,377 --> 00:05:19,037 And I think, unfortunately, what often happens in our contemporary society is 64 00:05:19,037 --> 00:05:25,377 that we're trained to deny or divorce ourselves from those other elements and 65 00:05:25,377 --> 00:05:27,237 to only uphold the intellect. 66 00:05:27,517 --> 00:05:35,497 And the journey through the swords has been a journey of the perils and pitfalls of intellect alone. 67 00:05:35,497 --> 00:05:40,877 Alone, but when we bring the intellect alongside the emotional, 68 00:05:41,217 --> 00:05:43,877 the heart-centered, the creative spirit, 69 00:05:44,257 --> 00:05:48,937 the material world, and how we relate to resources, like when we can bring all 70 00:05:48,937 --> 00:05:55,377 of that together, then I do think the King of Swords has so much to offer in being a visionary, 71 00:05:56,197 --> 00:06:02,097 in being a strategic thinker, a logistical maven even. in. 72 00:06:04,277 --> 00:06:08,737 And so that's how I'm personally reimagining this card, 73 00:06:08,877 --> 00:06:15,017 even amidst the baggage it often brings up for me through the sort of coldly 74 00:06:15,017 --> 00:06:19,597 logical masculine ideal of leadership that we often see in our society. 75 00:06:20,637 --> 00:06:26,697 What would it look like for a leader to embrace the intellect and alchemize 76 00:06:26,697 --> 00:06:30,917 it alongside other elements of our human experience. 77 00:06:32,737 --> 00:06:36,857 I'm suddenly imagining all four kings coming together. 78 00:06:37,697 --> 00:06:42,037 And that takes me back to the emperor, because in the major arcana, 79 00:06:42,157 --> 00:06:43,897 the emperor is the number four. 80 00:06:44,157 --> 00:06:50,237 Four is the number of foundation, the number of stability, of wholeness, of home, the square. 81 00:06:50,757 --> 00:06:57,277 And it makes me think then that we in fact need all of the the kings to alchemize 82 00:06:57,277 --> 00:07:00,477 in order to have the archetypal ruler of the emperor, 83 00:07:00,677 --> 00:07:08,277 to have a type of leader who is able to embody the kingly qualities of all of the elements. 84 00:07:10,059 --> 00:07:14,939 And that allows me to approach the idea of leadership and of kingliness in a new way. 85 00:07:15,659 --> 00:07:20,159 I rarely do this on this show, but I will also just give a shout out to a song 86 00:07:20,159 --> 00:07:25,759 that has really helped me approach this card in a new way, which is Florence 87 00:07:25,759 --> 00:07:27,799 and the Machine's song, King. 88 00:07:28,419 --> 00:07:32,679 Highly recommend it. I will link it in the show notes if you want to listen to it yourself. 89 00:07:33,999 --> 00:07:38,619 I hope that this interpretation of the King of Swords has invited you into the 90 00:07:38,619 --> 00:07:40,339 card in a few different ways. 91 00:07:40,759 --> 00:07:47,639 And having done that, I want to thank you for listening to this episode of My Tiny Tarot Practice. 92 00:07:48,279 --> 00:07:52,759 And in fact, to thank you for listening to this season of My Tiny Tarot Practice. 93 00:07:53,219 --> 00:07:59,739 With the King of Swords, we complete the fourth season of the show and our journey 94 00:07:59,739 --> 00:08:00,999 through the Minor Arcana. 95 00:08:01,619 --> 00:08:06,679 I'm so grateful that you tuned in for one or more moments of that journey. 96 00:08:06,679 --> 00:08:11,579 If you've ever enjoyed an episode of this show, I hope that you will please 97 00:08:11,579 --> 00:08:16,519 leave us a five-star rating and review in Apple Podcasts or Spotify, 98 00:08:16,839 --> 00:08:23,119 and maybe even take this as an invitation to treat yourself to a new tarot book 99 00:08:23,119 --> 00:08:26,439 or deck from my bookshop link in the show notes. 100 00:08:26,439 --> 00:08:29,579 Supporting the show with a purchase or a 101 00:08:29,579 --> 00:08:32,479 review is a really wonderful helpful 102 00:08:32,479 --> 00:08:35,419 way to support me in continuing to 103 00:08:35,419 --> 00:08:42,339 do this work and i do plan to do a fifth season for the major arcana so i would 104 00:08:42,339 --> 00:08:48,499 love a little support as i prepare that season and our final season of this 105 00:08:48,499 --> 00:08:54,919 journey together May this episode and many more help you uncover your kingliness. 106 00:08:55,119 --> 00:08:58,099 I hope that you have a wonderful day.