In the 9 of Swords we see a moment of tremendous stress. In readings for others, I've found it to be a strikingly relatable card, often prompting clients to point and exclaim "That's me!".  The 9 of Swords can validate the experience of someone whose pain has been dismissed by themselves and others. That said, it is no walk in the park. Anxiety, regret, and insomnia are common symptoms. When we look at the card's related majors - The Tower (Mars) and the Lovers (Gemini) - we obtain some clues as to why.

The Eight of Swords was one of the first cards that triggered my curiosity about the correspondences between minor and major arcana.  The Wheel of Fortune and The Lovers usually bring excitement and joy to those who encounter them, don’t they?  How could they combine to form this troubling image: a woman, bound and blindfolded, encircled by swords?  I've been thinking about this paradox for a little over 4 years now.  And the conclusions I've reached have re-shaped the way I read, and deal with, a card I used to think represented only frustration, pure and simple.

This is the first decan in our walk where we confront the mysteries of Saturn - Father Time! The Greater Malefic! The Holder of the Sickle! Saturn's reputation is twofold: god of agriculture and fertility on the one hand, god of endings and destruction on the other. Indeed, Saturn was thought to have two consorts: Ops ("wealth") and Lua ("dissolution"). Saturn is chthonic, an earth god; it is part of his nature that what is planted, grows. But also: what dies, is buried. We begin and end in earth.

Here we encounter another pair of major arcana which seem to be inevitably counterpoised: The High Priestess and the Hierophant. Just as we saw the Empress and the Emperor conjoined in Aries III, the decan of the 4 of Wands, here we find two figures whose similarities are only underscored by their differences.  All of this is to say that these two guardians of the sacred are in a sense twins. But how do they differ? and what do they have to do with the 6 of Pentacles?

Pamela Colman Smith’s dark and disturbing vision of the 5 of Pentacles presents one of those strange, paradoxical equations:  How do the quicksilver Magician and the bridge-building Hierophant add up to this deplorable outcome? 

The final decan of Aries arrives with a welcome taste of coppery sweetness, after the grip of martial iron and the blaze of solar gold.  For ten days Venus shall hold court here.  There has been conquest (2 of Wands), there has been government (3 of Wands); now comes the ritual celebration that announces a sovereign's reign.  Perhaps this is what the Golden Dawn meant when they named this card the Lord of "Perfected Work".