Four of Swords - 4 of Swords

Four of Swords and Numerology - coming soon - watch this space

Four of Swords and Astrology - coming soon - watch this space

Four of Swords - Time Out

General observations ... A knight lies on a bier with his head supported by a pillow, his eyes are closed and his hands are in a praying position. Etched on the bier or lying beside it, is one sword and hanging on the wall are three more swords. The stained glass window shows what looks like someone kneeling receiving a blessing from a priest. In the far corner of the stained glass window is a door.

The knight is still in full armour indicating that he has just come from a battle. He is now battle weary and needs a place of peace and contemplation. Presumably one of the swords is his own, laid down now that the battle is over. But who do the swords hanging on the wall belong to? Are they the swords of his comrades that fought beside him in battle that he has kept as memento's? Or are they the blades of his enemies - taken from them when the battle was won?

And now our knight is lying in a chapel seeking peace. He appears to be praying or meditating - possibly thanking God for his luck in surviving the battle. Perhaps praying for the soul's of his lost comrades or those that he beat in battle. He is taking time out to consider how the battles he has been through have affected his life, coming to terms with the repercussions and where his life is leading to next.

There are many different types of battle in life - we have a tiff with a lover and need time by ourselves to consider where the relationship is going or how it can be fixed. Perhaps the relationship ends and we need time to assess what went wrong and who we are now that we are no longer part of a couple.

When a loved one passes on we need time to grieve and come to terms with the loss, to assess which direction our life is going to take now that the loved one is no longer a part of our life.

When we lose a job we lose a part of our identity and need to take the time out to consider which direction we are going to take in our career.

Time out is essential at these times so that we can examine and come to terms with our feelings, consider the rights and wrongs of the battle we have left and forgive ourselves and the others involved - we need to learn how we will handle these situations in the future and how we would perhaps advise others in the future who are in a similar situation (or even learn to keep our sticky beaks out of it).

We all experience battles of many kinds during our life and each battle changes us - sometimes just a little, sometimes so much it is difficult to see the person we were before. Hopefully, we learn from each battle, take the time out to assess what we have learned, what we could have done differently and where our lives go from here.

When the card is reversed it could mean that we are ready to come back into the world or it could mean that we are locked in our 'time out' unable to take up the reins of our life again.

I am currently working on all the tarot articles so keep checking for updates on each card.