Hello and welcome. I'm Amelia Hruby, and this is my tiny tarot practice.

In this episode, we are exploring the Two of Swords.

In the Rider-Waite-Smith edition of the tarot, the Two of Swords depicts a person

seated on a bench with their back to a body of water.

It looks like they're right on the edge of a cliff hanging over the water,

perhaps. we see a crescent moon in the sky above them.

The figure is seated on the bench in a white dress and holds two swords in their

arms crossed in front of their chest.

Their eyes are bound by a blindfold. And so this figure is facing us, blindfolded,

with two swords in their hands crossed in front of their chest,

seated on this bench, the water behind them, the moon above them.

And this card always reminds me of the double bind.

I think because we have the two, twos are often about balance.

And here we have the balance of two binds. We are bound twice, a double bind.

It also always reminds me of the title of a book that I read in college.

I'm not going to remember the author off the top of my head,

but the book was called Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It.

And it was a short story collection that explored all of these double binds,

all of these moments where we want two things that we can't possibly have at once.

And that is definitely, to me, the lesson of this card.

In holding the two swords at the same time, cross in front of the chest,

the figure in this card is blocking their heart.

They're blocking a decision. They're blocking their opportunities or option.

And all they have to do is put the swords down, take the blindfold off.

Like nothing is restraining them there except themselves.

This is a double bind of their own making. And so they simply have to choose.

To choose to surrender, to choose to let go, to choose one sword or the other.

They just can't have both. Both ways may be the only way they want it,

but it is not how they can have it.

I love what Jessa Crispin says in the creative tarot about this card,

where she writes, your ability to choose gives the situation meaning,

not the situation itself.

And I just feel like that quote really positions us to remember that we have

a choice. And what's powerful is not the situation or even what we choose.

What's powerful is the act of choosing.

And so with the two of swords, we find ourselves in a double bind and we regain

our power by making a choice.

Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of My Tiny Tarot Practice.

If you'd like to purchase any of the books that I mentioned here or in any other

episode, you can head to the show notes and find a link to my bookshop page

where I curate my favorite tarot books and decks.

If you make a purchase through that link, you will receive a wonderful new book

or deck or other magical belonging, and I will receive a small affiliate payment

that helps me keep this podcast going.

Thank you again for tuning in. I hope that if you've found yourself in a double

bind, you're able to remember that you have a choice and the the power resides

not in what you choose, but in the act of choosing.