Hello and welcome to My Tiny Tarot Practice.

My name is Amelia Hruby and on this show I share my tiny tarot practice where

I am journeying through the tarot card by card starting with each suit of the Minor Arcana.

Today's card is the Six of Swords. In the Rider-Waite-Smith version of the tarot.

This card depicts two shrouded figures, one an adult, one seemingly a child,

seated in the center of a boat.

And in front of them or surrounding them are six swords, which are upright,

seemingly piercing the hull of the boat, but not causing any meaningful damage

image to its ability to move through the water.

And behind these figures is a punter or an oarsman.

So this is a person standing there holding their long oar and moving them through the water.

We can tell they're moving because the water to the right of the boat is rippled and shows a current.

And then beyond them, we have this sort of placid lake scene and a wooded isle

or land and against the horizon.

This card is often interpreted as coming right after or soon after the moment in the Five of Swords.

So with the Five of Swords, we saw the end of a battle, seemingly very recent end.

We have a victor picking up the swords and two people walking away,

their swords cast to the ground.

And this card is again often interpreted as coming right right after that.

The moment when we perhaps have experienced loss or defeat and are now being

shepherded, guided away toward safety, toward what's next.

I find that interpretation so interesting because it places the primary identification

of the Five of Swords with the two figures who lost,

who were defeated, that are now perhaps reappearing in this card as as opposed to the victor.

And I think it does speak a lot back to that card about how the tenor of that

card feels more defeated than victorious.

And that permeates this card as well.

Rachel Pollack in 78 Degrees of Wisdom refers to this card as a quiet passage

through a difficult time.

And she says, the six of swords is a gate.

Looking at it with sensitivity and then entering the picture will produce first

a quieting effect on the mind, and then later, slowly, a sense of movement within the self.

This image is obviously evocative for so many readers of the tarot.

And I also appreciate Rachel Pollack's reminder that there's a suggestion of

a spiritual journey here, a journey of the mind and the spirit.

And this, I think, also follows from the line I traced through the swords in

the Five of Swords episode,

where we see the evolution of an idea through a a series of sparks and spirals and stops and starts.

And here, I really like to tap in to the figure who is rowing these two across the water.

I find this card to be a reminder that when we feel at a loss,

we can seek support to help get us where we need to go.

With this card, yet another invitation to ask what figure in the card we identify with in this moment.

Are we the ones in need of ferrying, or are we able to ferry the boat across the water for others?

If we live our lives embedded in community care, we will find ourselves in each

of these positions over and over again, being the ones needing to receive care

and the ones having plenty to give.

Thank you for listening to this episode of My Tiny Tarot Practice.

If you'd like to reference any of the books or decks that I mentioned here,

you can head to the link in the show notes where you will find my bookshop,

which I've curated especially for you.

It includes a growing list of my favorite tarot books,

decks, and a few fun tarot-related things like puzzles or planners,

a few other books about spiritual practices that I find to be relevant to the

tarot and to our journeys through the tarot.

If you make a purchase through that link, I'll receive a small affiliate payment

that helps me keep this podcast going.

As always, I'm so grateful that you took the time to listen.

And with this card that perhaps you stepped into our Six of Swords boat and

allowed me to ferry you across the tiny waters of this journey.