6 of swords

I look at the 6 of Swords and I am flight, leaving behind the sorrow…at least for now. I am protected, tucked in close to the swords.

For now my uncle’s death, sharp and close, has faded into the trees below. my own death can be fought off with our swords.

For now my friends tuck me in close, keep me warm, our bird of the swords flying so high that all we can hear is high sound of wind.

Death and dismemberment

Cary-Yale Visconti
The earliest known hand-painted tarocchi cards in Milan Italy were created in 15th century and were used in a trick taking game popular with nobility, in addition to divination. Few of the hand-painted cards have survived and have specific names depending on their location.

The actual cards are heavily painted on one side of a piece of cardboard but not the other.

Death is a skeleton wearing a white scarf, ends knotted and waving behind. He appears to have retained his entrails. He carries a scythe and rides a stallion over a group of people. Amongst the group are a pope and a cardinal, indicating that death is the great equalizer.


Paolo Martinello
Death is a brooding man in black, his normality given away by the skeletal hand wrapped around the tree trunk and the fiery depths of hell opening at his feet. His escort is a black stallion. He watches a fallen young man, pale, bloodless, holding a sword.

The Death card is uncomfortable which is probably its partial purpose. Although I am ready for my own death and have dealt with other deaths calmly, I believe I am not truly ready for the transformation and change that the card represents.

I work towards that goal but give excuses. I refuse to accept it and so I stagnate, panicking, holding onto the energy I have, allowing no new energy in.

It is a long process. Some days I am at peace with the world and with everything that touches it.

Death is a brooding man in black, his normality given away by the skeletal hand wrapped around the tree trunk and the fiery depths of hell opening at his feet. His escort is a black stallion. He watches a fallen young man, pale, bloodless, holding a sword.

The Death card is uncomfortable which is probably its partial purpose. Although I am ready for my own death and have dealt with other deaths calmly, I believe I am not truly ready for the transformation and change that the card represents.

I work towards that goal but give excuses. I refuse to accept it and so I stagnate, panicking, holding onto the energy I have, allowing no new energy in.

It is a long process. Some days I am at peace with the world and with everything that touches it.

Death is a brooding man in black, his normality given away by the skeletal hand wrapped around the tree trunk and the fiery depths of hell opening at his feet. His escort is a black stallion. He watches a fallen young man, pale, bloodless, holding a sword.

The Death card is uncomfortable which is probably its partial purpose. Although I am ready for my own death and have dealt with other deaths calmly, I believe I am not truly ready for the transformation and change that the card represents.

I work towards that goal but give excuses. I refuse to accept it and so I stagnate, panicking, holding onto the energy I have, allowing no new energy in.

It is a long process. Some days I am at peace with the world and with everything that touches it.