Card of the Week -6 of Swords

First Quarter Moon in Aquarius
6 of Swords

Planetary ruler Pluto

The First Quarter moon in Aquarius has a humanitarian quality as it suggests helping someone who is going through an emotionally turbulent time get to a place of peace. This week is also the week of Samhain when the veil between the two worlds is thinnest. This is a good week for doing rituals honoring loved ones who have passed. As we approach the doorway between summer and winter when the laws of time are suspended this is a good time for doing readings as well. Mercury retrograde also invites us to redo, revisit and generally catch up with projects and other things we have fallen behind on.

The 6 of Swords for me it is a personal card. The first quarter moon in Aquarius is my natal card. I am a Scorpio with an Aquarius moon. So this card is a birth card and its symbol has played out in my life.

One thing that I think is important for people to do is take notice of all the Aquarian moon cards(The Star, the King of Coins, the 7 of Cups, and the 7 of Wands all have a river prominent in the image... see the star for the deeper meaning of the river)

The original colors for this image came from a cheap abstract hotel print in a hotel room my husband and my kids and I were staying in the color combination caught my eye and I drew it out as patches of color with the name of the color penciled in. I took that piece of paper home with me and used it.
The basic layout is from a painting by Mary Cassatt called The Boating Party(1893-94). The color for the water and the water itself was influenced by Benjamin West(1778) a painting called The Battle of La Hogue as well as John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark (also 1778).

The island is supposed to look like a woman's body( Mother Earth) but is also meant to represent the island of Avalon( Summerland or Appleland)
The island where Arthur was taken by the 3 queens at his death. It also represents the land of the dead. The sun was intended to be setting and my original intension was that the boatman was taking her and her son to this mythical island like the famed Charon who ferried the dead across the Styx.

This card as a mirror of my own life, illustrates my spiritual journey as a young adult(at age 21) I was spiritually reawakened by a man(my teacher in college who taught Native American Studies) whose last name was actually Boatman, during a time when I was a newly divorced and a single mom on my own with my young (18 month old) son. This encounter started me on my spiritual path and rekindled my interests in all things metaphysical.

My husband Peter's comment which shattered my original intention was that the man was rowing away from the island and not to the island as I had intended. This which was not apparent to me while creating this image also had meaning.

And these are the secrets of the 6 of Swords.
Julie

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