SIX OF SWORDS

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August 21, 2008

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SIX OF SWORDS

ERZEBET YELLOWBOY

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     This is about time, and the mind. This card has many faces. Are you the hooded woman, concealed and enclosed, detached from the turbulence around you and yet suffering by it? Are you the boatman, steering onward through violent waters, riding the waves lest you drown? Are you at the center of the rose, experiencing a painful unfolding as you evolve?
     A struggle is implied: frustration, agitation, confusion, an insuperable battle between your very body and soul. Leviathan has you by the ankles and is pulling you down. You have often felt overwhelmed or, just as often, dead to the world. You have been unable to formulate a plan, or break yourself free. You ache for resolution. The journey from there to here has been a long and difficult one.
     Look into the monster’s face. Let go of whatever might bind you in indecision. Do not bargain with distraction, nor give in to despair or remorse. Here is the moment you have longed for; the elements are suddenly balanced on the point of a sword. Perception of the senses is magnified; you comprehend every petal and every wave. The chart is drawn in which destiny may be fulfilled.
     This moment, fine as it is, is impossible to capture. It is fleeting, it passes, but in this spark of perfect clarity you will find resolution. In this moment, acumen reigns. You will know it when it comes; you will see it go by. In this moment, the clouded glass shatters and falls at your feet. One thousand glittering pieces of madness can now be swept away. This flash of light may temporarily blind you. It is the sun in your eyes reflecting from the well-polished blades of these six swords.
     This beautiful moment will pass, but with it will go leviathan, bloodied and slain by the piercing insight you have gained. The waters of chaos recede. The dominion of reason is established. Wisdom comes. So was the atom split and a new world made.

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Erzebet Yellowboy is an author, bookbinder, and editor whose works has appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Goblin Fruit, Mythic Delirium, and Jabberwocky. Her first novel, The Bone Whistle, was published by Prime Books in 2007 and was written under the name Eva Swan. She is also the founder of Paperveria Press and fiction editor of Cabinet des Fees, a journal of fairytale fiction and academic essays. To learn more visit www.erzebet.com.

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