Cards for the Day: R’d Knight of Chalices/10 of Swords: A Prescription for Courage in the Face of Fear

Because the site has been doing so well, my wonderful, supportive husband, in his awesomeness, decided to celebrate by buying me two new tarot decks. The second deck will be revealed at a later date, but the first deck is the Yoga Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. So of course I’m pulling my cards today (a bit late in the day) from this deck. But the meanings here are somewhat different than in an ordinary tarot deck — so I am feeling my way through.

The first card for today, the Knight of Chalices, corresponds to the Knight of Cups in a traditional deck, and came out reversed (though I’m showing it right side up here so you can better appreciate how beautiful it is). The second card is the Ten of Swords, which would be depicted in a Rider-Waite deck by a person lying on the ground with ten swords sticking out of him (or her). So, quite a different take.

Turning to the book that comes with the Yoga Tarot, I find a cryptic sentence and pair of words to go with each card:

Knight of Chalices: The path of the heart presumes the letting down of all defences. Timidity — pessimism

Ten of Swords: Am I ready to know the world through action and love? New path — seeking another

Hmm…maybe this should be renamed the Lovers’ Tarot! Because what I see here is love and desire, along with fear (fear of rejection? fear of being pierced by a lover’s words the way the Rider-Waite Ten of Swords fellow is pierced by swords?). This fear may turn the Knight of Chalices, though he is very strong, upside-down. But the humble approach of meditation and calm reflection, as demonstrated by the Ten of Swords yogi, will turn him right side up again.

Did you see the word “humble,” above? Humility, tenderness, and genuineness, not overconfidence, are what will touch the heart of a lover. The Knight of Chalices knows this. In other words, keep it real.

Though I am interpreting this situation as being about love, the truth is that we find here a prescription for courage in the face of all kinds of fear. Whenever fear and anxiety attacks us, we can respond by turning to breath and calm poses, choosing not to engage with fear but rather to focus on regaining and keeping our equilibrium in order to respond with focused awareness to all challenges. This is a warrior’s approach to fear, whether the warrior is a member of the military, or is a warrior of the spirit.