Temperance/Five of Swords: Is It Really Necessary to Say What You Have to Say?

I don’t know when I’ve seen so much blue (throat chakra) in a pair of tarot cards. Do you have something to say today? Because I’m not sure that I do!

This is an unpopular sentiment, but even if you have something to say, is it really necessary to say it? Is it necessary for me even to write this blog entry?

This is what we have to reflect on, when we look in the mirror like the Five of Swords yogi. It’s not just the question of, do we need to share the negativity simply to get it out of us? (Though it’s true that speaking your truth IS healing. But it is just one method of healing and there are others. And sometimes it’s kinder not to share the negativity with the person who created it, even when you feel that person should be held accountable for his or her actions — but that’s another ethical debate for another day.) It’s also the question of whether we really need to share the positivity in the form of wisdom, particularly spiritual wisdom. On the one hand, this is exactly what is most worth sharing. On the other hand, spiritual wisdom is in each of us, and if it isn’t, it can’t really be given. You can only go and find it yourself. I’d be happy to share with you whatever knowledge is in me, but the irony is that I could speak an ocean of words and they will really only make sense to you if you already know and understand — at least on some level — what I have to say. Otherwise I might as well be talking to a wall. (Not that I’m against talking to walls.)

The irony of these cards today is that even though they are covered with throat chakra blue, these cards are not so much about talking but about stillness — because, like speaking your truth, being quiet and still is also healing. Maybe stillness, not speech, is what we need to heal what’s stuck in our throats. What happens when we are truly still for a while? The water of our mind and emotions becomes as still as the water on these cards — and now, we can see ourselves reflected in it. What happens then? Does what we thought we needed to say change?

Let’s hold off on saying what we have to say for a while. Try working with the energy in other ways. And let it temper. Temperance is not a bad remedy, in the end, for these Five of Swords throat problems.