The Archetype and The Tarot: The Mystic and Four of Swords
Dearest readers,
Before we get to this week’s archetype/tarot pair, I want to share about an exciting opportunity.
Many of you have asked me about personalized archetype/tarot readings and so, for the first time in a decade, I’ve decided to open the doors to my transformational wheel group. As part of this group, you’ll get a personalized archetype/tarot pair and interpretation every week for a year. I’ll be welcoming a few new souls to join me on this intimate journey for 2025. This unique offering is for those who are ready to explore deeply and embrace a year of growth, clarity, and transformation.
What to Expect:
November/December 2024: We'll begin with casting your chart of origin, revealing the twelve primary archetypes that shape your life. Together, we’ll uncover the foundational energies that guide you the most.
January 2025 and Beyond: As we move into the new year, we’ll dive into a private small group dialogue where each week, we’ll explore our unique archetype/tarot pairings. This space will be dedicated to sharing wisdom, offering support, and reflecting on the invoking and releasing work for 2025.
Monthly Gatherings: Toward the end of each month, we’ll come together via Zoom to weave our insights into a deeper understanding of the month’s overall message—one that will resonate uniquely for each of us.
Availability: There are only four slots available for 2025, ensuring an intimate, focused group experience.
Investment: I’ve set the price at $1500 (or $115/month for 13 months), striving to make this accessible while honoring the time, energy, and personal dedication I bring to each participant.
Who is This For? This journey is for those who are committed to deep introspection, open to sharing intimately within a small group setting, and ready to dive into the transformational work ahead. If this resonates with you, I invite you to reach out to me directly at jennahiott@gmail.com to schedule a time for us to connect and see if this is the right fit.
Through the Mystic and the Four of Swords, this week we’re being called to find the sacred in stillness and let go of our restless searching for the extraordinary. Can we allow ourselves to rest and open to the presence of the Divine in the quiet moments, trusting that the mystical will reveal itself without effort?
Welcome everyone! For an overview of what I’m doing here, please check out this post all about it. THANK YOU to all my subscribers! My heart and soul are filled with gratitude for your presence here. I LOVE this community that we are building! (If you’d like to support this work by making a one-time donation, you can buy me a cup of coffee here.❤️)
The Mystic Archetype
You know how there’s a difference between reading about something and actually experiencing it? For example, reading a recipe for macaroni and cheese isn’t quite the same as tasting the warm, cheesy goodness—even if you have a heck of an imagination.
What does this have to do with the Mystic archetype? Through the Mystic, we move beyond merely reading or thinking about Divinity; we encounter the sacred directly. It’s about stepping into the lived experience of the Divine.
In a Mystical experience—at least for a moment—separation vanishes. Our inner and outer worlds expand into one another. The observer part of us merges with what is being observed. We experience wholeness, expansion, transformation and timelessness all at once. The circumstances and specifics of these experiences will be unique for each of us, but it is through the eyes of the Mystic that we watch it unfold.
In the light, the Mystic accepts these experiences as real and significant. They welcome the guidance within them and act on it without question. They receive the experience as a gift and understand that they are blessed by it. In other words, the Mystic in the light allows themselves to be changed by the mystical experience.
The Mystic in the shadow has a harder time with these mystical experiences. In some rare cases, this can look like someone who comes to believe they are superior to others because they’ve had a mystical experience, which can result in an unhealthy guru mentality. More often, though, the shadow Mystic shows up when someone’s so-called rational mind takes over and dismisses what they’ve witnessed. This might happen by explaining it away, questioning what they saw, or otherwise taking control of the situation. Or they might even block mystical experiences altogether by believing that only people with special skills can have these experiences—that they are not worthy or special enough for them.
I think that this week we’re being asked to look for ways to deepen our connection with Spirit and open to the mystical experience.
Some questions to consider this week:
When was the last time you felt a deep sense of connection or oneness with something beyond yourself?
What does sacred mean to you?
Do you believe you are worthy of a mystical experience?
Have you ever had an experience of wonder that you rushed to explain in more rational terms?
Four of swords
In the Four of Swords, we see a figure lying in a prayerful pose on a stone slab. Above them, three swords hang on the wall, while a fourth rests horizontally below. In the upper left corner, a stained-glass window suggests that this scene takes place in a sacred space, like a church.
The suit of swords relates to the mental realm, and the number four signifies stability. When this card appears, it’s a gentle reminder to seek mental steadiness. The three swords on the wall may represent old wounds—echoes from the Three of Swords—that have shaped our thought patterns over time. The fourth sword, however, introduces a new element: a fresh idea or perspective on those old wounds, one that brings stability to the mind. It offers a new thought pattern on which we can truly rest.
But how do we discern what this new perspective is? The Four of Swords encourages us to turn toward the sacred, in whatever form that takes for us. It isn’t something we can simply think our way to. Instead, this card calls us to cease our mental activity and enter a state of quiet repose. In stillness, we find our fourth sword.
How does this pair work together?
Here I see that the Mystic has been overthinking the process of having a mystical experience. They’ve performed countless rituals, read every sacred text, and explored altered states through everything from breath work to plant medicine—only to end up feeling exhausted.
Rather than seeking yet another ecstatic experience or altered state, the Mystic retreats to a quiet space and lies down. In this stillness, they allow the mystical to come to them, discovering the sacred within the seemingly mundane. The lines between mystical and non-mystical begin to blur.
I believe this is our call this week. At least for now, can we allow for a mystical experience to simply come through being still with Presence? Can we release our beliefs that mysticism must come through altered consciousness? Can we rest in the knowing that the sacred is omnipresent?
As someone who relies heavily on ritual for mystical experiences, I have my work rest cut out for me this week. 😁 I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you! Let me know in the comments below.
So great to find you on Substack. I've been a scholar of the Tarot for over thirty years. Really looking forward to more of your insights and inspiration.
Dearest Jenna, shall we just chop wood and collect water together this week...the road to enlightenment is the same as the road after enlightenment as Buddah once apparently said. Shall together we just do the "mundane" to allow the mundane to be sacred.
While you have said that you need to step back from ritual, I feel that this week it is important that I perform just one "formalised" ritual. I am called to do so. This is an interesting concept... to do rituals just for the routine or to be called to them...Maybe this is part of how this weeks cards connect for me. Once upon a time I felt that I had to do "this and that, meet with this person and that person, live on a mountain in silent contemplation" that kind of life to be a mystic...however I feel that to be a true mystic I am invited to be REAL and MUNDANE. To have all 4 swords shown to me...to evaluate my past and to see new ideas in the present. The 4 of swords card feels as though it is inviting me to rest on my key sword and know that there are other swords that can make me feel out of balanced, however I have my key belief that will center me and keep focused even if the mundane does not seem mystical. Thank you dear one. 💖