The Archetype and The Tarot: The Mentor and Four of Swords

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 by me a cup of coffee here.❤️)

The Mentor Archetype

The Mentor is a sort of a guide, teacher, and counselor all rolled into one. It’s more than that, though. The Mentor also has an intimacy with their mentee that looks a lot like friendship and/or parental care. They have the ability to see the potential in someone and the wisdom to know how to tailor training to hone that person’s skills. In short, the Mentor is all about supporting someone in reaching their greatness.

As a child of the 1980s, I saw a lot of movies with montages…those scenes set to music where the hero undergoes some sort of rapid transformation. These often involved training of some kind. Rocky got in great condition; the Karate Kid learned his signature move (just to name a couple examples). These melodic transformation journeys wouldn’t have been possible without The Mentor. Rocky had Mickey and Danielsan had Mr. Miyagi. These were deeper than a standard Student/Teacher relationship. There was real love between them.

In the light, the Mentor is truly interested in the mentee’s greatness. Not only wise and knowledgable, but also trustworthy, they are motivated by a desire to see their student shine. They know that, when they have truly done their job well, they will be surpassed by their mentee. In this way, they pass the baton to the next generation and contribute to an ever-expanding field of greatness.

In the shadow, the Mentor’s focus is on themselves. They might be more interested in the ego boost they get from their students’ success. Or they might be using the mentee as a way to work through their own wounds and failings. At the root, they harbor a fear of being inferior to their student and so they might withhold their best training or otherwise keep the student dependent on them.

When the Mentor comes up, I think we’re being asked to examine what we most need right now to support our own greatness.

Some questions to consider this week:

• Who or what has acted as the Mentor in your life?

• Where do you tend to turn when needing help with a decision?

• When have you been the Mentor?

• Does the Mentor spark feelings of comfort or competitiveness within you?

• Would you rather be a mentor or a mentee?

---

Four of swords

In this card, we see a figure lying on a slab in a prayerful pose. There are three swords hanging on the wall and one resting horizontally below the figure. In the upper left corner is a stained-glass window, which lends to the notion that this scene is taking place in a church or other sacred space.

To me, the suit of swords relates to the mental realm. And fours are all about stability. So, when this card comes up, I think it’s a gentle reminder that we might need more mental stability in our lives.

I think those three swords on the wall are the same ones that pierced the heart in the three of swords. They represent old wounds that have likely shaped, or impacted, our thought patterns.

That fourth sword, however, is foundational. It is the inclusion of this fourth sword—a new idea or perspective on the old wounds—that brings stability to the mind. It is a new thought pattern that we can genuinely rest upon.

How do we know what the new idea/perspective of the fourth sword is? We turn towards the sacred, whatever that might mean for each of us. It’s not something we can figure out with our own mental powers. In fact, this card calls us to stop thinking and stop doing, to enter a time of silent repose. It is only in stillness that we find our fourth sword.

---

How does this pair work together?

If you look closely at the stained-glass window, you’ll see two figures. One is seated in a chair while the other is on their knees before them. What I see this week is that the Sacred Mentor is the figure in the chair. We have come to them, on our knees, exhausted by our own repeating thought patterns. Unable to figure out how to reach greatness for ourselves anymore, we surrender to receive the guidance we need.

This is a call to give our minds a time out. Meditate, pray, take a nap on the earth, practice trance postures, do a plant medicine journey…whatever is your preferred way of quieting the mind and opening to receive guidance. In stillness, let’s allow the fourth sword to come in and be the new perspective that lovingly supports our path to greatness.

After last week’s quest for truth, I’m looking forward to some mental quietude this week! Let me know how you do with it in the comments below. ❤️

W&M A/T Mini Ritual Mentor Four Of Swords

7.69MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download