The Archetype and The Tarot: The Mystic and Ten of Swords
Through the Mystic and the Ten of Swords, this week we’re being called to release old thought patterns that might block us from experiencing the sacred. Can we silence our rational mind in these mystical moments?
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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 is never going to be quite the same as the actual experience of eating it, even if you’ve got a heck of an imagination.
What does any of this have to do with the Mystic archetype? Well, It is through the Mystic that we have the actual experience of the sacred. We’re not just reading (or thinking) about Divinity, but truly experiencing it.
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:
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?
Ten of Swords
It’s hard not to have an emotional reaction to this card. It looks pretty violent, doesn’t it? We see a person lying on a beach or lakeshore with ten swords stabbed into their back. The sky is jet black, no stars or moon shining. But the water is calm. In fact, everything in this card is still. All the action has already happened and there’s a sense of relief in that.
To me, this card is letting us know that the fight is over. Because it’s in the suit of swords and (for me anyway) swords represent our mental energy, this marks an end to our mental striving. It’s time to set aside all the planning, analyzing, troubleshooting and otherwise overthinking. It’s time to stop trying to figure it out.
This is about accepting the present moment without needing to explain it; to surrender to the relief of not having to have all the answers.
How does this pair work together?
This is one of the pairings that feel to me like they were made to go together. I see the shadow Mystic as the figure on the beach in the card; the rational mind stilled and silenced. Then the ghostly, shimmery Mystic-in-the-light arises, fully open to whatever mystical experiences await.
This week we are being asked to really look at the aspects of ourselves that need to die/be released in order for us to merge with Spirit. What thought patterns might we have a funeral for in order to open to truly experiencing the sacred?
This feels really powerful to me. I can’t wait to see what discussions unfold from this week’s reading! Let me know what comes up for you in the comments below.
This interpretation of the X of Swords really speaks deeply to me. I pulled it in a major spread recently and I had what I thought was a solid interpretation (it came up in the position for my untapped potential), and not saying it wasn't solid, but you certainly expanded the scope of what I interpreted it as :)
Hi Jenna, I’m sorry for being so absent in your comments recently, life dealt a card I had no idea what to do with. I know you know lovely… I know I don’t need to apologize, I needed to though… and now, these cards and your reading of their meaning have brought tears and gulps of relief…. At last.
It is only in the last few days that I have finally accepted the dreadful scene I found in my field that morning… it has been a heavy load to carry - both the physical and the emotional… I wait for the light of the mystical, for change, to step into the scared space even if for just one second of epiphanic understanding, I am ready now, I think…. And even more reassured by the ten of swords card that is telling of an end. The end of the story… the completion of change. Perhaps now I can move forward into the light and the new with less of a burden…
Thank you so so much for this 🙏🏽♥️✨xx