Mmm… the palm mystery…
There’s a shadowy hand that runs through the suit of Swords… There’s an actual hand that appears in the 6 of Swords and then shadow appears in 7,8,9… disappears in 10 and resurfaces in the Courts…
It interests me that hands also appear in the 8 of Wands and the 9 of Pentacles… but these have a very different feel to the hand in the 6 of Swords…
And when I see hands like this appear, I always consider them to be the hands of the querent… Where are you hands in this situation? The 8 of Wands and the 9 of Pentacles have a similar feeling to me, with their receptive supine position and often seem to say things like – yeah, this is good, I’ll have some more of this… yeah… give it to me! But the prone 6 of Swords… Whoa… enough already… And I think of that saying that gets bandied about – What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… Yeah? Really? I’m sure those samurai swords stuck in that hand are stronger than bones… but what good is strength when it leaves you unbending and immobilised and unable to pick up what’s bigger and better ahead? And while a bird in the hand may well be better than two in the bush… mmm… 5 Swords in the hand kinda sucks…
So… in 7,8,and 9 that hand has been replaced by a shadow… and very often when I read for people they will pick out that shadow and say things like – LOOK! I have a helping hand…. someone is guiding me… Someone is looking out for me, my back is covered…
Then when we get to 10… crikey! So much for your back being covered… It’s covered all right… but not in the most desirable of ways… And the hand is gone… Why? Why has it gone? Is it a loss of faith? Have you been deserted? Well… I have a few thoughts on this and I’ve been desperately trying to avoid this route as I don’t really want to rename the 10 of Swords in my head as Gobbler’s Knob… because… I struggle to contain my mirth as it is… But I’m going to have to go there, because I can’t stop thinking about Groundhog day and Punksywhatsit Phil coming out to see if he spots his shadow… and when it’s not there, it means that Spring is on its way… But before I give you my more sober thoughts… I need to skip into the Courts…
In the Courts, that shadow is back… There it is! Yet, when I read for people, they never seem to spot it… They always identify with the character shown and associate with their strength and command…
So… where did that shadow go in the 10? Maybe it is still there but it’s too dark to see it… Or maybe it has been absorbed… integrated… owned… I like to think that it’s the point where people stop looking outside for support and begin to realise that it resides within… Think back to the previous blog post and the picture ‘ 10 of Swords ~ The Kingmaker…’
So… I’m going to take a slight detour now, because… well, just because I can… 😀
So… I’m always wildly amused by synchronicity, so I will share this with you… Look what arrived out of the blue through my letterbox as I sat with palm mystery in draft…
It’s a funny old world is tarot…
😀
P.S. Oh… and if you should want to read more sensible thoughts on the shadow hand… then pop over and visit Jordan Hoggard… HERE
All card images are from Tarot in the Land of Mystereum (c) Jordan Hoggard 2010
The pure and blessed way 
I am really diggin’ where you are going with these. Great to see the cards “out of my hands” and see how YOU work with them. Great stuff here, and love the synchromeshed serendipity of receiving the pendant while focusing on and divining with hands.
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Thanks Jordan 🙂 I’m really digging it too… I’m never quite sure what will end up on the page… I’ve also been considering something Buddha Boy left on my desk…
‘Sahabhuhetu: cause as co-existent.
i) the candle flame and its light; one causes the other but always together.
ii) the shoot of a plant, growing in the light, and its shadow.
But I’m in a LOL rather than zen mood 😀
I’m going to read your piece now… I left it as I already had too many thoughts and it’s like trying to herd cats…
😉 x
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