All Text, Music, and Illustrations, including Paintings, Photographs, and 3D models, Copyright © 2022 by Jim Robbins.

Nine of Swords: Mars in Gemini

Open music in a new window.

THE LORD OF DESPAIR AND CRUELTY

Nine of Swords (AI Version)

   Nathan returned to the castle, and as he was climbing the spiral staircase toward his room, he noticed that a door was wide open, and he realized that it was the door of one of his friends, an old knight. He wanted to step inside and say hello, but when he peaked into the room, he saw his old friend with his hands covering his face. Nine swords hung in darkness over his friend's head, three of which seemed to pierce the top four energy centers of his aura, the crown, the third eye, the throat, and the heart. Nathan could see that his old friend was experiencing deep despair, and the direction of the swords suggested that his old friend was directing that negativity outwards, toward others. Nathan did not want to disturb his old friend, so instead he descended the stairs to ask a question of the Queen.

Queen of Swords (AI Version)

   Nathan bowed as he approached the Queen. "I serve thee always, my Queen, but I have a question."
   The Queen smiled. "Yes, my devoted knight. What is your question?"
   Nathan responded, "Your Majesty, I just saw a knight, an old friend, in his room. His door was open, and he seemed to be experiencing a profound despair."
   "That is not uncommon," the Queen responded. "Almost every knight experiences a dark night of the soul at some point."
   "But why was his door open?"
   Balancing her wand straight up and down, the Queen responded, "I have asked every knight to leave the door open when experiencing a dark night of the soul so that other knights understand what they might experience during the process of spiritual development. As a knight, you might experience terrible moments of darkness and vulnerability. Remember our beloved Christ who died on the cross. Imagine each lash of the whip during His scourging. Imagine each laceration as a moment in your life when you experienced trauma, abuse, betrayal, upheaval, abandonment, or loss. Imagine the crown of thorns on your head, a total abasement of your personality and the negation of the magnificence, harmony, and abundance of your spirit and the human spirit in general. Imagine the nails destroying your hands and feet and the spear entering your side and obliterating your heart, the center of love. If you experience this in your imagination, you will know the profound darkness that so many in the world experience to some degree.
   "As a knight, you will find that unbalanced people attempt to suppress or destroy the higher spiritual centers of your being. Some will stop at nothing to make you feel miserable and completely vulnerable. You might feel hurt so badly that you want to turn that cruelty outward toward others, but you do not wish to harm the people you love. Imagine experiencing instead at this dark moment that you are manifesting harmonizing love and compassion for yourself and others. Compassion is the key. True sacrifice stems from compassion. Once we find our way out of darkness, we can touch the dimensions of Universal Consciousness and experience the divinity of all life, the holiness of all energy."
   "I will remember thy sage advice, your Highness, so that as a knight I may serve thee effectively, with compassion." Nathan bowed, then climbed the spiral staircase up to his room.

The Lovers: Gemini

   The holy man in the castle had shown Nathan how to create a positive living image based on the Nine of Swords as an example of how to transform a negative situation or energy into a positive one. The holy man had confided that the Nine of Swords is considered by many to be one of the worst cards in the deck, and that he would not want to create a living image of the card's central figure. The way to overcome this problem, he said, is to find a living image in one of the modifying cards associated with the Tree of Life, in this case The Tower (Mars) or The Lovers (Gemini). For this ritual, the holy man used the figure of the Archangel Raphael, the central figure of The Lovers, because the sun and Raphael and Adam and Eve in the card represent a return to Eden through the integration of the psyche: the personality, represented by the male and female aspects of the psyche, Adam and Eve; the higher self, represented by Raphael; and the divine core, represented by the sun. So, the holy man said, instead of just invoking The Lovers, you can also banish despair and cruelty, then create a living image of Raphael, the "Healer of God."
   So Nathan first chose to banish the Lord of Despair and Cruelty. He started by placing the Nine of Swords in the center of his imaginary pentagram on an altar. Then, to banish the negative energies of the Lord of Despair and Cruelty, he placed the foundation cards down in a banishing pentagram, beginning with the Ace of Pentacles, then laying down "Judgement," then the Ace of Wands, the Ace of Swords, the Ace of Cups and continued the motion with his finger back to the Ace of Pentacles. Then he imagined releasing all negative feelings into the fires under the surface of the earth. (See the description in the August 26 post of The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.)    Then he picked up the Foundation cards and got ready to create an artificial elemental of the Archangel Raphael with the Tarot Pentagram Spread. First, since Air is an active element, he used the Active Invoking Spirit Pentagram while laying down the foundation cards, starting in the lower right corner of the pentagram, moving to the upper left corner and continuing from there. After he placed all of the cards, he tapped each card in the direction of the Active Invoking Spirit Pentagram, making sure to tap the one in the position of Fire in the lower right corner to complete the pentagram.

Foundation Cards with the Lovers

   Then he placed The Lovers in the middle of the pentagram, saying, "The Lovers, Gemini," and tapped the card.

Spirit Pentagram

   Then Nathan drew the Active Invoking Spirit Pentagram and the spirit wheel in brilliant white above The Lovers on the altar, charging the pentagram and the symbol in the usual way with the Sign of the Enterer.

Invoking Pentagram for Air

   After that, he drew an Invoking Pentagram for Air directly over the Active Invoking Spirit Pentagram, charging the pentagram and the symbol of Aquarius in the usual way. At that point, he imagined the symbol of Aquarius becoming the living image of the figure of the Archangel Raphael in The Lovers, and the Archangel came alive as a full-length figure. As Nathan visualized the living image, he imagined that sylphs flowed from the Archangel Raphael and filled the living image while at the same time tiny points of winged light flowed from his aura and filled the living image as well.
   Nathan stated, "Great Archangel Raphael, ruler of the element of Air, I humbly ask thee to help me align my personality with my higher self and the divine core of my being so that I may become whole and overcome despair and cruelty and live for the highest possible good," emphasizing one of the main spiritual principles revealed in the card.
   Then he ended by saying, "So mote it be!" Before he finished the ritual, he performed the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and imagined for a few minutes the living image of Raphael providing an awareness of the alignment of his personality with his higher self and the divine core of his being.
   From that point on, Nathan unexpectedly felt his personality align with his higher self and his divine spark now and then, and he knew that the great Archangel Raphael was helping him.

(Please Note: All AI generated images are based on my 3D Blender renderings, my paintings, or my photographs.)