Knight of Swords - Mythic Tarot

pinkpurple

I'm really excited about my new Mythic Tarot deck as the images really inspire me to give 'psychic' as well as the meaning of the card interpretations. ( My old English never did this.)
I've just ordered the Mythic Tarot workbook off Amazon and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival.
I have a question though over the Knight of swords who slightly puzzles me.
There are two Knights on the horses back - at first I thought it was eyes going funny but after a few seconds realized they weren't. I interpreted this as a man who had two sides to his character, a person who could change at will. Not the nice/nasty ( in most cases anyway) but someone who could be slightly devious, not always tell the truth etc to get his own way.
How do others see this character as the image rather puzzled me - which is the real knight in shining armour going forward with his sword? Which is the defender, the hero?
Is he the type of guy who in a relationship could have two women ( the serial adulterer) or the type who has two lives ( the one his friends see and the one his family sees.) Possibly say an older man who wants to keep his youth?
So many questions on this card.
Your responses would be most welcome as I'm doing so many readings for friends and workmates at the minute and this guy has me puzzled.
I know with each reading I give I see him slightly differently but really need some advice.
Thanks
Love and light.
Pinkpurple xx
 

Thirteen

Knights are defenders and heroes of *their* particular faith. You need to keep that in mind. So the question isn't whether this knight is a defender/hero, but rather what is he a defender/hero of?

The Knight of Swords is a defender of words, ideas, arguments, puzzles, science, logic, and, yes, using your wits (clever swords play) rather than brute force.

Given this, there is no real contradiction in your views of him. He is always going to want to use his wits in a fight, and that means he might not play fair--he might lie or deceive or just be very clever. But that doesn't make him any less a hero--what makes him a hero or not is what he's using that cleverness to achieve. You don't think the hero of a fairytale who uses cleverness to save the princess from a huge giant is a bad guy just because he didn't try to pointlessly and uselessly beat the giant in hand-to-hand combat, do you?

What I'm saying, in the end, is that you don't have to get rid of either definition of this knight. He can be both or either. They're both well suited to him. Sometimes the card will come up and the spread will tell you "Watch out! This is a Knight/Swords who is lying to you!" other times it'll come up and the spread will tell you, "This is a smart guy who will use that wit to save and defend you!"

That's the way tarot works. Such figures have many sides, yet, remarkably, stay true to their suit as well.
 

le fey

If I remember right, in the Mythic Tarot, the Knight of Swords is keyed to Gemini, the Twins which is why there are a pair of riders and this knight would have the same qualities as those you'd associate with Gemini (airy, verbal, possibly fickle...). 'change at will' is a good way of putting it.
 

EarthFaery

The twins are called the warrior twins (dioscuri) , and are considered the more aggressive side of air. The myth is Zues the king of gods was crazy about their mother who was the queen of sparta, she wasn't interested in him which made him quite upset so he turned himself into a swan and raped her and impregnated her with 2 eggs, she was already pregnant by her husband so she ended up having 2 mortal children from one egg, and 2 divine children from the other, 2 girls and 2 boys, the dioscuri are the twin boys, they were identical but one was mortal and one was divine, they were never separated in their lives and were considered the pride of sparta. In the end one of them gets killed during an argument (they were known to start arguments) with another set of twins.
The knight of swords in this deck shakes things up a bit, he is of big changes, dissarray, and disruptions but also being able to roll with the changes and go with the flow.
It's a fascinating story! and one of my favorites:)
 

rwcarter

The Dioscuri, twins Polydueces and Castor, are dressed in battle armor, each holding a sword and both mounted on the same horse, which appears to be ready to take off.

Dioscuri
  • their mother Leda was impregnated by both Zeus and her husband King Tyndareos of Sparts; she gave birth to two sets of twins – Castor and Clytemnestra by her husband and Polydeuces and Helen by Zeus, so Castor was mortal and Polydeuces divine
  • the brothers were known as the Warrior Twins because they were both pugnacious and known for their propensity to start quarrels
  • they were always together in adventures
  • Castor was killed in a fight with another pair of twins; Polydueces killed the other twin and Zeus struck dead with a thunderbolt the twin who killed Castor
  • Polydeuces refused immortality unless Castor was there to share it with him, so Zeus allows them to split their time between Olympus and Hades
Overview
  • the flexible, volatile and changeable dimension of the element of Air
  • the capacity of the mind to be taken over by a new idea or sudden inspiration that throws the old order into chaos and leaves behind change
  • a duality or duplicity in the mental realm because new ideas either start conflict or are themselves ambivalent and full of conflict
  • a callousness that takes no account of human feeling as shown when one is suddenly possessed by an idea that demands one hurt another
  • abandoning responsibilities and ties in order to pursue some new and youthful adventure
  • not being able to bear growing older, stagnating or becoming bored
  • conflict and movement are natural, and one can’t spend too long feeling guilty about who might be hurt when the mind abruptly turns and moves in a different direction
Gemini
  • a search for communication and new concepts
  • penchant for continual change and need for variety
  • the need for variety
  • mercurial energy
  • lighthearted and carefree manner
  • the need to be constantly on the move
Random Thoughts
  • Charge!
  • roll with the punches
  • me and my shadow
  • together through thick and thin
  • irresponsible and immature
  • mid-life crisis
  • fickleness
  • variety is the spice of life

Keyword/phrase that I came up with in my workbook on 15Aug91 was "constant change".

Rodney