Barleywine
One WOULD think they are there for a reason.
In this instance I will default to what an early magical teacher 'revealed to me'
[ "If they ask you a question and you dont know the answer - say its a mystery " ]
... It's a 'mystery' .
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" Frieda ! What on earth are these cranky looking doodles doing all over my sword cards ! ? "
" Ohhh , stop being so grumpy.. what , you dont understand this mystery ? "
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There is a post on these doodles somewhere here , But I wouldn't know what to search under ? Maybe someone else remembers it ?
I chose to see them as a reinforcement of "Swords energy" and just let it go. This seems to be as serviceable an idea as any, since the visual effect is convincing. It falls into the category of minutiae for me; there are "bigger fish to fry" (like the topic of this thread, maybe?) Oh, and about the "it's all a mystery" dodge: in an old Procul Harum song from their second album, the Master simply tells the Seeker, after his arduous climb to the summit in search of the meaning of life, "Life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?" (I think this predates "42" by a bit.)