Illustration of 10 Swords in Thoth

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.)
 

ravenest

<dips fish in batter , hands it to BW> .... and the 'handles' ?
 

Barleywine

<dips fish in batter , hands it to BW> .... and the 'handles' ?

Crowley seems to have had a "thing" about showing different hilts, and in the case of the 8 of Swords, different blades as well. The hilts in the 7 of Swords are diverse in the same way (although they all appear to be planetary symbols) that those in the 10 of Swords are. Crowley's commentary on the 8 of Swords says the different swords "remind one of weapons peculiar to their countries or their cults; we see here the Kriss, the Kukri, the Scramasax, the Dagger, the Machete and the Yataghan" (n addition to the pair of vertical long-swords). An early example of multi-culturalism? Crowley always was way ahead of his time :) But somehow I don't think he was being politically correct . . .

All ten of the sword hilts are situated at the locations of their associated sephiroth, as mentioned above. The blade of the sixth (Tiphareth) sword is in fragments. Crowley says the tenth blade is also shattered, but as far as I can tell, the hilt and blade of the 9th sword are just superimposed on it. Maybe Harris was too far along with the painting to make that happen.
 

Zephyros

The tenth blade is said to be "in splinters," and looking closely at it does seem to have lines running through it. To be honest, though, I can't see really see it in splinters since it doesn't look dramatically different from the others. The blade of Yesod appears to be midway through the tenth blade, eclipsing it, but the difference between the two blades can somewhat be discerned.

Crowley doesn't mention the shapes in the background but I seem to remember that Duquette does, although not where. In any case their complexity and lack of order seem to progress throughout the suit. In the Ten they are at their most disordered, almost maniacal in their execution. The astrological attribution probably affects them as well. They would perhaps also suggest the artifice of this suit; they are artificial, angular, "man-made." In the Two they seem the most "natural," the swastikas adhering closely to the stability of the squares. In the Six they are already drawn as if in an architectural plan almost as if order has come to chaos, if we look at the rather confused edges. In the Nine they have lost all sembland of order but in the weak position of Yesod they fade into the background.

In the Ten, though, they are prominent and rather insane. The mind can no longer push the madness aside and it is overwhelmed by it. Such can be said about the waking world where our thoughts are governed by ego and a million desires competing with each other every second. Acting as the doorway between this suit and the next our "Sun," that is, our Tiphareth, is divided in purpose and cohesion and is dragged to mundane matters.
 

jenessa

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?)
<dips fish in batter , hands it to BW> .... and the 'handles' ?
Thanks guys for pointing out that the handles are actually "hilts" re: viewing an object such as a sword.

Crowley seems to have had a "thing" about showing different hilts, and in the case of the 8 of Swords, different blades as well. The hilts in the 7 of Swords are diverse in the same way (although they all appear to be planetary symbols) that those in the 10 of Swords are.

All ten of the sword hilts are situated at the locations of their associated sephiroth, as mentioned above. The blade of the sixth (Tiphareth) sword is in fragments. Crowley says the tenth blade is also shattered, but as far as I can tell, the hilt and blade of the 9th sword are just superimposed on it. Maybe Harris was too far along with the painting to make that happen.
I get that the swords are apparently positioned in accordance with the tree of life, and it's also good to know that one has to really look closely to discern the totality of this card. Not to mention, that inspecting this card closely helped me arrive at an interpretation re: the reading I was tackling @ the time.
 

ravenest

Crowley seems to have had a "thing" about showing different hilts, and in the case of the 8 of Swords, different blades as well. The hilts in the 7 of Swords are diverse in the same way (although they all appear to be planetary symbols) that those in the 10 of Swords are. Crowley's commentary on the 8 of Swords says the different swords "remind one of weapons peculiar to their countries or their cults; we see here the Kriss, the Kukri, the Scramasax, the Dagger, the Machete and the Yataghan" (n addition to the pair of vertical long-swords). An early example of multi-culturalism? Crowley always was way ahead of his time :) But somehow I don't think he was being politically correct . . .

All ten of the sword hilts are situated at the locations of their associated sephiroth, as mentioned above. The blade of the sixth (Tiphareth) sword is in fragments. Crowley says the tenth blade is also shattered, but as far as I can tell, the hilt and blade of the 9th sword are just superimposed on it. Maybe Harris was too far along with the painting to make that happen.

Yep, I got all that some time back, I should have been clearer ; what do you think of the actual shape of the handles and what they symbolize on the 10S ( not the blades, not the pattern they are laid out in and not swords from other cards )
 

ravenest

Thanks guys for pointing out that the handles are actually "hilts" re: viewing an object such as a sword.

Well, to be extra correct about it ... it is actually 3 components together ; pommel, hilt (or 'grip' ) and guard that is varied in the 10s.
 

Barleywine

Yep, I got all that some time back, I should have been clearer ; what do you think of the actual shape of the handles and what they symbolize on the 10S ( not the blades, not the pattern they are laid out in and not swords from other cards )

They're pretty hard to see, even with a magnifying glass. Obviously, at the top (Kether) are scales, then what look like calipers at Chokmah and Binah. Greek crosses at Gedulah and Geburah (but I'm not sure about the rest of the iconography on them, unless it's purely solar), a heart - with it's obvious connotation - at Tiphareth, four-pointed stars at Netzach and Hod (apparently a Christian symbol connected to the Star of Bethlehem), something I can't decipher at Yesod (but it looks like it could be some kind of Persian or Arabian artifact) and a pentagram surmounting a recumbent crescent Moon at Malkuth. I have no clue about any of the symbolism as it relates to the 10 of Swords, but it seems to me that if it were anything other than decoration with a thin veneer of more general esoteric significance, there would be a different symbol at each sephira.
 

Snaut

I never saw those as anything other than artifacts of Projective Synthetic Geometry, unless their sharpness is intended to convey something of the nervous mental energy of Swords since they appear similarly in quite a few of the cards of that suit. They definitely add to the vibe, but I never read much beyond "atmosphere" into them.

I also equated it as airy energy. In particular i thought it were wings. When you have a bumblebee which moves its wings really fast, they look similar to the doodles (with lots of fantasy) . At least to me. The court cards are also depicted with those "wings" on their back.
Hope this helps.
 

Barleywine

I also equated it as airy energy. In particular i thought it were wings. When you have a bumblebee which moves its wings really fast, they look similar to the doodles (with lots of fantasy) . At least to me. The court cards are also depicted with those "wings" on their back.
Hope this helps.

Most definitely, and an excellent observation. They're very reminiscent (and some are even identical) of the abstract wings on the Queen of Swords, and also by shape if not level of detail to those on the Princess of Swords. It's probably worth contemplating by what mechanism there is an echo of the Queen of Swords in the 10 of Swords. Certainly the idea of "swiftness" is there as it is in all the Swords, but the Queen and the Ten are not the most "active" of that suit. Perhaps the Queen holding the "liberated" head (mind) is the link to the "reason divorced from reality" description that Crowley gave for the Ten. I think you're onto something!