IRONWING: Gatemaker of Blades

I got my Ironwing today in the mail. This is deck number 194. I´m head over heels in love with this deck. This just may be *the* deck that I have been looking for for a decade already!!

Anyway, I plan to study all cards in a random order. Today I picked the Gatemaker of Blades (Knight of Swords). Usually the Knight of Swords is just described as an impulsive hot-head in many decks. Here she is actually much more versatile and quite an interesting personality.

I was born way up in the North and for me even southern Finland is often too warm. So I really love the way that the "swirling arctic clouds become her breath". I often travel to the arctic where I have experienced arctic cool air bringing clarity of mind and a sharp focus. I love that feeling...

This Gatemaker transforms the raw and cold arctic elements through her body and mind into something creative and powerful. The Hawk Spirit in her(claws and all) may make her dangerous but I think she can be forgiven because she is so creative and skillful. She would be a good ally in many endeavours, especially scientific ones. We would be wise not to disturb her once she has started to focus in helping us. She looks like a no-nonsense type of person who likes solitude.

I love the way we can see her trachea from the inside! She is really working deep within herself here. The pathway that the arctic air follows upwards reminds me of the alveoli in our lugns. The wisdom she is transforming moves deep within her core. This is true Alchemy.

I like the sense of Air in this card....you can almost see how cold it is with the freeze and the condensation! It's interesting that the face above her face that signifies thought without emotion looks more emotional to me that her face--her face itself looks masked to me.
I think she has a softer side within that she will do almost anything to hide. Vulnerability is her fear, logic her weapon. I think the hawk faces sing to her through the claws but we can only hear her song, not the 3 part harmony she is deeply involved in.
I wonder what would happen if global warming reached her?

The Gatemaker of Blades

To me - She is chanting.
Chanting in the traditional Siberian way:
It is a visceral knowledge / memory of how this feels, sounds and just how it feels when the trance changes me into my Miahanit and then lifts and separates Spirit out of body...

Firmly stick your tong into the highest point of the roof of your mouth and start to move air in and out of your lower part of your lungs - all the way up and out...Use your stomach muscles and diaphragm to push the air up or back down past your vocal cords.
The turbulences will fill your chest and lift your sharp pointy falcon’s wings to soar above the mind-games of ordinary consciousness and into the Otherworld realm.

That to me is the gate sie makes.

oh yes, I like that! She may well be chanting. Or why not "just" singing? Singing can be powerful medicine,too.