King of Swords

Parzival

It's possibly interesting to note that the "Original " King of Swords has an egg in which there rises a straight-up pine tree -- lower left. Thought that is linear and stays linear? There are clearly two birds in flight, upper right. What is the pattern above his head and golden crown? It looks like a butterfly trapped in grasping hands, if I let my imagination take a look. Maybe it's merely ornamentation.
 

caridwen

That's interesting! The egg shape you see - I'd never noticed that before...

I don't see the butterfly as being grasped by hands but two cresent moons on either side. But it could also be the butterfly emerging from a chrysalis (although that could be a bit far fetched) Also a fleeting resemblance to the Lemniscate - infinity - immortality.

The butterfly can represent the soul and so can an egg. Also rebirth - ie easter etc both egg/butterfly have those connotations so they fit well on the card. Also immortality.

A butterfly can also represent the element of Air as does Swords.

An egg represents all levels of creation, idea and seed forms.

What are those figures though, behind his head? They look mythological or depicting some kind of story which could be key to this card.

The Queen of Swords also has butterflies around her crown and on the sides of her throne. There is a single bird in her card and two birds in the Kings' card.

The birds again, represent the element Air. They carry connotations of telepathy/messages/messengers/freedom and ideas. Doubled in the case of the King.

I'll also take a wild stab in the dark that the trees are evergreens. Maybe some kind of pine. Seen in the King/Queen/Knight/Page. Pine could mean everlasting ie infinity, also the humanities.
 

caridwen

I delved further into this and the Knight of Swords also has butterflies on his horse although the Page doesn't.

The Knight has birds on his horse as well. There are also four birds in the sky. They add up to nine altogether.

The Page has 10 birds.

I was looking at the King of Swords crown and he has some kind of bird on it. Maybe an eagle. I found several other cards with roughly the same symbol: The Two of Cups and The Chariot are the most pertinent. I'm not sure if this has any significance.

The symbol on the Chariot is the Egyptian winged solar disk.(aspiration) It has no face unlike the King of Swords and The Two of Cups.

(Other cards with a resemblance are: Temperance: obviously the wings on the figure and the gold disk in the centre of the forehead. Wheel of Fortune. Judgement and The Lovers. Knight of Cups.)

If it is an eagle it can denote, among other things: The four seasons or the Four pips. Aspiration, Scorpio, power, freedom and strength.

If it's a lion's head with wings - like the Two of Cups - it could obviously represent Leo. Fire element,The Sun, Mars or Royalty. Also I think the red lion in the Two of Cups is passion, desire, force and reproduction.

Wings can represent freedom from material limitations.

Still no thoughts on the people on the back of the throne though...
 

Parzival

Interesting observations and interpretations, caridwen. Actually, I meant to say that the butterfly above the king's head is enclosed or held in by the lunar shapes, as if they were hands. Like a thought concentrated and held in. So it may be with the pine in the egg-like form -- clear, straight-shooting thought held in (and being born). Like you, I see the trees as evergreens. Possibly eternal ideas. The Queen of swords has the king's butterfly at the base of her throne, also contained, with the king's lunar motif reversed above her butterfly. There are those pines, lower left. The king's backdrop tapestry is straight-lined on both sides, while the queen's throne is topped with a spiral. Is her thought more artistic, his more logical?
 

caridwen

Frank Hall said:
Interesting observations and interpretations, caridwen. Actually, I meant to say that the butterfly above the king's head is enclosed or held in by the lunar shapes, as if they were hands. Like a thought concentrated and held in. So it may be with the pine in the egg-like form -- clear, straight-shooting thought held in (and being born). Like you, I see the trees as evergreens. Possibly eternal ideas. The Queen of swords has the king's butterfly at the base of her throne, also contained, with the king's lunar motif reversed above her butterfly. There are those pines, lower left. The king's backdrop tapestry is straight-lined on both sides, while the queen's throne is topped with a spiral. Is her thought more artistic, his more logical?

Yes - enclosed by the cresents or, breaking out of the Moon ie if we see The Moon as confusion - the butterfly pushes through the confusion into everlasting clarity of thought. So, if not grasped by the cresents - the throught breaks free. A transformative journey.

Also, the Queen has that cherub with wings - that could be the symbol in the King's crown. It it's a cherubim - sacred wisdom and innocence.

She has three butterflies on the side of her throne and the cresents are indeed reversed. It seems more inactive than the King. Contemplation perhaps? The King's butterfly forcefully pushes through into freedom. The Queen's butterfly is still within the confines of the thought process.

Maybe rather than more artistic her thought is more contemplative - turned in on itself rather than outward. More inward looking.

The Queen's robes are green - fertility of thought maybe. The King's robes are plain brown - thought made practical.

There seem to be four butterflies on the Kings' throne - the earth, the winds - rational thought. The Queen has three - although the cresents look like a butterfly motif... Very much a transition from one to the other - from the Queen to the King. The contemplative thought made real, made active.

However, I don't see the back of the King as tapestry - I see it as the back of his throne.
 

Parzival

Yes, I now see the Queen's two smaller butterflies above the larger one, with the winged cherub over all three. Plenty of curved line throughout. Contemplative thought or artistic or both. The king's backdrop seems to me to hang like a tapestry, but maybe it's carved wood -- it has a straight up, flat columnar form, with little horizontal lines across, patterns (carved?) inside. Two butterflies behind his head. So, three butterflies for the Queen, three for the King.

Here are two impressionistic haiku about the butterflies:

Held in lunar hands,
His butterfly would break free
Into open sky.

Held in curves of vase,
Her butterfly would transform
Into a winged thought.

( What thought do I see,
Calyx to bloom in my mind's
Possibility? )
 

HudsonGray

What I see under the butterfly is two more butterflies, much larger and side by side (see how the wing markings echo the first one?), which would explain some of the image behind the king. The figures below it wouldn't be an Adam and Eve scene would it?

And, just noticed this from the enlargement....are his feet resting on a lion skin? That yellow area underfoot seems ragged (mane?) on the left, and a folded body section of the skin going to the right? Or is it a trick of the ground with weird coloring?
 

caridwen

The Queen also has what looks like a gold butterfly tying her robe.

I see a fourth small butterfly just behind his sword, above his shoulder.

The figures look as though they are on clouds, they also look as though they have wings. They do look male and female though and the male is pointing at something. I though of Adam and Eve as well but I don't know...I don't see how Adam and Eve would be connected to the King.

I've always see both their thrones, the king and queen, as stone. But they could possibly be wood.

The Queen's clouds are still hovering very low and very dense. The King's clouds are clearing. They both have one single red shoe showing. They both grasp the swords in their right hands. The Queen looks as though she is making a decision or has reached some kind of decision/judgement. The King looks contemplative so their symbols are contradictory or, their actions and their thoughts are not the same...?

The King's confusion has cleared or he has clarity of thought (clouds) The Queen is still in the midst of the thought process yet she looks as though she has clarity of thought. Puzzling. Her cloak is also cloudy. The King's sword is at a slight angle, the Queen's is ramrod, straight. The Queen stares directly ahead, we see her right, conscious side. The King stares of to the left, into the subconscious, contemplating something...

Maybe the Egg/butterfly symbolise that the thought process can go into infinity. Your thoughts never stand still there is always more. Hence the contradiction.

Don't know about the lion's skin.