Tarot of Cat People ~ Ace of Swords

AJ

Intuitively I look at this card and see a warrior, fully prepared for the battle. But perhaps it is a battle of words or wit or intimidation, one not involving physical prowess because he has his 'Dress Uniform' on rather than armor.

Cat's eyes in real life are 8 time the size of humans compared to the size of the heads. The cat on this shield has even bigger eyes..perhaps all seeing? I know all your strategies and plans, don't bother trying to best me?

Note this is one of the few cards that appears without a companion cat.

From the LWB:
Figure is ready to take initiative. Strong, observant, determined, efficient, without being overbearing or brutal. Stands along, vigilant, on guard, watching for opportunity.
His spotted catskin symbolizes the union of the felines powers with his own. His companion cat died a natural death and the man wears its='s fur with honor and love.

Strength, Force, Activity, Excessiveness, Triumph, Power, Success, Fertility, Prosperity, Deep emotional feeling, Love, Championship, Conquest
 

Tristram Shandy

There is no cat in this card, only a soldier with a head of a cat depicted in his shield. After I read the card description in the book, I noticed that the skin on the man's shoulders and the cat's face have the same colours and patterns. It is his departed cat's face and fur although you can't see it directly from the card. The cat died naturally, the man didn't kill it for fur. (Is killing cats for fur even possible in the Outer Regions? I haven't read the whole book, but the back cover seems to disagree.) This gives a sympathetic tone for the card.

The soldier is standing on a high rock. There are more rocks formations in the background, but they are not as high. He could be standing on a hill top, or on a rock which has some steep sides. Either way, it reminds me of how people built castles in places that were easy to defend. Hill tops and rocks with steep sides were among them.

The soldier is either ready for action or wants to be seen as such. He doesn't stand in an odd, clumsy pose like soldiers in some pictures for war propaganda. On the contrary, I'd say that one of the card's keywords is practicality. And you have to be practical and able to move in such terrain as the card depicts.

Because I had difficulties in understanding the Court cards, I developed my own system for explaining them. I took a look both at them and the Aces of the same suit. Both the Ace, Page and Knight of Wands seem to shout "Action!", so it is quite natural to use it as a keyword for this Ace. In general, I think that these five Sword cards are related to making strategies and tactics (they carry swords, after all), so they are suitable keywords for this card.
 

Judith D

He is vigilant, on guard, ready for action - the perfect watchman. If aces are beginnings - he is ready and eager for the beginning of any necessary action. His sword is drawn for immediate response, the huge eyes of the cat on his shield look out for dangers and will scare away his foes. He stands high on a rocky outcrop, other rockpiles can be seen as if through a mist, darkly.
I really do find this deck difficult to read intuitively without checking up on the LWB! Impossible to translate the connection with the catskin - my intuitive reading on that would be that he has seen battle already, and his companion cat was killed that way!
Swords in this deck are fire. Their region, the Ruby Kingdom, is unstable, volcanic, sinister, reflecting a people who can be aggressive. I wonder if these people will turn out to be warriors of the mind as we continue studying, as well as physical warriors.
 

annik

He stand firm on the ground. He is not easily destabilized. I think he stand for being ready. He look being able to defend as to attack. I think he is aware that people count on him. He is the one that stand and provide security to the land.
 

AJ

Great responses everyone! I'm looking at each card intuitively first and then looking at the LWB. I didn't even recognize the rocks and background...that shows how working together we can really get this deck to speak to us when we use it!
 

annik

This is why I like to come here! hehe! (-:
And I must admit I like the artwork of this deck.