Orientation of the swords in the Sword suit
Hello Everyone,
In the Tarot of Marseilles, the orientation of the swords within the suit has been an opened question until now. Generally, it is considered that the swords are pointing upward. This can be explained by the fact that adding to the fact that the Sword is one of the two active emblems of the minor Arcana (with the Wand, in opposition to the passive pairs of the Disk and the Cup), the sword in the Ace of Swords is wielded, and so pointing upward, and thus, naturally we tend to see all the swords being upright as well. Now, the following points have to be considered, to realize that traditionally the orientation of the swords in the Sword suit is certainly downward.
First, contrary to the Ace of sword, the swords in the suit are not wielded, and so these swords are actually at rest. As such, they must primarily be considered pointing downward, as these rest in a passive state. Indeed, analogically, active is "up" and passive is "down". Consequently these swords, symbolically figurative of the spiritual and of the mental powers, do figure potentialities, ready to be wielded, and as such cannot be considered pointing upward.
Second, we must take into consideration that in the historical beams of arms, the blades of the swords are pointed downward (see :
http://www.proantic.com/galerie/ledemisolde/img/small/21811-1.jpg ), planted in a base to hold them tight. In the Marseilles Tarot, you can see that the blades are themselves planted within the interweaving of the arcs, indicating that, logically, these are not pointing upward, for otherwise they would be planted like in the rooftop, which is preposterous indeed, and if we consider some beam of arms fixed on a wall, the weight of the sword could be damaging. Much essentially, a planting upward of the swords would indicates obstruction, disempowerment by immobilisation, and so submission and eventually death, just like in a sword fight movie, featuring one of the protagonist having its sword stuck in the roof log, the other trying to take advantage of the situation. Now it must be said that, in regard of our reality, the Sword suit certainly features some scenes resting flat on the ground, such as a ceremonial canvas, for making such composition fixed vertically on a wall is not credible, notably because of the "floating" plants and flowers, which cannot be imagined pinned on the wall, can they ? Now, it must be recalled that the Marseilles Tarot does not relate to material reality, but to symbolic, the Marseilles Tarot being designed according to the traditional codes of sacred art and science, featuring figuratively the very universal archetypes expressing themselves on multiple aspects and levels of the human experience ( see :
http://www.tarot-de-marseille-millennium.com/english/tarot_sacred_code.html ).
Thirdly, the fact that these swords are certainly held downward seems to be certified by the Tarot of Rochus Schaer, realized in Mümliswil, Switzerland, sometime in 1750 (see the X of Sword, preserved in the Museum of Blumenstein, Switzerland :
http://www.tarot-de-marseille-millennium.com/download/1750_rochus-schaer.jpg ). Indeed, uniquely, in this deck the X of Sword features a flower between the two swords. As the flower certainly looks better standing upright (though in the N. Conver 1760 carved woods, the flowers are pointing downward, along the other downward pointed swords), as otherwise it is quite macabre, consequently the swords are definitely shown pointing downward. The fact that this card does feature a flower is fascinating in itself because the 10 is an even number, and indeed within the Sword suit, all the even numbered cards do feature a flower, which is missing besides in all the X of Sword cards of all the other known historical Marseilles decks, which makes the Rochus Schaer 1750 Tarot deck unique. Now, the flower featured in this card really makes sense, because even numbers are generally considered feminine, and odd numbers masculine, the flower (analogically the chalice, the 0) being a feminine symbol, and the sword (analogically the phallus, the 1) being a masculine symbol. So, analogically, we have here an image of the sword and the cup, or Excalibur and the Grail, the perfect balance of the feminine and the masculine, resolving their opposition in this card, the very last of the suit, 10 being besides symbolical of the universal cycle, with its infinite potential of (pro)creation and renewal. This analogy is justified further still by the fact that the swords are actually standing within a mandorla (almond shape), which is figurative of the vulva. Besides, it is important to notice that the very structure of the Sword suit cards is directly related to that of the major Arcana XXI LE MONDE (21 The World), the four hazelnuts of the Sword suit standing at the very place of the four corner figures of XXI LE MONDE. Precisely, this major Arcanum does feature the perfect balance, or marriage, of the feminine and the masculine, the central character being the (symbolically) androgynous philosopher child being born from this hierogamy.
The flower of the X of Sword certainly must be a lost feature, because as we've seen, 10 is an even number. But as it relates back to 1 (there are only 9 number in all), it somehow relates both to even and odd number (reuniting the masculine with the feminine, the 1 and the 0), and so the fact that the flower and the swords are both featured in this card makes perfectly sense. This double aspect is additionally stressed out by the actual doubling of the swords, which partakes of the feminine and masculine as being both alternatively passive and active, feminine and masculine being equal in their dynamic complementarity, and married in the end. Besides, it has to be considered that, when considered pointing downward, the two swords strikingly reveal to make room for something in between them, a space which appears as shockingly empty and which makes absolutely no sense without the flower, so leaving unexplained why the two swords are being widely spread as they are. See :
http://www.tarot-de-marseille-millennium.com/download/1736_chosson.jpg
As a conclusion, it is fair enough to say that with all these elements taken into consideration, it is quite clear that the swords in the Sword suit traditionally do not point upward, but downward standing at rest, as potential forces available within ourselves, ready to be wielded, hopefully for good. By the way, the planting of the swords reminds of Excalibur planted in the rock, waiting to be wielded by the legitimate King (our true self).
All the best,
Wilfried Houdouin
Marseilles,
http://www.tarot-de-marseille-millennium.com/
http://www.tarot-de-marseille-heritage.com/
To see the major Arcana of the 1750 Rochus Schaer Tarot :
http://www.tarot-de-marseille-millennium.com/english/historic_tarots_gallery.html
