Wow, very interesting insights here. And much better put than my musings. But here they are for the record!
4 of Swords—Truce
4=Rule of law, stability, expansion
Swords=mind, thoughts, intellect
Peace of mind
Stable (conventional) ideas
Double Jupiter brings rule of law and conventionality to the fore.
The swords are very stable in their enclosed green cross, not disturbed by the airy, fuzzy (out of focus?) wings/swastikas all around it. Four of the swastikas stand out in more focus and are placed in balanced places, but they are not all that balanced themselves. The swords meet at the point the center of a white rose of 49 petals, the number of social harmony. Snuffin says 49 is 7x7. 7 is the number of Netzach, Venus, so relationships, society. Venus rules Libra, so all is very cosy. Jesus said we should forgive our brothers 70 times 7. (That would be 490 times!) White for purity and green for growth.
The hilts suggest the four elements. They seem to be laid out in the fixed signs order.
I think of 4s as much more positive than others do. Jupiter is expansion and good fortune, therefore they should be good, right? But if you consider that the REAL, higher good is 6, the Sun, the good of the 4s is more a conventional good, like winning is better than losing, and more is better than less. The happiness of the 4s contain the seed of its own destruction through grasping or unawareness of impermanence. I guess that’s why it’s Truce and not true Peace.
Crowley and DuQuette bring out the idea of a Pax Romana—it is only peace caused by the threat of violence and submission to power over others. If someone makes a move against Jupiter, they get blasted by thunderbolts!
And since swords are thoughts/mind/intellect, Crowley points out a meaning of authority, as in academic authority, and students better defer to the professor, or they will fail! But this does lead to a kind of peace of mind: “Minds to indolent or too cowardly to think out their own problems hail joyfully this policy of appeasement.” Remember this was written during WWII, when the phrase “policy of appeasement” was on everyone’s lips as a description of the failed way the rest of Europe tried to deal with Hitler before full-blown world war broke out.
Jupiter in Libra: Ideal is peace and justice. Highly values harmony, beauty, and esthetics. Never wants to commit in decisions, relationships, or ethical matters. Wants happiness without doing anything to achieve it. (Asking what your country can do for you? Very plebian, low-minded way of thinking and living.)
In a reading: You will have a quiet time and some peace of mind. But that may be because you are going along with what others tell you to do just to keep the peace. You should relax and recuperate because the quiet will not last forever, but then nothing ever does!