Gauntlet of Swords: The Anti-Intellect

A really important question to ask yourself is which suit:

Wands, Swords, Cups, Pentacles

you would assign the element of Air to.  Traditionally it is assigned to Swords.  Also, traditionally, Air is assigned to meaning intellect because without air we would go brain dead.

• Water and intelligence -- Naw, it just don't fit.  Can't breath without help underwater so you sure can't think.
• Earth and intelligence -- Big NAW.  Impossible to think when you are under tons of earth from say an .. avalanche and have no ... air to breath.
• Fire and intelligence -- Nope, if the flames don't get you the smoke will definitely cut off the thought processes.

So we are left with Air and intelligence.  Air feeds the brain so it makes sense.  But assigning the element of Air to the suit of Swords?  Why?

The only connection I can make here is when the sword is fashioned you need air to fan the flames to heat the metal and so on.  But this doesn't take any real intelligence, nor does it have anything to do with the intellect.

But if we go with Swords = Air = Intelligence then why are so many of the sword pip cards detrimental.  Did we suddenly lose our brains and do all the wrong things?  Did we over-think problems until we could no longer see the truth or how to fix things.  Or were we thinking instead of feeling?

To me it works better like this:  Swords = Air = Anti-intelligence

Anti-intelligence means we use out intelligence in all the wrong ways, we out-think ourselves, or let our intelligence over-ride things like emotions and even common sense as many of the sword pip cards indicate.  But if that's the case why do so many of the sword pip cards deal with emotions, deep emotions?

Are they warning us to not let our intellect get so in the way that we can't feel?  Or is our anti-intelligence turning those feeling into something they are not or making us see things that aren't there.  Or is it turning inward and making us blind to the truth.

This would make sense because after the Ace which gives us the mental force, sense of power, strength, courage, etc. of the suit of Swords we go directly to the 2 of Swords of blocked emotions.  Meaning our own intelligence, or anti-intelligence is keeping us from seeing the truth and avoiding our own emotions and outlets.

Then when we wake up we realize what idiots we have been and maybe let the love of our life slip through our fingers and end up at the 3 of Swords and feeling heart broken and lonely.  Or possibly we just have no friends because our anti-intelligence has run them all off.  Maybe it would be better to call it our anti-ego-intelligence?

We need to rest and reflect (4 of Swords) and let our intellect kick in again.  But we have been scared and our pride has been wounded (5 of Swords) by the 3 of Swords and have only our self-interest (5 of Swords) to guide us now.  In our self interest we might hurt people or do things we might not be to proud of (5 of Swords).  You blame others for your own shortcomings.

Using our own intelligence (or anti-intelligence) we realize the things we have been doing and go into a blue-funk (6 of Swords) so maybe we decide to go on a trip (6 of Swords).  It's possible we could recover here (6 of Swords) but we need to change direction completely.  Brighter days are ahead (6 of Swords) if we can get off this Gauntlet of Swords we are stuck on.

Oops, no such luck!

Did we take the journey in the 6 of Swords to meet people and to get away from our old life and habits.  Or are we hiding away from life, from the guile and cunning of our anti-intelligence and trying to escape (7 of Swords) the truth and our own ever-churning thoughts?  Are we the sneak thief in the night?

Now we become completely imprisoned (8 of Swords) by our anti-intellect.  Feeling trapped and constricted we feel as if there is nowhere to turn.  We have fallen into the abyss and don't know how to claw our way out.  And worse of all ... we know what to do .. but just feel to powerless to do it.  From every direction we seem to be blocked because our anti-intelligence will not allow us to see and feel the truth.

So we worry about it, gnaw at it, which makes us feel guilty (9 of Swords).  We turn things over in our brains until they are so over-analyzed that we become totally lost.  We anguish (9 of Swords) over things that might have been and of things we might have done differently.  Our anti-intellect has 'kept us from seeing and feeling' until our emotions built up and finally explode.

We can't take it anymore and we finally reach bottom (10 of Swords) and all the blockage, pain, heart break, hiding, worry, and guilt of the other cards comes crashing down on us in a flood of pain and ruin (10 of Swords) and kicks our butt good.

But from here .... there is nowhere to go but up.

That is if you are intelligent enough to realize it and smart enough to do something about it.  But that's what got us to this point in the first place so I guess we are doomed to repeat our passage through the Gauntlet of Swords.  Some are doomed to let their anti-intelligence continue to rule their days .... for good or bad.

Don S.