November Begins with the King of Swords

I recently acquired the Deviant Moon deck (Patrick Valenza/U.S. Games).  This is a deck I'd seen many times, heard people talk about now and then, but I always thought it was a little too creepy, and definitely not my style of artwork.  For some reason it embedded itself in my psyche, and over time I began to think about it more….then look at its reviews online…then search for images of the artwork.  Finally I decided I needed to give it a try.  Lately I've been feeling a deep desire to work with decks that are outside of my usual interests as far as imagery goes, which is why I also recently purchased the mini Secret Tarot (Lo Scarabeo), and also why the Paulina Tarot (Paulina Cassidy/U.S. Games) is also on its way to me in the mail even as I type!  So the other night I ventured out to a local bookstore and found a dusty box of Deviant Moon and I brought it right on home with me.

Long intro, which thus far has nothing to do with the title of this entry.  So I'll try to get more to the point!  I've done a few readings with this deck, and it's really good.  It is quite elegant in its manner of speech (so to say) and I find that while some of the images can be a little creepy, I am really enjoying it, and the over all feel of the deck is not really creepy at all.  What I can say about it is that is definitely *different* and that may be what puts people off it sometimes (and what put me off originally).

So I've been using it exclusively for the past few days, and I did my November monthly forecast last night using it, and the card that came up for the first week of November wassssss……. the King of Swords, ta da!!!!!  I've finally gotten around to the true point of this post!

So here is the King of Swords from the Deviant Moon deck:

Deviant Moon Tarot - Patrick Valenza

Pretty sweet, right? This card came up in the past week in a reading done for me - this was the card that signified my obstacles to figuring out how to move forward with a new project I'm working on. So I'm hoping that by falling into the position of my first week of November, it means I'll be able to focus and find some clarity in the matter at hand.

So the King of Swords.  He's a clear-minded fellow who knows how to steer the ship.  He's a great leader in terms of having the ability to see the long-view of a given endeavor, though he isn't necessarily the most emotional kind of guy.  But that often serves his purposes just fine. He's very intellectual and reasonable, and he's a fine problem solver because he sees right to the heart of a situation and knows what stray threads need to be rewoven (and usually also knows how to go about it as well!).  He's a person with a well-developed sense of identity and personal ethics, and he lives up to his own code quite infallibly.

I tend to be rather emotional, and at best I have a strong practical streak that helps me to ground my feelings and desires in the world…but I've definitely never been very sworsdy. I am always thinking about how people feel, and how I feel.  But at this point in my life I think a dose of the King of Swords will do me good. I need to learn that there are certain times where it's necessary and fruitful to divorce feelings from reason so that decisions can be made.  Sometimes success requires a fair, clear-minded, business-like approach.

This King of Swords is a pretty interesting fellow.  The mix of red and gold in his clothing suggests the power to get things done combined with the elements of wisdom, success and prosperity, but all of this is filtered through his intellect and clear communication skills, represented by the blue shadow to his face. This is not a person who makes rash decisions. His sword is perfectly upright in a bold, sure position - he won't back down when he's certain he knows the right way to proceed. By his side is a little imp companion that looks steadily at us while resting its hands on a small Earth. To me this represents the global-thinking of the King of Swords.  He always considers the final destination, and each move he makes is done with that end-goal in mind.

This is the energy I need to bring into my life this week.  At the very least I will need to consider the decisions I can or should make, a bundle of action steps that can go on my to-do list for the next couple of months. I will need to keep the long-view in mind, clarify what I want things to look like when all is said and done, and create a plan to follow.  No time to be idle of mind!