Explorer of Air (Knight of Swords): Gaian Tarot Card of the Week

What do we most need to know for the coming week?

Explorer of Air (Knight of Swords)

This card reminds me of the saying “You can’t see the forest for the trees.”  In this case, it’s a matter of getting your head above the tree line to see the big picture and get a new perspective. 

Yes, I’ve been focused on many details lately.  Details in bookkeeping and taxes, details of Wordpress coding, details of looking at this or that house online and imagining what it would be like to live there.  This week I need to pull back and think about my larger life plan.  Where do the details I’m so focused on fit into the greater scheme of things?  It may be time to reflect on long term goals I’ve set for myself and see if they might be getting lost in all the details of daily life.

I’m also charmed to see all the birds in this image, in this season of Spring Awakening (although this morning, we have an inch or two of snow on the ground and the birds are quite silenced).  Listening to the birds begin the dawn chorus, or to the Steller’s jays squawking loudly at mid-day as they’ve been doing quite recently, lifts my spirits in a special way. The emerging birds are not only harbingers of the coming of Spring, but also of the renewal of our bodies and spirits.

Come, dear birds!  Come, beloved Spring!  We will lift our heads above the forest and get a glimpse of the landscape the way the winged ones see it.  May it be so.

And what does this image say to you, dear Readers?

Comments

[Marissa]

My first thought was that it was an AIR card, symbolizing the intellect... And I've been debating whether or not to pursue graduate school. I feel burnt out, but those whose opinions I value the most all think that it would be the right path for me. As for looking at the big picture - the "not seeing the forest for the trees" is a fantastic analogy for my life right now! I get bogged down in the details... I'm trying to live as "green" a life as possible. I'll berate myself for hours if I buy things that make me happy but aren't necessary, and I keep making lists of little specific things that I can do... Instead of giving myself lists of specifics or focusing on one instance, I need to step back, refocus on my overall goal, and just LIVE. I'm always torn between two extremes (it's my Gemini nature), and my life in general is no different - either I want to put in NO effort whatsoever or I want to micromanage everything. My goal for the next stage of my life (however long that takes) is to learn to balance myself between my Gemini extremes. This card helps to give me direction. Thank you!
P.S. I'm glad you posted this when you did. I had checked for it earlier, but I wouldn't have gotten as much out of it if I hadn't had an important conversation BEFORE you posted it. :)

[Bonnie Cehovet]

A lot of writing to do, and a couple of big projects to get started. Yes, the Explorer of Air IS where I am right now. ;-)

[Cate (KerrdeLune)]

To me, this card is hope and possibility - the largesse and abundance which await if I can get my head out of the mundane considerations and the doldrums, the worries about health and finances etc.

There is sun and blue sky up there somewhere, and there are fine moonlit star spangled nights up there too. This card tells me to remember that and be glad - to remember who I am, to reclaim my sense of wonder and trust in the Old Wild Mother.

[joanna]

So beautifully put, Cate, as always. And your blog always gives me so much hope and peace.

[Sage]

I'm back from a week spent living in ... a forest, literally. I've been living among Ponderosa Pine and Cedars (for which I am grateful, I have been wanting to harvest some sacred cedar for some time, and poof, there they were, in front and back of my mother-in-law's house).

While it is impossible to see a mountain close by, or the far horizon, from inside the trees, especially at their base, it is possible to look UP, and I did have a wonderful week of moon and star gazing in the dark of the wooded area. We watched for the deer as they came through the greenbelt, and the singing of the many birds was a joy to hear. Daffodils were blooming, almond trees and quince showing their special spring frocks, and the air carried the promise of Spring.

This card also carries with it, to me at least, a reminder to keeping one's feet on the ground. Going up in the air to gain a better perspective is good, but only as a temporary measure, and when that job is done, it's time to come back down and set to work, or go to the next campground, or keep building the house.