TWO OF SWORDS
Retreat -- Meditation and retreat. The symmetry of ideas and thoughts. Taking time to discover how you really feel, think, and respond to external circumstances. Choosing words carefully. The ability to recognize old habits and patterns. A new path, even if the new strategy is unclear. Silence of the mind.
SHADOW: How far are you willing to go to protect yourself? Better to face the issue at hand than to retreat inward, especially if you have a tendency to isolate yourself. Avoid martyring yourself. It helps no one, least of all you. Allow and accept help when offered.
A madness takes shape as a woman sits near a reflecting pond. She holds two identical swords and wears a blindfold. Tree branches, roaming like hungry fingers, reach toward her. Shadow monsters approach from all sides. Two shadows form the devils of self-criticism. One shadow forms of a man who fears what others think. The fourth shadow is the cat that fears its own instincts. It is the conflict of what we want versus societal ideas.
The dualistic mind believes in the separation between the self and the world. Duality appears in the woman's reflection, within the symmetry of her swords and the base of her body. She sits squarely, her knees open.
Gaze at the reflecting pool. Nothing actually creeps toward her. She imagines the shadows. She is the projector. The fears and monsters are inside her head. None of it is real. She hides her true self from the world out of fears and ideas she has invented. The shadows and trees are figments of her imagination. She warps and twists them to fit the narrative inside her head. Look closer at the reflection. There are no trees at all. Even the Dark Wood exists inside the mind.
The Two of Swords reflects a voluntary retreat into the inner mental sanctum. It is discovering the truth of what you feel. Forgo distraction from the chatter, energy, and influence of others. Find inner peace.
SHADOW: How far are you willing to go to protect yourself? Better to face the issue at hand than to retreat inward, especially if you have a tendency to isolate yourself. Avoid martyring yourself. It helps no one, least of all you. Allow and accept help when offered.