The Tarot Asks: Are you ready to change?
Reading by Rahne Alexander
“Maybe all our Knight wants is change, and he’s taking matters into his own hands.”
Right before I went to draw this month’s cards, I broke a nail down the quick. It hurts quite a lot. I overestimated my capacity to shuffle in such a state and instead of shuffling, I dropped all the cards on the floor. Two landed face up: Death, and the Knight of Swords. Sometimes, this is the way the cards reveal themselves.
They landed in opposition to each other, Death on the left, Knight of Swords on the right. It looks like a spectacular standoff: the Knight as the unstoppable force, and Death the immovable object. It’s a classic conflict scene, and if you’re not feeling conflict ever-present in the world right now, maybe I envy you. This pairing summons to mind the hows and the ways of conflicts I engage, those conflicts I witness, those that I am powerless to engage.
The Knight
The Knight is impetuous, arrogant, full of himself — ideas and rage, justice and hot air. I think of the knights as both brave and foolish figures, exercising their power to test its limits. Our Knight of Swords, a representative of righteousness and clarity and sharp edges who knows he doesn’t know everything but never likes to admit it, he’s galloping full tilt toward Death, who is poised, unmoved, waiting.
Death
Death is intimidating. It’s change, mortality, powerlessness. Death is also ridiculous, maybe a little showier than it needs to be. We get it, Captain Obvious, you’re Death.
We can assume, but we don’t know what’s about to happen here when these two meet in the middle. From our vantage point, the Knight might seem a little foolhardy. Does he know what he’s up against? Maybe he does, and it doesn’t matter — he’s ready to go down gambling. Maybe he’s just ready to embrace the conflict and the changes that ensue. Maybe our Knight is tired of sparring; maybe what he’s needed this whole time is a better enemy.
Maybe all our Knight wants is change, and he’s taking matters into his own hands.
“This month’s Tarot Tunes is a veritable clash of the titans: swords and knives and death and what comes after.”
I’m given to thinking that what’s being summoned is reconsideration of the ways I have engaged in conflict, as well as the ways I’ve avoided it. I’ve always liked to think that I chose my battles carefully – but sometimes in retrospect I worry that I played it safe and held back when I could have acted instead, when I could have exercised and tested the limits of my power.
When these two finally clash, the outcome is going to affect them both. So the question seems to be, are you ready for change? Am I? If so, let’s ride.
We have another nice Tarot Tunes playlist this month, full of swords and knives, conflict and clash and recognition that the structures that protect us are temporary.
This month’s Tarot Tunes is a veritable clash of the titans: swords and knives and death and what comes after.
Rahne Alexander is an intermedia artist and writer from Baltimore, Maryland. She holds an MFA in Intermedia + Digital Arts from UMBC. A tarot reader for more than 20 years, she can be reached for readings at rahne.com/tarot. Follow her on Instagram @the_tarot_asks.