Six of Swords Energy

The June card, and using tarot to tell stories

The Six of Swords vs the Nine of Pentacles. Collage by Charlotte Dune.

At the beginning of this year, knowing little about Tarot, I attended a “Year Ahead Tarot Workshop,” with my witch pal Sabrina Scott, who is also an award-winning non-fiction author, graphic novelist, artist, thinker, YouTuber, teacher, and all-around creative, intelligent person. I thought Tarot was hokey before she educated me on the matter.

In the workshop, we pulled a card for each month and made a spread for the year. Knowing little about the images, numbers, and meanings of cards, but intrigued by my year’s spread, this kicked off a period of self-study for me on the tarot.

I learned the basics of this ancient art from a few books, including H. R. Giger’s Tarot, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Way of the Tarot, and Michelle Tea’s Modern Tarot. I also listened to an audiobook written by a peer of Sabrina’s, Tarot: No Questions Asked: Mastering the Art of Intuitive Reading, by Theresa Reed, which was free on Spotify.

As each month passed, I reviewed the card I pulled in the workshop and learned more about that card specifically.

Now, I’m not a Tarot expert, but learning and thinking about the cards is fun. I love looking at the different sets of cards and all their art. I went from thinking it was bunk to owning four sets of tarot cards pretty fast.

The tarot decks I own

One set, I’d had for ages, the Naga deck, a gift from the artist Robert L. Pepper, and the other sets I acquired since the workshop. The cards pictured in this post are all from The Rider Tarot deck.

Engaging with the monthly cards feels surprisingly useful, and dare I say, accurate.

June’s card is the Six of Swords.

The Six of Swords

The Six of Swords from the Rider Waite Smith deck of Tarot

What does this card say to you?

Alejandro Jodorowsky writes of the number six in the tarot: “…the beauty of the Six can be considered to be the root of reality. If we add up the three successive out of the infinite series of numbers, we will always obtain a number that can be reduced to six. For example:

1+2+3=6

4+5+6=15 and 1+5=6

7+8+9=24 and 2+4=6

and so on infinitely.”

In the Kabbalah, 6 also represents beauty.

Swords relate to intellect and knowledge in the tarot.

Jodorowsky continues, “In the Six of Swords, we are witnessing an act of internalization. We attain beauty through meditation, by going toward the ecstasy that is the heart of our awareness. The central flower, whose stem has been cut, separated from its plant and consequently the world, is blossoming in solitude. It is single. Assuming its individuality, its solitude, its uniqueness, is the primary joy of the intellect.”

I’ve had a lot of swords this year, and a lot of sixes. I also wrote about the Four of Swords, back in April.

Making Stories with the Cards

After studying each month’s card, I also engage with the cards in the year’s spread surrounding it. This creates a story arc, and it’s little surprise to me that well-known authors like Stephen King, John Steinbeck,

Alexander Chee

, and Michelle Tea spent time with the tarot, added tarot to their books, or worked as tarot readers in the past. It’s very much a mythical storytelling method.

If you’re a writer, you can use the cards to help move ahead a stuck story by pulling a single card and applying it to your character or plot. You could also pull a card to generate backstory or motivation for your characters. Shuffle the deck, select a random card, think of your character or story and stare at the card, study it. For me, this usually generates a clear idea that comes in like a dog looking for its dinner.

You can also use a spread to inspire a new story or chapter sequence where each card becomes an act. This could be done with as few as 3 cards: beginning, middle, end, or add as many cards as you like for a more detailed and twisting plot line.

Here is a story structure created from my cards for May, June, July, and August:

This story says to me:

Wearyily, he looks ahead, knowing an arduous but necessary journey could drain all his creative energy, but go he must. A new land must be found. He sets off. The water is choppy, sleepless nights abound, demons must be wrestled, but eventually, he reaches the other side of the shore and begins anew again, in a fertile garden of his own making. All his hard work was worth it.

This story could be The Alchemist, Dune 2, Eat-Pray-Love, or the Book of Exodus from the Bible, a classic journey tale.

Let me explain each card further.

May—III of Wands in Reverse: Be wary of gazing too far into the future. You know a journey awaits you, but if you focus too deeply on it, you risk neglecting or losing your creative viewpoint and your creative passions. (Wands relate to creativity. I think of them as wizard staffs.)

The Three of Wands in reverse

June—Six of Swords: The journey has begun. You’re heading into new territory, leaving behind the past. You must stay in front of the conflict to reach smooth waters. You are with your child on this journey, but larger, darker forces are pushing you through. Use your intellect to stay afloat at all costs. (Swords relate to intellect/facts/logic.)

VI of Swords Card

July— Nine of Swords: Inner conflict, interpersonal struggle. Overwhelming times. The journey is hard to adjust to. Sleepless nights, worry, and fear.

IX of Swords card

August—Nine of Pentacles: But have no fear, the journey will end well. You will feel relieved and abundant when it’s complete and you can enjoy the fruits of your intellectual labor and turmoil.

You are safe now on the other side. (Pentacles relate to the physical realm, earth, money, land, wealth, the material world.)

IX of Pentacles

This story arc could be any hero’s journey. It’s a clear travel tale. The spreads don’t always end up so 4-act structured or clear, but this one did.

Applying the Cards to Life

When I apply this spread to my personal life, which I do for comfort and clarity, I see that the sequence of cards mirrors a journey I’ve been going through recently with my teenage daughter and her high school.