2 of Swords

I trust my ability to find my way

The Two of Swords speaks about choice. It asks us to consider what it means to make a powerful choice. What does it actually involve? We can consider a distinction between a choice and a decision as they are often viewed as two words with the same meaning. A decision is about looking backwards, weighing up the past, and moving forward based on what we conclude. A choice, on the other hand, is completely free of the past, arising out of a clear open awareness, space, nothing. There are no reasons or justification in  a choice; it is simply made.

Decisions, therefore, exist in the domain of the small, egoic self attached to its stories about life. While choices arise spontaneously out of the freedom of the Universal self. We gift ourselves choice but must work and deliberate when making a decision. Both ways have value when used wisely.

In our culture we appears to have greater and greater choices. But if we look closely, it becomes clear that what we actually have are more and more options arising within the same limited context. Far from giving us freedom, we are overwhelmed with alternatives which require us to sift through more and more information to make a decision. To go one way or another becomes and agonizing cloud of information. There are times when we need to reference the past and gain some additional knowledge. The key is to recognize when we are getting lost in all the detail.

Don Juan Matus, the Mexican shaman characterized by Carlos Casteneda, asked a simple yet profound question when faced with two different paths: “Does this path have a heart?” He goes on to state that all paths are the same; they lead nowhere. Like Don Juan, I would say a path with no heart is devoid of joy, with no sense of expansion; taking it feels intensely difficult. With time, however, it becomes normalized and we get comfortable, like a clenched fist that we no longer notice. For me, a path with heart isn’t automatically easy, it can present incredible challenges. It carves out the vessel of emotion making it deeper, and yet it feels expansive, exciting, and evolutionary.

In the artwork we see a woman at the bottom of the steps literally split between two possible paths behind her. Yet she appears calm and balanced. Her light of intelligence shines from within. The two paths look similar but each present her with different possibilities. Which way should she go? The wolf symbolizes a deep connection with intuition – inner-tuition. There is no obvious right ay to go. This is the point of choice. This is your point of power.