III The Empress (Venus) Shadowed: King of Swords (Gemini) ‘Fire of Air’

Numerically The Empress is 3 and the King of Swords is 51 = 3+5+1 = 9

The Focus number for today is Nine: Celestial, completion: nearing new beginning, fulfillment, attainment, The Triple Triad (3×3), Earthly Paradise, 9 is the limit of all numbers.

My first thoughts on seeing these two cards III The Empress shadowed by the King of Swords (KoS), is that they are polar opposites. Here we have the ultimate feminine female (ALL four Queens of the Minor Arcana combined) combined with the ‘Manly Man’ highly masculine King of Swords. When I see the King of Swords, I automatically think of a John Wayne sort of character (thank you Tarot Verbatim).

The Empress is ruled by Venus, the planet of Love and Beauty, abundance, creativity and prosperity. See is pregnant with possibilities on the material plane.

King of Swords is not a kindly King, he is stern but he is honest and loyal, and is governed by  integrity and fairness. Being pure intellect,the KoS is highly analytical, detached and aloof, and his thoughts dictate his actions. He can be critical, bossy, and manipulative if negatively influenced by surrounding cards, or he can appear that way when his good intentions are misunderstood or interpreted as controlling (akin to someone’s annoying backseat driving). Contrary to popular belief or traditional meanings of this card, the KoS feels very deeply, but is not swayed by his emotions, nor will he show them, he uses Acts of Service and Quality Time as his preferred love language.

King of Swords represents persons of authority and law, possibly military or government, as they are logical, methodical and regimented.

My thoughts on the two of these cards together is about the integration and nurturing of the two energies, closing the gap between the Yin and the Yang, the combination creating a whole and becoming complete (our focus number nine). These two cards together combine emotional, physical, and intellectual.

Some examples of the feminine and masculine energies integrating elegantly would be: The female beauty who speaks truth plainly commands both respect and admiration, or The Judge in a legal dispute being both discerning and understanding in his balanced and fair rulings.