The King of Swords has left the sanctuary of his throne and is following the dictate that a King's place is with his people. This King walks his realm, with the wind as his companion and the sky as his canopy, the ground beneath his feet his inner chamber.

He wears no sigil, no badge, no crown, and no royal robes. But his powerful demeanor and his bearing tell us that he is slightly removed from the rest of us and that his s/words have great and lasting impact.

Around his neck he wears a necklace symbolic of far seeing and far seering: the necklace is a 20-millimeter crystal ball held in the likeness of an eagle's claw. He also wears a tortoise amulet filled with corn pollen, the seed of a marigold, and a bean.

His head is covered and his face is hidden from our gaze as he roams his empire. This is symbolic of his mental prerogative and the processes of his thoughts, his ideas, his ideals, and his ability to convey his concepts with few words. Furthermore, his headdress is indicative that he has advanced through the stages of initiation and has reached the penultimate goal of the quest: Know Thyself.

The red silk twist is symbolic of the passion and the determination of his intellectual acumen. The multi-hued cloth headdress is from the distant land of Kashmir and is symbolic of the breadth of this King's knowledge. The fringe of the headdress is symbolic of fertility: each of the strands represents a possibility, a potential, and power.

The King of Swords can be said to be the facilitator; he facilitates knowledge, understanding, communication, questing, and goal-setting. He facilitates transformation by walking with us into the unexplored territory of our minds, and of our hearts.

Although this King may be considered radical for both his prowess and his journey, he is, like all of us, a seeker: a seeker of truths who will listen attentively to every side of an argument, see every point-of-view, then debate those points, those sides, and form his own conclusions. In the final analysis he is willing to take action, physical action if appropriate and necessary, to defend his scholarship and his high ideals. In his ability to debate we are witness to a philosophy that is both potent and intoxicating: this King holds the key to esoteric truths that revolutionize our own power of thought and take our personal quest in a new and exciting direction.

His traveller's staff, both helpmate and weapon, is topped with a blue crystal and embedded in the side is a smaller yellow crystal: symbolic of the conjunction of intellect and spirit. His short Sword is the product of the master craftsman of Toledo, Spain and is engraved with an intricate pattern of fleur-de-lise, the heraldic symbol of Kings from antiquity.

Key phrases for this King: New Direction, Common Ground, Honourable, Articulate, Vitality of Understanding

Photo taken with Sony Mavica Digital Camera. Titles added via PSP. Printed on Hewlett-Packard 970-C printer using Hewlett-Packard Premium Photo Paper. Trimmed to size and mounted on pre-cut card stock. Finished size 2.625X4.75 inches.

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