Decan: 20°-29° Libra

Dates: 13-22 October 2024

Ruling planet/luminary: Jupiter

Zodiac sign: Libra ~ Cardinal Air 🜁

Tarot card: 4 of Swords

Golden Dawn Title: Lord of Rest from Strife

Associated Major Arcana:

The Wheel (Jupiter) & Justice (Libra)

A well-earned rest

The 4 of Swords is like a love letter to the worn and weary, the broken-down and the survivors.

It reassures you that the world will keep spinning even if you take a time out. The Wheel of Life will just keep on turning, so the 4 of Swords encourages you to let the craziness go on without you for a bit while you take the time to do what you need to do to restore your equilibrium – Justice. All that will still be waiting for you when you return from your rest.

Respite in the painful suit of Swords

I love this quote by Isobel Radow Kliegman, which gave me one of those ‘penny drop’ moments when I was first trying to get my head around the concepts of Kabbalah and the relationship between Tarot and the Tree of Life.

“It [4 of Swords] is a card of removing ourselves from the world so that we can quiet ourselves and deal with our pain. In the painful suit of swords, we would expect to find this respite only in Chesed.“

~ Isobel Radow Kliegman, Tarot and the Tree of Life

Chesed, the 4th Sephira on the Tree of Life, is where the Tarot fours reside and the place on the Tree that relates to abundance and flow. And its planetary correspondence is, of course, Jupiter. In the otherwise angst-ridden storyboard of the Suit of Swords, the 4 represents a safe space (physical or internal) where you can retreat.

As with previous Decans, I have found it useful to look at some keywords to see what ideas they may spark about the current Decan of Libra III

Self-protection & care

The 4 of Swords will often relate to mental health and issues of self-care. Areas of focus that are more relevant now than ever.

Remembering a challenging period of my life, I recognize now that my self-care back then was poor to non-existent. There were missed medical and dentist appointments and unhealthy eating, drinking and sleeping habits. I did not care well for myself. I didn’t allow myself any space to think too deeply about it all (such avoidance made all the easier by the bad habits themselves) for fear of what I might uncover and what uncomfortable steps I would have to take to remove myself to recover and repair.

Ironically, it was during this time, that the still, small voice within started to speak up. It would nudge me awake at night, breaking my rest to ask me what I was doing with my life. And the answers would come clearly, quietly, insistently until I eventually acted upon them. It was like coming out of a fog.

So, for me, this card is a reminder to make space for and tune into that voice.

Prompts for 4 of Swords ~ Jupiter in Libra

When the world gets too much…

Ask yourself:

• Are you overdoing it at work or in your personal life?
• Do you feel drained or like you are headed for overwhelm?
• Are you neglecting your own well-being?
• Are you prioritising the needs of others over your own?
• Can you pause, and make space and time for yourself to rest and recover?

Observations and synchronicities ~ Libra III

I’m making space here to return to over the coming days of Libra III to add any thoughts, ideas and synchronicities as they arise…

The 4 of Swords is one of my favourite cards in the deck. It reminds me of my cat and the many hours in a day she spends sleeping. It is known that cats sleep such long hours not just to conserve energy for survival activities like hunting but also to give their bodies time to rest and repair. Cats instinctively turn to sleep to self-heal – an essential process as they tend to lead active, sometimes injury-prone lives. Rest is essential for their well-being, and so it is for us.

But do we always attend to our bodies with the same unapologetic self-love that a cat has?

Just as cats turn to rest to self-heal, the 4 of Swords reminds us that periods of withdrawal and quiet reflection are crucial for restoring balance and preparing for future action and challenges.

Notes on the Decan Walk 2024/25

For more information on Decans, Astrology and Tarot and how they all synchronise please read this Substack article by Rebeka Kulcsar-Kurdi and T. Susan Chang’s 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot.

And, if you care to join me for this continuing solar return, you’ll find me on Facebook and Instagram hanging out on the corner of #decanwalk2024 and #decanastrology And I will be following @astroco_op and @tsusanchang

Here’s to another trip around the Sun!