Tarot Card Comparisons: The Thoth Tarot- Prince of Swords & The Wild Wood Tarot- Knight of Arrows-Hawk

As you may know by now, the Thoth Princes are the Knights of more traditional decks.

The Thoth Prince of Swords and the Wild Wood- Knight of Arrows-Hawk, represents the airy part of Air (mental/conscious part of Mind), as air is directed by "outside influences" such as the heat of passion and the coolness of pure coldness, and the Hawk rides on thermals produced by heat and cold, this card represents the same mental activity.

Therefore, this is the Archetypal personality of the intellectual, pure rational mind.

To expand and exonerate: The Thoth Prince of Swords is also called the Chariot of the Winds, Prince and emperor of the Sylphs and Sylphides.

In the zodiac, the Prince of Swords or the more traditional Knight , rules from 21 degrees Capricorn to 20 degrees Aquarius.

Hence, this card represents Air of Air, Specific Air of Primal Air, (personal consciousness, linked with Primal conscious) which shows an active mind that swirls all over the place.The three fairy like beings pulling the Thoth Prince's chariot, are symbols of the capricious nature of the mind which can be pulled into any direction.

The Wild Wood Tarot, choose to show this capricious nature, as billowing clouds and a wind swept pine tree. Being a Hawk, he is definitely a risk taker, although the risk being calculated.

The Thoth Prince of Swords has both the long sharp sword of rational that invokes and creates, while in the left hand he carries the sickle of destruction that immediately destroys what is created, adding to his capricious nature.

Since this is a card of the Mind, there is significant Moon (Yesod) symbolism here which brings its own illusion. The three fairies are "moon children", and the Yesod- Sephiroth-Foundation, which is directly connected to Tiphareth-the ruling intelligence of the Princes, is ruled by the Moon.

In Mythology, the Prince or Knight of Swords represents Tyr, the  Norse god of battle. and also Mars, the Roman god of war. Both of these personifications , represent destruction, pestilence, daring and death. The Prince or traditional Knight of Swords or Arrows, is representative of the Archetypal Tyrant- Personality who is charismatic, dominating and so impersonal that they have a great power to harm. Sharp wit but assertive to a fault. This card cautions the Querent about over -rationalization.

 The Thoth Prince of Swords is dressed in woven-full armor of definite device. His chariot is composed of geometric ideas. This chariot is drawn by unharnessed wing children "who are flights of fancy" and may go any-which way they like, as the reins are attached to passing geometric ideas. The Prince/Knight of Swords can be compared to the knowledge of Euclid expounded upon by an idiot, whose argument takes any twist and turn it wants to, and yet be totally "rational". Thus the chariot is easily moved but unable to go into any definite direction---except by accident. 

Here is pure intellect without direction supplied by the Will/Spirit. Never the less, the Prince of Swords is crown by a Child's Head, for there is a secret Divinity here that is linked up to Tiphareth (the Son/Sun of God), but usually if this personality thinks in terms of the divine, it believes it is above all others and often suffers from the righteousness of an fanatic.

Since the logical process of the Prince of Swords has reduced the Air/Mind  to many diverse geometric patterns, they reduce the power of creative mind, as they have no definite purpose. This is symbolized by the Sword in his right hand (willingness to create) and in his left hand a sickle, which destroys what he immediately creates. The Sickle is also the "death dealing" tool of the Dark Isis, and/or Moon Goddess, as shown on the Thoth- Hierophant major arcana.  Once again, showing the Moon's influence on this card.

Being that his thoughts require no practical effort, he is purely intellectual, full of ideas that tumble over one-another in a mass of ideas unrelated to each other, much like the tumbling dive of a Hawk.  He is not simple minded as he has all the apparatus of the Mind, intensely clever, admirably rational, thought in its highest degree, but unstable of purpose as even his own ideas are approached with his Hawk-like indifference. He knows that any idea is as good as another and can rationally persuade an Eskimo into buying a deep-freeze even though nature has already provided! By removing the substance of an idea, he can place every idea into an ideal world of ratiocination. Therefore it always looks good on paper no matter how impractical it is to build!

                                          [find your core personality on this birth chart}

Being that ratiocination is purely formal, even the very facts that promote his ideas are ignored so that his ideas become baseless and unreal.

This person is immensely powerful because of their unsettled principles which enable them to put forth any argument without regret or remorse...kind of like a insane-used-car salesmen from hell, who postulates the value of saw dust in the automatic transmission of the car he's selling.

The Prince/Knight of Arrows-personality is glib to quote scripture, cunningly supporting any thesis without considering the fact that he supported an opposite thesis earlier in his bombast.

He is impossible to defeat because any position is as good as another and ready to enter into combination with the nearest element available. He really doesn't care if his or her ideas are detrimental to life, the idea is its own purpose! His/Her momentary Vision is above all else! This momentary vision, achieved by the point of his sword, is shown in the Wild Wood Tarot's- Knight of Arrows, as a great piercing stare and sharp beak of the Hawk. The color yellow, is the color of Air. This Solar Fire of Air concept is because of the connection with Tiphareth, the 6th Sephiroth- which is also the Central Sun of the Tree of Life.

These elusive and elastic core personalities may seem confused, but they are of evolutionary use to the Psyche, if mastered by the Greater Will and Intellect of Spirit known as Tiphareth-Beauty.  One's self-conscious of this core personality is best advised to mentally travel up the inner Tree of Life to the 6th Sephiroth on the Qabalistic Tree known as Tiphareth-Beauty which is the Divine Child in manifestation. This is usually done by skrying the Sun card which shows the "Dancing Twins"/the Anima and Animus.

The Chaotic nature of Pure Mind must be controlled by the Understanding Mother of All form Binah/Divine Anima, who is connected to the 6th Sephira, as Force, for its own sake, is utter destruction of all life. Will to Force must be united with Will to Form, for life to exist.

Without the Understanding of Spirit and It's purpose for life, these Princes of Sword or Knights of Arrows, personalities become faddists, fundamentalists, fanatics, devotees of drink and drugs, humanists (those who believe that mankind is the center of the universe----all else can cease to exist) and bible thumping theologians. But even in  such directions there is not stability, and they wander from cult to cult, vice to vice, supporting fanatical convictions for the sake of whim. It is easy to be deceived by such people as they manifest great potency of thought and are often describe as having great depth and breadth of mind. As in all readings, the surrounding cards will show the dignity of this card.

There is however, a bright light here when Pure Mind aligned with Pure Spirit, ideas can become living image. Pure Spirit does not reside in religion...that chaos of ideas belongs to the idiots that praise a man-made god for creating life while their fanatical ideas destroy it all around them. Rather the Purity of Spirit, that is the Life itself, resides as the Great Ocean of Mother/Universal Collective Unconscious that is all around, in and through us.....AS US! So once again, "Above all things know thyself", is necessary here. I Am Love and all around me Love is expressing itself as another way of being "Me". We belong to each other, and not to ideas that separate us from each other. Ideas, have no purpose unless applied to the unification of  Life---for that is the Great Work of Spirit. Ideas make God in their own image, while God-makes us into It's image! Thus it is obvious, that to know the Divine Creative is to Know thyself!

Hence,The Thoth Tarot-Prince of Swords, or the Wild Wood Knight of Arrows, represents The Creative Intuitive Thinker that is part of all of us. In fact, each of us has inherited the 16 Archetype personalities of the Greater Self, especially if the Soul has manifested  the many personalities depicted by the Zodiac . The ones we choose to focus our action on the material plane, can be a daily, monthly, yearly or lifetime choice. Each of us is a multidimensional state of conscious energy; our names are legion!

When we entertain the personality archetype known in tarot as The Prince  or traditional Knight of Swords/Arrows (see above Thoth-tarot birth chart), we have use of the personality that has newly mastered creative-intuitive thinking. We become inspired and wish not to be limited, restricted or restrained in any way. This desire to be unrestricted is shown by the two swords that the Prince of Swords  has in his hands. With the sickle and the broad sword, the  determined Prince cuts  through any thoughts, beliefs or attitudes that might reign in the movement (chariot) and/or the expression of creative-intuition thinking. This non acceptance of reigned in motion, is also shown by the Wild Wood Tarot's Knight, who is perched over the high precipice with the ability to hunt from great heights.

 As before stated: The Prince/Knight of Arrows is associated with the zodiac sign of Aquarius, which is the symbol for the new age, creative, innovative, and original mind being bound by earth and/or the earth sign of Capricorn.

The Diamond Chariot, of the Thoth Prince, represents  The Great Work, which is the expansion and liberation of the living from self-imposed limits. It is the "as above, so below" of inspired motion. It is creative energy that wants to be actively expressed and will be in a power positive way or a negative "fantasy" way,(three fairies) where the individual is so full of ideas, that they reduce all ideas to unreality by removing them to an ideal world of ratiocination and formality, which as such, is out of relation to any facts.

 Fantasized Utopian concepts come from this state of  thought.

 To reiterate: The Princes or traditional Knights, are the personified Elemental Forces, of those 4 elements that are brought into balance in Tiphareth. However, THE PRINCE OF SWORDS or KNIGHT OF ARROWS, is mental element of ideas that can be  both, constructive or destructive.

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