"Move Forward With Unprecedented Confidence..."

The organization First Book, to which I recently committed all the proceeds I earn from giving Tarot card readings, asks in their slogan, "Do you remember the magic of your first book?" This inspired me to take a look and see what America's first book was; as some might anticipate, it was biblical in nature. Technically entitled The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre, it's generally called the Bay Psalms Book and it was published in Cambridge, MA in 1640.

Books, writing, and learning are often associated with the suit of Swords (though one of my favorite decks, the Victoria Regina Tarot, uses fountain pens to signify the Wands suit instead). The Ace of Swords points taking up a new cause, applying your focus to a new project, or discovering keener judgment or stores of discipline within yourself that have lain dormant. It's the kind of revelation that invites you to see things for what they really are and then move forward with unprecedented confidence.

Not only is this a great symbolic statement for my First Book pledge, it's an interesting lens through which to view the Bay Psalms Book; the Library of Congress page linked above speculates that this "first" wasn't a matter of happenstance, but of conscious choice, noting that "...The same faith that compelled them to leave England and strike out for the New World prompted them to commit this text to print before all others." This card is a not-so-subtle hint that honest declarations of intent will be rewarded quite favorably -- you'll be able to look back one day and recall this as a time when certain ideas were set into motion.

Previously on Arcanalogue...