"A Reverie Arising From Ephemeral Flesh..."

How's this for a meditation on battles both former and future? The artists at It's My Scar create beautiful jewelry designs that commemorate the wearer's actual physical scars. Francesca, whose scar is pictured above, had her thyroid removed due to cancer and discovered that as her prominent scar faded, she began to miss it -- "Both because I live with the very real possibility that Cancer is not a once in my lifetime possibility, and because I am proud of myself for living, and surviving with strength and dignity," she says. Each piece showcased on the site tells a different story, but at the heart of them all is a person determined to consider, remember, and reveal.

The imagery of the Four of Swords almost always seems to tell this kind of story, a reverie arising from ephemeral flesh, a taut line strung between the stillness of the current moment and the memory (or anticipation) of inevitable conflicts. The card acknowledges or encourages a pause before taking action, which ought to be driven home by the fact that the cards on either side of it, the Three and the Five, are veritable minefields that ought not be navigated with a clouded mind. No matter what you have survived, no matter what tomorrow may bring, lay down your sword and shield; turn your awareness within and reflect on the present moment. Find a calm center from which you can spring into action effectively. Celebrate your wounds as part of your long journey through life; burn incense in your helmet as the samurai are said to have --should your head be taken on the battlefield, your adversary will be impressed by its aroma. [Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Four of Swords