The element of Air is represented in other decks as the suit of Swords and takes us through the journey of the mind. Intellectual pursuits as well as unconscious influences are revealed here. Though it is often viewed as a destructive and dangerous path with much turmoil and heartache along the way, it is a vital dimension of our being and should be respected and honed carefully, like a good sword.
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Ace of Air
The seed of a brilliant idea is forming. Especially after a period of feeling blocked and uninspired, you are experiencing mental clarity and the realization that you have the power to bring your ideas to life. School is starting, either literally as an academic pursuit or figuratively as the beginning of a journey of intellectual discovery.
Reversed: You find yourself second-guessing and overthinking both details and broad ideas. You are riddled with self-doubt, confusion, and lack of clarity. You feel blocked from inspiration and thwarted in committing yourself to any single pursuit.
Astrology: The Air signs, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius – The Air signs’ greatest strength is curiosity, that habit that leads to an endless well-spring of ideas. Their weakness is getting stuck inside their own heads, second-guessing themselves. Versatile cardinal Gemini absorbs information at an alarming rate, soaking up conversation and ideas like a sponge, socializing with the intent to learn more. Fixed, thoughtful Libra ruminates on that information, avoiding decisions until a completely fair solution is clear. Social mutable Aquarius brings it all together into a unique, intellectually-driven community-based conversation.
Two of Air
After the first idea started to sprout, other options and thoughts have presented themselves, demanding choices that you are unprepared to make. You feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, resistant to making a choice without all the factors and aspects revealed. This may seem like indecision to the outside observer, but you are correct to refuse to make a choice under duress – especially when each option seems equally unappealing and you may very well be missing crucial information.
Reversed: At first, you are overwhelmed by the seeming inability to make decisions, but you start to realize that the options are made of false equivalence: you are not being forced to choose the lesser of two evils but rather are challenged to find the true differences between them. The correct answer may still be elusive, but be assured that there is a definitively positive path forward.
Astrology: Moon in Libra – The Moon rules our emotional reactions, and with the influence of justice-minded Libra, there is a distinct drive towards rooting out inequity, finding the balance, and keeping the peace – no matter what the cost. This impulse can feel like an injustice itself when it interferes with your desire to just get a little peace and quiet – and that applies both to your environment and to the noise inside your head.
Three of Air
The path shifts now to the consequences of choices made in error, either by ourselves or by others. The division of our mind’s clarity distracts us from impending grief. It may come as painful separation, sudden rejection, sorrow, or heartbreak, leaving us in a state of isolation and regret.
Reversed: The swords of air sever the ties of toxic relationships and end unhealthy patterns, though not without pain to remind us of our growth. Optimism can follow this hardship, and we hear the call to forgive ourselves and others.
Astrology: Saturn in Libra – Both Libra and Saturn are deeply connected with rules and the law, and when they coincide, the just and righteous consequences of our actions come home to roost. This delivery of justice, however, does not care about our morals or world views: it is determined by a strict and objective ethical code, the balance of cause and effect, the stark interpretation of the letter of the law – and while we can be sure that the discipline is appropriate to the transgression, it rarely feels good.
Four of Air
The crushing disappointment of the last stage requires a moment of recovery and contemplation. Consider this a command to convalesce, to regain your strength after illness or injury. Take time to recuperate your physical, emotional, and mental well-being; go slow and relax. As you give yourself this downtime, you will find the wisdom for your next steps.
Reversed: You’ve pushed yourself too far for too long and now you are experiencing burn-out. If you don’t give yourself time to recover your energy, your body will demand that time without your consent. This moment is marked with illness, fatigue, and prolonged postponement. Without giving yourself time to digest the past, you are likely to lose perspective, to feel restless and dissatisfied in your lack of progress.
Astrology: Jupiter in Libra – The strict thumb of Saturn gives way to the paternal care of Jupiter, but Libra’s adherence to rules and balance apply, which is why this combination gives you strict orders to stay in bed, put your feet up, and be gentle with yourself. There is harmony to be found here, but it comes with the admonition that it must be earned, nurtured, and maintained.
Five of Air
Returning to conflict and tension, fighting for a win, but being unclear about what the terms of combat truly are. There’s tension and a sense of betrayal and defeat, but confusion lingers about how and why these conditions exist. Even circumstances that seem like triumph come at steep costs and with poor gains. The real challenge is to attempt to strip away the preconceived notions about your current situation. Are you basing your decisions on how you believe you compare to others? Are you modeling behaviors and habits that don’t suit you?
Reversed: Take a step back and examine the full situation before engaging in a conflict. What is your motivation in this scenario versus the motivation of others? Be open to change and revising your perspective, especially about a previous source of conflict. Recognize the impact of past resentment in the present.
Astrology: Venus in Aquarius – Passionate Venus in whirlwind Aquarius makes for a tumultuous and questionable environment. There’s an impulse for connection, but Aquarius demands intellectual discourse and matching values before any kind of real relationship can start. Even at that, Aquarius keeps the emotional intimacy at arms’ length and demands that the naked truth must be disclosed without condition.
Six of Air
From the previous conflict, we retreat from the battlefield with the pieces gathered but the puzzle not yet solved. We journey to give ourselves space to consider what we have learned, going on a personal pilgrimage to resolve internal conflicts and confront our own issues. We may be embarking with a sense of regret and concern over how things have resolved in the past, but we are consciously seeking the path to a better understanding.
Reversed: You are stuck ruminating over your losses and being unable to see how you were defeated. This becomes a preoccupation, keeping you from moving forward in any other part of life. It is impossible to move forward and grow when we are determined to drag our emotional luggage with us every step of the way. Encumbered hearts cannot fly.
Astrology: Mercury in Aquarius – Swift Mercury carries the exacting demands of Aquarius past the potential quagmire of emotional involvement, examining all the potential pros and cons of what has been, what is, and what will come to be. Clear communication is critical, but also listen without judgment and hold space for absolute honesty: what you need to say and what you hear might not be the easiest, but they are vastly important.
Seven of Air
Not all growth is about light and goodness: sometimes the lessons we must learn involve understanding deceit, thievery, and underhandedness. Where a sharp sword in the hand might readily dispatch an opponent, the sharper sword of the mind must be employed now to avoid causing unnecessary damage. Political intrigue, scheming, and chicanery are afoot. A key indicator that someone is following this pattern is a refusal to accept help, often for fear of their real intentions being found out.
Reversed: There are times when standing up for what is right comes at deep personal costs, but this loss is ultimately temporary when one’s honor and integrity remains intact. It is time to examine your own intentions and habits and seek to break old, dangerous habits. When you stand by your principles and defend proper virtues, you are proving your worth to yourself. The “snake in the grass” gets caught.
Astrology: Moon in Aquarius – For all that Aquarius is about intellectual discussion and analytical exploration, it is also massively gregarious: it’s impossible to have a conversation (or a heated debate) by oneself! When Aquarius welcomes the Moon into its House, it feels like a great time to have a get-together or to break out of a musty old routine. However, remember that Aquarius plays by strict yet unspoken rules: perversity and specific wording might be masking ulterior motives.
Eight of Air
The web of lies perpetuated in the last phase create a false sense of imprisonment in this one. We feel trapped and immobilized, unable to move forward for fear of being cut to ribbons, but this is only an illusion. Our self-limiting beliefs, emotional blind spots, and cognitive biases are preventing us from recognizing that the next step on the path is immediately in front of us: it requires no secret handshake or password, only a willingness to move on despite our reservations. This paralysis may be rooted in guilt or shame: what have you done?
Reversed: We have discovered those self-limiting thoughts and laughed at them for their ridiculousness, and moreover found the audacity to laugh at ourselves that we were ever that foolish. We are now embracing self-acceptance – acknowledging our virtues and our flaws all the same – and coming to a true inventory of who and what we are.
Astrology: Jupiter in Gemini – Mighty Jupiter believes that the world is a certain way, that certain topics are simply what they are, but wily Gemini starts asking all kinds of questions, challenging the status quo and upsetting the prior understandings. Even obvious answers to well-known questions are lobbed out to be dissected and examined and debated in all manner of ways. This can lead to an excess type of “devil’s advocate” engagement that doesn’t get anyone anywhere.
Nine of Air
The trap of self-limiting thoughts is the creation of a labyrinth of our own design, keeping us wandering in circles of depression and anxiety. We are restless, have trouble sleeping, our minds jabbering incessantly over fears real or imagined. Most distinctly, we fret over the things that we cannot control rather than focusing on that which we can. Imaginary fears sometimes feel more comfortable to grapple with than real ones because illusions can never be resolved – and thus we will never have to take responsibility for them.
Reversed: Fear is the sign post that points to threats, and when we recognize that it is only a sign post, we are no longer obligated to react impulsively to its presence. We gain wisdom from moments of fear and concern, and we build our mental fortitude by facing our fears and insecurities. Our dreams, though troubled, bring us important messages about areas we may be neglecting, and our wiser selves sit with those dreams and listen to them.
Astrology: Mars in Gemini – The argumentative Gemini side comes out when Mars visits, causing the mind to race with troublesome thoughts and worrying questions. The edge of aggression from Mars is tempered in small ways by Gemini’s need for examination and testing, but this can be either a blessing or a curse. If questioning the motives and purpose of a situation reveal the need to slow down and strategize, then Mars is happy to do so. However, if Mars has already determined its ideal method, then Gemini’s often circular interrogations cause aggravation and distress.
Ten of Air
The realm of the mind without the temperance of the heart leads only to sad and sour endings. Without the intuition of fire or the confidence of earth, we are vulnerable to resolutions that are not in our favor, usually involving betrayal and backstabbing. If we have held to our biases stubbornly, refusing to shift our focus or perspective, we are driven to a point of final defeat. However, this moment represents a major turning point, the closing of a rough chapter and the beginning of a better one – ideally with the wisdom that you’ve gained on their journey carrying you forward.
Reversed: You recognize now at the end of this cycle that the sorrow and difficulties you’ve experienced have mainly been the result of your own choices. Though this wisdom stings, things are not nearly as bad as they could have been. Yes, this is an ending, but it is not a tragedy.
Astrology: Sun in Gemini – Excessive reliance on analysis and intellect without spiritual or emotional input to balance it out often leads to a grisly end, and Gemini will discuss this in the postmortem extensively. The end of one chapter begins another: the Sun in Gemini encourages you to write, draw, and express in whatever ways you can as many sides of the end result as possible. Gemini’s greatest lesson to share is to not marry oneself to a single perspective.
Page of Air
The Page of Air is a talkative student, childlike and endlessly curious. They want to know everything about everything and can hardly rest until they find the answers they seek. They challenge the status quo because they want to understand how and why it exists – and that is rarely a scrutiny that can be survived.
At this point in the journey, we are talking through our problems and throwing as many ideas into the ring as possible. There are no stupid questions, only unasked ones. Particularly when solving complex problems, open all the doors and windows of the mind to let the wind of inspiration in.
Reversed: As a person, the Page Reversed may be a know-it-all kid who’s all talk and no (effective) action. They may make up false stories for no reason beyond immediate personal aggrandizement, but they are uninterested in maintaining a lie. They lack the mental fortitude to honor whatever commitments they might make and tend to be unreliable narrators.
Astrology: Earth of Air – These two elements only rarely meet, and that’s usually in the midst of chaos. Dust devils might whirl a bit with little effect on the world, but sand storms tear through and cause unimaginable devastation.
Knight of Air
Imagine a lawyer whose main legal strategy is to map out every possible argument to his case before ever stepping foot into court. Imagine a chess player whose tactic is to attempt to memorize every known play before committing to an opening move. The Knight is an opinionated man who wants to be assured of victory before he commits to solving a problem. This can mean a lot of discussion, seemingly over the same points again and again, but his motivation is to conserve energy and execute the most efficient option possible.
On the Path of Air, it is time to inventory your choices, to take stock of what you know and what you need to know before deciding on a course of action. The previous phase was one of discovery, and now it’s time to organize what you’ve found to understand the challenge better.
Reversed: As a person, this is a man who acts without thinking things through all the way, convinced of his own ingenuity despite clearly being unclear on the consequences of those actions. Between the impulsivity of “lightning inspiration” and jumping to half-baked conclusions, the Knight Reversed tends to present as scattered and inefficient – not someone you want as a critical member of the team.
Astrology: Air of Air – The intellectual’s intellectual! The Knight’s application of the element of air from two angles does not double the effect of his analysis, it squares it. He uses compounded models and functions to map out every possible approach. The wind, even in small eddies, is not random but rather the result of countless causative movements and actions, allowing air masses great and small to move with terrible purpose.
Queen of Air
The Queen is an educated, quick-thinking woman, full of wit and intellectual wisdom. She is organized, cerebral, perceptive, and independent, and she is a brilliant strategist. Her weakness is her tendency to ignore her emotional side for fear of appearing weak, and this can provide leverage to sway her judgment away from the ideal course of action. She only respects those who can equal or best her, but she has little experience or practice in how to exercise that respect, leading to relationships executed with academic thought rather than emotional intellience.
On the Path of Air, we now take the inventory we have collected and begin putting the pieces together to form a plan. What equations must be solved in order to understand all the variables?
Reversed: The Queen Reversed is a harsh critic, cold-hearted, and excessively moralistic. She tends to be pedantic to the point of frustration with no apparent motivation or gain. She is a woman who demands that etiquette be observed at all times purely because it is socially expected, regardless of whether it is appropriate to a situation. She judges harshly and constantly, and even winning her approval feels like losing a battle of wits.
Astrology: Water of Air – A warm sauna, a balmy afternoon, or the thickness of the air after a rain. Water of Air is the humidity, the petrichor of the forest, that brings us deep thoughts and philosophical pondering. She can also whisk that temperance of water away and become as scorching and dry as the desert.
King of Air
The King takes all the knowledge that has been found, arranged, and analyzed, and he executes the solution with confidence and vigor. He is a professor, a teacher, an intellectual authority, and he delights in sharing the truth that he has uncovered. He pursues academia and intellectual endeavors both for the glory and for the sheer joy of discovery.
It is time to act on the plans that you have developed. Trust in your analysis and step forward with clarity and confidence.
Reversed: The King Reversed is an abusive, tyrannical person: manipulative, dishonest, untruthful, and cruel. He twists words to suit his desires instead of honoring the letter of the law, and he does so to gain power over others to serve his selfish wants. His motivations are mainly for short-term gain despite long-term damage.
Astrology: Fire of Air – The joining of the two ephemeral elements might seem like a recipe for disaster, and there are certainly times when it could be as rushes in to stoke fire to ever greater heights and blow embers into nearby tinder, but there is also the application where together they make a force strong enough to melt steel and forge mighty blades.
Final Thoughts on the Path of Air
The Path of Air seems at first glance to be a journey of sorrow and misery, and in truth, when one is ruled exclusively by the mind, that is a highly probable outcome. And yet, walking through the Path of Air is necessary. It builds strength and fortitude, challenges us to accept our shortcomings and to overcome them. We are none of us perfect, but perfection isn’t a goal to have in the first place. Our greatest hope for our continued growth and evolution as humans is to embrace who we are and to be the best us that we can be. The Path of Air trains us to examine ourselves closely, to ferret out our weakness, and to compensate for what we find through thoughtful analysis and, quite logically, compassion.