Aces symbolize beginnings, the start of something new and the seed of new growth. Swords represent reason, thought, logic, will, courage, verbal skill, matters pertaining to the mind and survival in the world and the element of air. The Ace of Swords often represents new ideas, new thoughts and concepts; being aware of the potential for a brand new lifestyle direction or schedule.  It could suggest the need or ability to communicate or manifesting your philosophy in a different way.

The Universal Fantasy Ace of Swords shows a sword with a gold hilt embedded in a pillar.  Atop the pillar is gold ornamentation forming what almost looks like a male face with curling horns.  A green leafy vine winds its way around the pillar and sword.  Behind the sword a long corridor with additional columns and archways is visible.

The Ma'at Tarot shows a sword that still has its tip in the fires.  Its ornately designed hilt appears to be silver.  The visible tip of the sword is glowing from the fires.  Flames blaze forth from behind the sword eclipsing anything else in the background.  I know Julie associates Swords with fire but I'm sticking with my preferred association of air.

Both cards represent new ideas, new ways of seeing things and viewing the world.  They both offer a sense of new energy and new growth emerging as a result of these new ideas or views.  It can symbolize being able to cut through the deadwood of your life; cutting away the outworn and outmoded thought patterns and ideas that have created some of the mess you might me dealing with at this time.

For me this was an especially appropriate card to draw for today.  We are still trying to deal with my mother-in-law's deteriorating condition.  I'm not an expert on aging or geriatrics but it is becoming increasing clear that she cannot live on her own anymore.  At a minimum she needs a home care attendant or a visiting nurse to at least make sure she takes her medicine and eats something.  She is definitely not able to care for Edward without help.  We met with our lawyer today to discuss our options.  She asked us a few questions and them basically picked up a sword and cut through the bullshit.  She explained that we either needed to decide that we are going to become their legal guardians with all the legal and financial obligations that accompany it or else we need to notify the local social service agency and let them handle it.  We would then have no real say in what happens but the state would assess the situation and see if they both need to be institutionalized.  It wasn't pleasant to hear; we kept hoping for something of a middle passage, but it seems that does not exist.  We're not giving up hope yet but we are both starting to realize that we been lying to ourselves about this situation.  We kept trying to put a positive spin on it but the reality is that if we're not in the immediate vicinity to handle unexpected situations neither of us has any faith that Smitty can deal with it.  Even getting her to take her pills and make chocolate milk for Edward take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes on the phone.

It has cleared out eyes in a lot of ways.  It is also a devastating truth that we both would have preferred to avoid.  The reality is that we just cannot handle this situation.  We will do whatever we can to prevent them from both being institutionalized but the reality is that might be the best for them both.  It is just such a sad commentary on current society that even though people can live longer now than even before, the quality of that life is not ideal.  Smitty has no friends in the area.  Her family is scattered and she feels very alone.  We even tried contacting John's brother today and his voice mail box is full so we couldn't even leave him a message about what's going on.  I emailed his nephews' wives but we haven't gotten a call or anything from them yet either.  Of course once the shit hits the fan we will hear a chorus of "why didn't you tell me". 

So I think the message the Ace of Swords for today is two-fold.  On the one hand it forced us to face some realities about Smitty's and Edward's situation that we've been trying to downplay.  They really can't continue to live alone without some help and if we allow this current situation to continue we're almost setting things up for a tragedy to occur.  On the other hand we may also need to be more clear in our communications with these government agencies so they realize the severity of this situation and we have to come up with some new ideas for finding help - trying resources we haven't tapped yet.  It's a tough reality to face but at least it is forcing us to be more honest with ourselves.