Here we see the Queen of perception and insight. It's a hard thing to pull the wool over the eyes of somebody like this - they will look beyond the face we present and see to the very core of the being. That's one reason why this Queen often represents a woman who stirs deep and complex reactions in the people who come into contact with her. They can feel uneasy, discomforted and awkward when being observed by her. But they may also feel open, relieved and glad to have found somebody with such long sight.

On a day ruled by her, we need to practise our own powers of perception. Rather than dealing with the imaginal psychic quality which is rightly the realm of the Queen of Cups, we must now turn our attention to the everyday world. For, though the Queen of Swords is often highly spiritually developed, she is also absorbed by the intricacies of the process of life. Therefore she looks closely at what happens in life around her.

On this day, try to remind yourself to study the interactions you have with others. Don't just deal with the face value. Struggle to seek behind that mask for the whole being beyond.

Everybody takes up roles, plays out games, displays masks. We have 'professional' faces, which fit each of our roles. And we can become forgetful of the fact that every person we meet does the same thing. Only when we come to know a person well do we recognise the complexity that lies behind the mask.

Recognise yourself when you take up a mask. Know that at this moment you are acting like (for instance) a working person doing their job, or a family member loving the family, or a person alone and taking a bath. Look hard at yourself. You take up roles. Use this day to begin to identify them clearly. Examine the way that you feel differently in each situation. And recognise that though each of those roles is an expression of you, not one single one of them IS you.

Then take that realisation beyond you into the world...