Ace of Swords

A great sword, point upward, pierces a radiant crown; the word Thelema is written on the blade and a serpent coils about the hilt. The sky around it is a burst of light.

Kether, Crown, in Yetzirah, the world of formation. The Crown, the first emanation, the point that has position but no dimension. Nothing can be said about Kether except that it is; the whole Tree unfolds from it. The four Aces are the roots of the elements seated in Kether, and the Princesses are their thrones at the other end of the Tree.

The Ace is the root of Air seated in Kether, the letter Vau of the Name, the seed of the suit of Swords. Its throne is the Princess of Swords, who rules the quadrant of the Americas. It takes no planet or sign.

The Aces are the roots of the elements and stand outside the zodiac; they take no decan, planet or sign. In the Golden Dawn scheme the Ace of Swords is enthroned by the Princess of Swords, who rules the quadrant of the earth called the Americas.

The Point: position without extension, the will before it has content. Kether, the Crown. The Aces are the roots of the elements here, and the Magus is trump I.

Thinking in its purest form: the first distinction, the mind's power to say this and not that. The Swords are usually read as the thinking function in Jung's typology, an interpretive convention rather than a text of Jung's.

Rider-Waite calls the suit Swords. Its small cards carry scenes; the Thoth small cards carry the suit emblems arranged geometrically, with the keyword printed at the bottom and the colours of their Sephirah and decan. The Golden Dawn title (The Root of the Powers of Air) is shared by both traditions.