Six of Blades – Manipulation.  This card shows six double-bladed axes forming a mandala or circle with the edges of their blades touching, and crystal tips giving off light from the center of each axe-blade.  There is a sense of order and symmetry in the design, like looking through the end of a kaleidoscope.  The design and the keyword suggest to me clear thinking and precise alignment of thoughts into ordered patterns in order to accomplish a goal or simply to create a work of intellectual beauty.  These blades are heavy, very sharp and double-edged and have to be handled with care, so this could indicate a situation in which careful planning and manipulation are needed to avoid danger, or a situation in which everything is balanced on a knife’s edge.  The book suggests a variety of more negative connotations relating to the word manipulation, however, I don’t really see them reflected in the design of the card, nor do they seem to fit with the overall concept of Sixes, so I will disregard them here :-).

Six of Pentacles – Success.  At first glance, this card appears very much like a feminist version of the RW Six of Wands.  It shows a group of women of varying ethnicities and appearance excitedly watching a wheelchair race in which one woman is just breaking through the tape at the finish line while others cheer on the participants.  Balloons (with pentacles on them) float over the scene.  There is a sense that part of the success here is that these woman are all together and happy, and the ones racing are healthy and competitive in spite of their disabilities, and enjoying their day in the sun.  The second-place finisher looks like she’s having just as good a time as the winner.  I think this is less a card about one person winning than about community spirit and group success, in spite of its superficial resemblance to the Six of Wands.

Six of Flames – Bast – Play.  This unusual card shows the Egyptian cat goddess Bast presiding over green fields (though you get the sense this is in Africa) under a golden sky.  Above her head is a full moon with a green serpent coming around it.  Four African children do acrobatics and dance around her while playing with fireballs and flames.  Bast smiles a knowing cat-smile at the scene around her.  This card is a bit indescribable, but it gives of a feeling of spontaneity, creative outbursts, and playful energy that is hard to contain – like kittens tussling and scampering.  Although it appears very positive, in a poorly-dignified or tilted sense it could also mean playing with fire, and being silly in a situation in which more seriousness is called for.

Six of Cups – Compassion.  This card could also be called Healing, based on the design.  An African woman lies unconscious or exhausted on a beach with five women sitting next to her, her head on the lap of one.  The five women are all different colors, sizes, and ages, and each puts her two hands on the African woman in a posture of healing and meditation.  The waves lap at their feet, and in the water are five golden cups, spilling water toward the shoreline.  The woman lying down holds a sixth cup in her left hand, as if she went through great travails to obtain it from the sea and is exhausted from her efforts.  In the water are water nymphs, one offering each of the five watery cups, as if they are blessing the efforts of the women on the shore.  To me, this card suggests women healing each other after one goes through a period of emotional difficulty – each knows that the time may come when they will need healing and each offers their support to the others.  The sea of emotions promises great riches, in terms of understanding ourselves and gaining golden cups of wisdom, but sometimes the travel is dangerous and tiring.  It is wonderful to know that friends will be waiting on the other side.

Thrysse