The Two of Swords: An Impasse in Thinking or Communication

Two of Swords

"He stands in the path, warding off those who venture near.  His cloaked presence is obdurate and imposing.  Steel flashes as he draws the two swords to bar the way.  'Who wishes to pass?' he demands, with eyes and teeth that gleam like the reflections from the twin blades.  He stands there, as hard and unyielding as the metal of the forged swords.  The spirits of the woods writhe and churn in the trees around him.  They draw back from that cold steel, from that icy figure.
The Two of Swords is a stalemate, an impasse.  Neither side will compromise, and so no progress can be made until one chooses to step aside.  It is a lock-stepped balance, a strange dance that struggles to find some grace without yielding any ground .  It is a denial of truth, an avoidance of what is clear before your eyes or hiding in your heart.  
'Open your eyes,' urges the swan, proffering a token, a flower, a poppy that is the sleeping death that existence becomes when stubborn barriers cannot be laid aside.
'Open your heart,' urges the swan, tendering the beating gem, the heart that stills when there is only the desire to take and not give." ~Shadowscapes Tarot

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Swords are the element of air, or the intellect and twos are balance or relationship.  If we are not in agreement, how do we move forward while honoring our truths as well as another's?  How do we find this balance and harmony that the two asks for?  How do we give and be in understanding without giving up ourselves?  The Two of Swords is asking us to find a way to stand in our truth but open up to the truth of others as well and open our hearts so we might move forward into a better place.