the fiery sword or the sword of air

[llevella]

Sword = air
Pentacle/coin = earth
Cup = water
Rod = fire

BUT

"On this first card the symbols are: the sword as the
fiery element, the rod as the element of the air, the goblet as that of the water and the coins as
the element of the earth."
Franz Bardon "The Initiation into Hermetics"

What is the correct interpretation?

[ANONYMOUS1999]

My 5 cents on this.

The fiery sword to me correlates with GEVURAH. The fiery sword is not for humans to judge, only to defend. To me it is the outer sword. The airy sword to me correlates with the ZAYIN the 7, and is the inner sword. Inside is insight.

I don't know if there is one "correct" description, what works for you is good enough i guess.

https://ghostbin.com/paste/3d8b3

[llevella]

Carrying a sword as a symbol of fire would make sense as a literary depiction. GEVURAH - power- sword - fire makes sense to me, but I am sure that the ceremonial dagger/sword serves as a symbol of air in the hermetic rituals.
For example, in the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram from the Aurora Aurea when the archangel Raphael is invoked, he manifests himself as the representation of the Air element and is carrying a sword. Michael, however represents the fire element and is holding a wand.
Interestingly enough, Michael is often represented with a sword.
Obviously, the ritual magick symbolism is different from the literary symbols. The objects are the conduits of energy charged with the power of an element.
I wonder though, why Franz Bardon associates the objects/elements differently from what is common in the hermetic rituals.


Michael tramples Satan (Guido Reni, 1636)

[Redbeck]

Potentially in this instance, the sword is symbolically laid at rest upon the table to be seen as the ultimate weapon with which to banish evil from the living world, to be used when all else fails should the wand not suffice as the first line of purification of mind and spirit within the ether. The wand held aloft may also be used to light the way in a darkening world. The goblet represents water, the essence for survival of humankind and the rod is also prone upon the table as the tool of ultimate fair rule and equality, once the world is rid of dark satanic energies. Coins as the currency of change for the common good, also a warning against betrayal and corruption. The Magician stands in a brightly lit garden of salvation.



Caspar David Friedrich: Zwei Männer in Betrachtung des Mondes [Two Men Contemplating The Moon]. 1819/1820.