Four of Swords:
"Instinct: Stabilization and keeping still. Goal: Repose and peace (self-knowledge and renewal through the experience of suffering). Light: Social justice, tolerance. Shadow: Forced retreat (illness), isolation. Quality: The lull in the fighting showing prospects of peace.
This card reflects the need to pull back and defensively protect oneself against the external world. Since the ego has not yet recognized that the true obstacles come from within and the external circumstances only trigger them, it digs in and seals itself off in order to avoid a defeat. The St. Andrew's Cross formed by the four swords then represents an apparent stability, yet on a deeper level it means that we learn through suffering until we are released."
--Banzhaf
