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Tarot · Swords

Four of Swords

Four of Swords: The stone effigy of a knight lies with folded hands on a tomb in a church; three swords hang on the wall, a fourth lies beneath him, and above is a stained-glass window.

The picture

The stone effigy of a knight lies with folded hands on a tomb in a church; three swords hang on the wall, a fourth lies beneath him, and above is a stained-glass window.

The meaning

The knight lies still with his hands folded. The tradition reads the Four of Swords as rest, recovery and a time of retreat. It stands for a pause after effort in which you gather strength. The swords hang on the wall; they are not needed just now.

Reversed

Reversed, it is read as restlessness that allows no pause, or a slow return to activity.

In love

In love it is read as a need for quiet, or distance that may do both people good.

At work

At work it stands for time off, a holiday or a quiet phase for thinking.

As your card of the day

Today is a good day for a pause. Hang one sword on the wall and rest.

The Four of Swords stands for recovery. Give yourself a moment today with no task at all.

Swords belong to air. Readers see in them thought, decisions and plain words, the uncomfortable ones included.

Picture: Pamela Colman Smith, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, 1909, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).