☽︎Sky and Signs

Tarot · Swords

King of Swords

King of Swords: A king, seen from the front, sits on a throne carved with butterflies, holding an upright sword, with trees beneath a wide sky behind him.

The picture

A king, seen from the front, sits on a throne carved with butterflies, holding an upright sword, with trees beneath a wide sky behind him.

The meaning

The King of Swords looks straight ahead and judges by reasons. The tradition reads him as sound judgement, intellectual authority and justice. He stands for clear thinking, for rules and for decisions that can be explained. People go to him for level-headed advice.

Reversed

Reversed, he is read as severity without compassion, or a mind turned into a weapon.

In love

In love he is read as a dependable, sober partner, and a request not to forget the heart.

At work

At work he stands for expertise, leadership, law and clear structures.

As your card of the day

A clear head helps today. Weigh up the reasons, and then decide.

The King of Swords stands for fairness. Hear both sides today before you judge.

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).