SIX OF SWORDS
Rider–Waite–Smith (1909)Key themes
Passage · A route · Assistance · A practical means
Card meaning
The Six of Swords concerns passage from one place or condition to another. A journey, a route or the work of an intermediary may provide a practical means of getting through a situation.
The movement is supported by a manageable task rather than a dramatic display. Consider who is helping the passage take place, what is being carried along and which conditions make the next stage realistically possible.
Key themes
Declaration · Disclosure · Public acknowledgement · A proposal
Card meaning
Reversed, the Six of Swords concerns something being declared or made known. A confession, disclosure or public account may change a situation that had previously depended on movement or indirect handling.
Another historical association is a proposal of love. These possibilities share an emphasis on expression, but the content still matters: establish what is being said, to whom and with what understanding before treating an announcement as agreement.
Image description
A standing boatman uses a long pole to carry a cloaked adult and a child across water. Six swords stand upright in the boat ahead of the seated passengers. The water is more rippled on one side, while low land and trees appear beyond.
Symbolism
- Boat
- — A practical means of passage rather than the destination itself.
- Boatman’s pole
- — Effort that helps others move through the situation.
- Seated passengers
- — Those whose passage depends on assistance and shared conditions.
- Six upright swords
- — The concerns or resources carried into the next stage.
- Distant shore
- — A further setting that can be approached one movement at a time.
Card advice
Identify the help and practical arrangements that would make a necessary transition manageable.
Based on A. E. Waite’s The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910). Modern English adaptation — At Madame Shirley’s Table. Illustrations: Pamela Colman Smith (1909). Scan restoration: Steve P.