The Suit of Swords

Swords are the mind made into a blade. They are the suit of thought and speech, decision and argument, and the truths that hurt to hear. Their reputation as the hard suit is earned — they hold the heartbreak, the sleepless night, the betrayal — but a sword also cuts free. Where a Sword falls, something needs to be seen clearly, said plainly, or decided.

In other decks: blades or spades.

The element of air

Air is invisible and everywhere; you know it by what it moves. It carries sound, and so it carries words. In a reading, air speaks of the intellect — of analysis, communication, judgement — and of the way a mind can turn on itself, circling a worry until it becomes a cage.

In astrology, air is the element of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, and nine of these cards are the ten-day slices of those three signs. How the cards and the zodiac are paired.

Ace to Ten

The Ace is the blade through the cloud: a clean truth. Two is the blindfolded stalemate, Three the pierced heart. Four is the knight at rest, needed stillness. Five is a victory that costs the victor, Six the ferry to calmer water, Seven the thief slipping away. Eight is bound among blades that are looser than they look; Nine is awake at the dark hour. Ten is the ending — the worst, and then nothing worse. The suit is the mind's long argument with the truth.

The court

The court of Swords are people of the mind. The Page is quick and watchful; the Knight charges into the wind, direct to the point of ruthlessness; the Queen sees clearly and is not moved by flattery; the King is authority of the intellect, the judge who must also be fair.

Swords in a spread

A spread crowded with Swords is about thought and conflict — decisions, difficult conversations, anxiety, or a truth that needs to be spoken.

A spread with no Swords may mean the matter is not one to be thought through. Analysis may be the thing standing in the way.

The other suits

• The Suit of Wands — The suit of fire: will, desire, the spark that starts things and the drive that carries them through.
• The Suit of Cups — The suit of water: feeling, love, intuition and the life of the heart.
• The Suit of Disks — The suit of earth: the body, work, money, home, and everything that takes time to grow.
• The major arcana — the twenty-two cards outside the suits, and the one beyond them.