Ace of Swords
clarity · a breakthrough · truth · a decision
Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.
The suit of Swords
In a few words
- clarity
- a breakthrough
- truth
- a decision
A sword held up through a crown. Sudden clarity, a truth that cuts through, a decision made clean.
Upright
- Everything
- A sword held up through a crown. Sudden clarity, a truth that cuts through, a decision made clean.
- Love
- Honest words, a clear talk that settles things. Truth over comfort.
- Work
- A breakthrough idea, a sharp plan, a contract with clear terms.
- Money
- Clarity about the numbers. A decisive move that ends confusion; also, force can cut both ways.
- Myself
- Your mind is sharp today. Use it on the problem, not on yourself.
Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest, triumph of force. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred. The crown may carry a much higher significance than comes usually within the sphere of fortune-telling.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 252
Reversed
- Everything
- Confusion, a blunt blade, an argument that cuts without settling anything.
- Love
- Harsh words, or the truth avoided. Cruelty is not honesty.
- Work
- A plan with a flaw in its logic. Rethink before you push.
- Money
- Misjudged decision, or force used where care was needed.
- Myself
- Overthinking into a knot. Put the sword down and breathe.
The same, but the results are disastrous; another account says—conception, childbirth, augmentation, multiplicity.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 252
The card, as Waite described it
A hand issues from a cloud, grasping a sword, the point of which is encircled by a crown.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 252
The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.