Four of Swords
rest · a pause · retreat · quiet
Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.
The suit of Swords
In a few words
- rest
- a pause
- retreat
- quiet
A figure lying still in a chapel, swords on the wall. Rest, retreat, a deliberate pause before the next effort.
Upright
- Everything
- A figure lying still in a chapel, swords on the wall. Rest, retreat, a deliberate pause before the next effort.
- Love
- A quiet spell. Not a break-up; a breath. Give each other room.
- Work
- Step back and recover your energy. The problem will still be there, and you will be sharper.
- Money
- Hold, save, do nothing rash. A pause in spending is a decision too.
- Myself
- Stillness is not laziness. The mind needs a chapel sometimes.
Vigilance, retreat, solitude, hermit's repose, exile, tomb and coffin. It is these last that have suggested the design.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 246
Reversed
- Everything
- Restlessness, or a rest that has gone on too long. Time to rise, or refusing to.
- Love
- Coming back together after distance. Or withdrawal that has become avoidance.
- Work
- Back to work, ready. Or burnout ignored until it forces the stop.
- Money
- Ending a freeze on spending or investing. Move, carefully.
- Myself
- Either you have rested enough, or you refuse to rest at all. Be honest which.
Wise administration, circumspection, economy, avarice, precaution, testament.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 246
The card, as Waite described it
The effigy of a knight in the attitude of prayer, at full length upon his tomb.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 246
The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.