Two of Swords
a stalemate · a blocked choice · a blindfold · balance held
Card art: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, for A. E. Waite. Public domain.
The suit of Swords
In a few words
- a stalemate
- a blocked choice
- a blindfold
- balance held
Blindfolded, two swords crossed over the heart. A choice you refuse to see; balance held by not moving.
Upright
- Everything
- Blindfolded, two swords crossed over the heart. A choice you refuse to see; balance held by not moving.
- Love
- Avoiding a decision about someone. The stalemate is itself a decision.
- Work
- Two options and a refusal to choose. Take off the blindfold; the facts are there.
- Money
- Caught between two financial paths. Delay costs; look and decide.
- Myself
- Peace kept by not looking. It is not peace; it is a pause.
Conformity and the equipoise which it suggests, courage, friendship, concord in a state of arms; another reading gives tenderness, affection, intimacy. The suggestion of harmony and other favourable readings must be considered in a qualified manner, as Swords generally are not symbolical of beneficent forces in human affairs.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 250
Reversed
- Everything
- The blindfold slips. Information arrives, and the standoff breaks, sometimes messily.
- Love
- Confusion lifting, or a decision forced by the other person.
- Work
- The choice made for you when you would not make it. Or clarity at last.
- Money
- Too much information, or a decision made in a panic. Slow down one notch.
- Myself
- Seeing what you avoided. Uncomfortable, and the way through.
Imposture, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 250
The card, as Waite described it
A hoodwinked female figure balances two swords upon her shoulders.The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911), p. 250
The plain-word meanings on this page were written for ShreeJyoti and are still under review.