Knight of Swords
Secret whisperHe charges into the storm; the wind follows the fastest mind.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordsambition, drive, quick thinking, decisive action
Fast, determined action toward a goal. Charge ahead — with a clear purpose.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordsrecklessness, impatience, aggression, burnout
Rushing in without a plan. Slow down before you crash, and watch your words.
About the suit of Swords
Swords belong to Air: thought, truth, words, decisions and conflict. They cut both ways — bringing clarity, and the pain that clarity can cost.
Reading the Knights of the tarot
Knights are in motion: the quest, action and the energy of the suit pushed to extremes.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Skill, bravery, capacity, defence, address, enmity, wrath, war, destruction, opposition, resistance, ruin. There is therefore a sense in which the card signifies death, but it carries this meaning only in its proximity to other cards of fatality.
Reversed: Imprudence, incapacity, extravagance.
The picture
He is riding in full course, as if scattering his enemies. In the design he is really a prototypical hero of romantic chivalry. He might almost be Galahad, whose sword is swift and sure because he is clean of heart.
