Queen of Swords
Secret whisperSword raised, hand open — the clear sight of one who has known grief.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordsclarity, independence, honesty, perception
Clear thinking, honesty and independence. Speak your truth, firmly and fairly.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordscoldness, bitterness, harsh judgement, cruelty
Bitterness or coldness has crept in. Let some compassion into your judgement.
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 Queens of the tarot
Queens hold the suit inwardly: mastery through care, receptivity and emotional maturity.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Widowhood, female sadness and embarrassment, absence, sterility, mourning, privation, separation.
Reversed: Malice, bigotry, artifice, prudery, bale, deceit.
The picture
Her right hand raises the weapon vertically and the hilt rests on an arm of her royal chair the left hand is extended, the arm raised her countenance is severe but chastened; it suggests familiarity with sorrow. It does not represent mercy, and, her sword notwithstanding, she is scarcely a symbol of power.
