Six of Swords
Secret whisperThe ferry crosses to quieter water; carry your sorrow gently.
Upright meaning
Upright keywordstransition, moving on, recovery, a journey
You are leaving troubled times for calmer waters. A transition — perhaps a real journey — brings relief.
Reversed meaning
Reversed keywordsresisting change, unfinished business, emotional baggage, feeling stuck
Unresolved baggage is coming along for the ride. Deal with it before you can truly move on.
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 Sixs of the tarot
Sixes restore harmony: recovery, generosity and finding balance again.
In Waite’s own words (1910)
From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, public domain. Original English text.
Divinatory meaning: Journey by water, route, way, envoy, commissionary, expedient.
Reversed: Declaration, confession, publicity; one account says that it is a proposal of love.
The picture
A ferryman carrying passengers in his punt to the further shore. The course is smooth, and seeing that the freight is light, it may be noted that the work is not beyond his strength.
