AUTHOR’S NOTE: In the Golden Dawn’s system of elemental correspondences for the suits of the tarot, Swords are assigned to Air, suggesting admirable fluidity, flexibility and agility. This despite the fact that, as A.E. Waite observed in his Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Swords “generally are not symbolic of beneficent forces in human affairs” simply because they often represent conflict.

A close look at many of the Minor Arcana confirms this impression. Even their upright orientation leaves much to be desired regarding the nimble expression of ideas, attitudes and beliefs that is customarily ascribed to the mental purview of Air; there is a feeling of being psychologically “stuck” (as exemplified by the phrase “analysis paralysis”) in the majority of them. Reversal adds a strong element of chaos or cognitive disarray to the equation. It can be difficult to “get to the point” when this occurs.

Here is a brief card-by-card synopsis of my take on the upright and reversed meaning of the ten minor Swords; most of these came off the top of my head specifically for this study and are a reasonable blend of traditional knowledge and free-association of the kind that I bring to my reading. (A more comprehensive vocabulary of key words and phrases can be found in my “Tarot 101” teaching material elsewhere in this blog, and more informally in my “tarot euphemisms” post.)

Ace of Swords upright: Mental acuity
Ace of Sword reversed: Mental confusion

Two of Swords upright: Indecision leading to inaction
Two of Swords reversed: Attempting to choose without having all the facts

Three of Swords upright: Being immobilized by anxiety.
Three of Swords reversed: Breaking free of mental bondage but with no clear plan

Four of Swords upright: “Lying down and avoiding” (i.e. refraining from) confrontation
Four of Swords reversed: Having to vacate an untenable posture of avoidance

Five of Swords upright: Facing one’s demons in the form of self-defeating attitudes
Five of Swords reversed: Denying vulnerability to mental weakness

Six of Swords upright: Savoring (and leveraging) one’s state of mental equilibrium
Six of Swords reversed: Falling back into unstable patterns of thought and behavior.

Seven of Swords upright: Striking out in a new direction with a fresh perspective
Seven of Swords reversed: Being stymied by previous complications and difficulties

Eight of Swords upright: Experiencing a crisis of misapprehension
Eight of Swords reversed: Resigning oneself to a lack of clarity

Nine of Swords upright: A moment of stark realization that doesn’t yield recovery
Nine of Swords reversed: Marinating in one’s inner turmoil

Ten of Swords upright: A “scorched earth” scenario; there is nowhere to go but up
Ten of Swords reversed: A stalled agenda that is going nowhere fast; possibly the “death of a dream” that was presaged by the 9 of Swords.