← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 54/121
Four of Swords
The Four of Swords is the card of rest. After conflict, worry or hard thinking, the mind needs to stop. It speaks of retreat, recovery, quiet reflection and a deliberate pause — time out, not time lost.
The image
The stone effigy of a knight lies on a tomb, hands together in prayer. Three swords hang on the wall above him, pointing down, and a fourth lies along the side of the tomb. A stained-glass window shows a figure in blessing. The effigy is usually read as stillness rather than death: the swords are put down, and the window suggests that peace is a kind of grace.
Upright
Rest, recuperation, solitude, meditation, gathering strength before the next step. Waite lists "vigilance, retreat, solitude, hermit's repose". It often advises stepping back from a problem rather than forcing it, and taking care of oneself through a demanding time.
Reversed
Waite's reversal is wise administration, circumspection and economy — a return to activity, handled carefully. Modern readers also see restlessness, rest that is refused, or a withdrawal that has gone on too long. Some readers do not use reversals.
Correspondences
Minor Arcana, the Four of the suit of Swords, element Air. In the Golden Dawn system, which most English-language decks follow, it is Jupiter in the third decan of Libra, 20°–30°, in Chesed, the fourth sephirah. The Order called it "Rest from Strife".
In a reading
As advice it is plain: pause, sleep, step away. In the past it can show a period of recovery; as an outcome, calm after a struggle. After the Three of Swords it reads as the time to heal; next to The Hermit, a deliberate retreat.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Decan: Jupiter in Libra, 20°–30°
Element: Air — the element of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius
Mode: Cardinal — Libra is a cardinal sign