Ace of Swords
The ace of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a hand from a cloud grasping a sword, its point encircled by a crown. A. E. Waite read it as triumph, conquest and great force.
Meaning
Waite describes the card: "A hand issues from a cloud, grasping as word, the point of which is encircled by a crown."
What does the Ace of Swords mean?
Waite's meanings are "triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest, triumph of force. It is acard of great force, in love as well as in hatred"; reversed, "the same, but the results are disastrous; another account says—conception, childbirth, augmentation, multiplicity". His list of additional meanings adds "great prosperity or great misery", and reversed, "marriage broken off, for a woman, through her own imprudence".
In older decks
In Italian packs the suit is spade, swords: the earliest suit marks, the British Museum's catalogue of 1876 records, were coppe, danari, bastoni and spade, "cups, money, clubs, and swords". Papus reads it as "Commencement of enmity."
Read next
- Next in Tarot cardsTwo of SwordsThe two of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a blindfolded woman balancing two swords on her shoulders. A. E. Waite read it as conformity, balance, courage and friendship.
- The same shape in Christian symbolsINRIINRI are the initials of the Latin for “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”, the charge the Gospel of John says Pilate had fixed to Christ’s cross. Crucifixes in the Western churches show the four letters on a small board above his head.
See also
The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant.
Sources
- The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, by A. E. Waite, William Rider & Son, London, 1910 (the sacred-texts.com transcription, on the Internet Archive), The Lesser Arcana; Some Additional Meanings of the Lesser Arcana
- The Tarot of the Bohemians, by Papus, Chapman & Hall, London, 1896, translated by A. P. Morton (scan on the Internet Archive), The Divining Tarot, second lesson: the minor arcana
- A Descriptive Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum, by W. H. Willshire, Trustees of the British Museum, London, 1876 (scan on the Internet Archive), General history: the marks of the suits
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from crosses, letters and numbers or squares and rectangles.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
Added . Last updated .