Four of Swords
The four of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: the effigy of a knight lying at prayer on his tomb. A. E. Waite read it as vigilance, retreat, solitude and repose.
Meaning
Waite's Key to the Tarot describes the design: "The effigy of a knight in the attitude of prayer, at full length upon his tomb."
What does the Four of Swords mean?
Waite's meanings are "vigilance, retreat, solitude, hermit's repose, exile, tomb and coffin. It is these last that have suggested the design"; reversed, "wise administration, circumspection, economy, avarice, precaution, testament". His list of additional meanings adds "A bad card, but if reversed a qualified success may be expected by wise administration of affairs", and reversed, "A certain success following wise administration".
In older decks
In Italian packs the suit is spade, swords, one of the four suit marks the British Museum's catalogue of 1876 gives for the earliest cards. Papus reads it as "Success against the enemy."
Read next
- Next in Tarot cardsFive of SwordsThe five of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a disdainful man gathering swords as two defeated figures walk away. A. E. Waite read it as degradation, destruction and loss.
- 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
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