Two of Swords
The 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.
Meaning
In Waite's words: "A hoodwinked female figure balances two swords upon her shoulders."
What does the Two of Swords mean?
Waite's meanings are "conformity and the equipoise which it suggests, courage, friendship, concord in a state of arms; another reading gives tenderness, affection, intimacy"; reversed, "imposture, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty". His list of additional meanings adds "gifts for a lady, influential protection for a man in search of help", and reversed, "dealings with … rogues".
In older decks
The Italian suit is spade, swords, among the marks of the earliest cards in the British Museum's catalogue of 1876. Papus reads it as "The enmity does not last."
Read next
- Next in Tarot cardsThree of SwordsThe three of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: three swords piercing a heart, with cloud and rain behind. A. E. Waite read it as removal, absence, delay and division.
- 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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