Swords

Swords correspond to the element of air: thought, communication, truth, and conflict. They answer the question of what you think, how you say it, and what is actually true — decisions, negotiations, anxiety, and the running conversation you have with yourself usually land in this suit. Air cuts: it separates what is real from what is assumed, and it can wound.

The Swords curve is the sharpest and the most honest of the four. An upright sword (the Ace) is clarity; Two through Four swing between hesitation, heartbreak, and rest; Five through Seven are winning and losing, transition, and strategy — air puts words out in the open, and often says more than it should; Eight through Ten push thought to its limit: self-imposed limits, sleeplessness, until ten swords settle — a final ending, and no more thinking required. These court cards read as four kinds of people who speak from the head: the watchful Page, the charging Knight, the clear-eyed Queen, the impartial King.