Six of Swords
The Six of Swords shows a passage from troubled waters toward a calmer shore. Things get better gradually as you move away from what has been hard.
You long to leave but feel stuck, or the past keeps following you onto the boat.
The card's advice: Take the hand of the person offering to help.
Six of Swords: reading the picture
A ferryman in a satgat, the wide cone-shaped Korean bamboo hat, leans on a long pole and pushes the boat off. In front of him sit a woman with a flower in her hair and a younger companion, both facing the same way. Neither looks back. Six swords stand upright along the bow, so the past is coming along for the ride. Close to the hull the water still churns white, but toward the far side it flattens into gold, and on the hill waits a tile-roofed house among pines. The passengers don't touch the pole. Their only job is to sit still and let someone steady carry them across.
Six of Swords in love, work and money
- Love and relationships
You may be leaving a painful relationship, or crossing a hard season together and slowly finding ease. Even if old hurts ride along in the boat, the water grows smoother as you keep moving forward.
- Work and study
A transfer, a new job, or a change of setting lets you breathe again. The new place may feel strange at first, but leaning on a helpful mentor or coworker will help you settle in fast.
- Money
Tight finances are gradually shifting toward stability. If a big change like a move or a new lease is ahead, get guidance from someone experienced and cross slowly.
Driving home in a borrowed U-Haul
Two years into a New York job that left her exhausted, a 26-year-old decided to move back to her parents' place in Columbus and regroup. It felt like quitting. Her older brother flew in, rented the truck, and did all eight hours of driving while she sat in the passenger seat with a box of kitchen things on her lap. She'd drawn the Six of Swords the week before. Watching him drive, she understood the ferryman: being carried for a while isn't the same as failing. The boxes came along, and that was fine too.
Questions to ask yourself after drawing Six of Swords
- What worry still rides in the boat, even though you've left the place it came from?
- Who is poling your boat right now, and have you told them what it means to you?
- What ordinary thing do you want to do first once the water calms?
Six of Swords as a yes or no
Yes You are moving toward a better place than where you are now, so careful steps forward are fine.
Easy to confuse with Eight of Cups
Both are departures. In the Eight of Cups, a lone figure walks off under the moon with a staff, leaving neatly stacked cups behind because they no longer satisfy. The Six of Swords isn't walking alone; it's being carried, luggage and all. One is a decision made on foot. The other is a crossing made with help.
A common misreading of Six of Swords
Because it shows people leaving, some read the Six as running away. The direction here is clear, rough water toward calm water, and nobody is sneaking off. Staying put isn't the only brave option. Moving somewhere that hurts less is part of recovery.
Symbols in Six of Swords
A ferryman poles a boat carrying a huddled woman and child to the far shore. The six swords standing in the boat are worries still being carried, but the rough water behind and the smooth water ahead show a path that keeps improving.
How we drew Six of Swords
- Kept from the 1909 card
the boat holding six swords, the ferryman with his pole, the woman and child, the calm far shore
- What we changed
The ferryman wears a satgat (a wide bamboo hat).