Six of Swords Description and Symbolism

Upon a still gray winter sky, a woman with a child are ferried in a boat rowed by a strong man. To the northwest the waters are calm, smooth and resemble glass. Next to them in the southeast a small portion of turbulent water sits beside them. There are six swords in the boat in front of them perhaps symbolizing that the issues you are trying to escape are still in front of you. The woman looks down refusing to see the swords. They still have not reached the other side, so their problems have not completely cleared.

When the Six of Swords comes up in a reading it can indicate that sometimes the best way to end an emotional situation is to move away from it. Times may have been emotional and rough, but you are slowly finding your way out of a difficult situation, to calmer waters, where you are less emotional and more logical. Perhaps a friend can row you in the right direction. Though, you may have to do this on your own.

The Six of Swords can indicate a catalyst for change. It can indicate that you have met someone that is about to cause profound change.

You may even be trying to run away from your problems. But the turbulent water beside the woman and child, plus the six swords stuck in the boat indicate that you can’t really run away from your problems without solving them first. The Six of Swords can indicate that you really need to look at the problem head on and fix it from the root. Do not try to mask your problems with something else.

On rare occasions, the Six of Swords can also indicate death and funerals. This is because Mercury is the Greek God that carried the souls of the dead back and forth from the earth to the underworld. He was borrowed by the Romans and renamed Hermes.

The Six of Swords as a signifier is someone mercurial, broody, and melancholy, but at the same time aloof and distant. Someone who is consistently dissatisfied and always looking beyond when they should be looking in. Chasing the root cause of nothingness to obtain something that doesn’t exist. Never living in the moment.

Imagine a broody, melancholy person with soft, tousled brown hair that falls haphazardly across their face. They are always waiting a little too long to get a haircut. Until their hair is licking around the face, it’s object permanence. “Where did the time go?”

But it isn’t their fault. Time skips a beat in their world. It goes from here to there. Like an airplane, they travel so fast you’re across the world in a moment.

But they run. Always running and projecting their sadness and sorrow on someone else.

They once had a love, perhaps a wife, husband or good friend, that they will forever idealize. Know that this idealization isn’t worth it. Compartmentalize and move on they think. They can always tell you, “The greatest love of my life was Vanessa,” but they don’t mean it. Just a mercurial thought.

Jobs that this person maintains would all have to move quickly. Sales, etc.

When the Six of Swords presents itself in the outcome position of a tarot reading, it generally means that you will be leaving it behind. “It” referring to the question you asked. If you’ve asked about a job, you’ll be leaving your old job for a new job.