1. Tarot
2. Card meanings
3. Six of Swords

Minor Arcana · Swords

Six of Swords

• journey by water
• route
• way

Upright meaning

Passage to calmer water. Waite gives journey by water, route and way, and notes the work is not beyond the ferryman's strength.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, Waite reads declaration and confession: something said openly.

• declaration
• confession

Symbolism

A ferryman carries passengers in his boat toward the further shore.

Group

Minor Arcana · Swords

Element, astrology

Not given by Waite, so we give none

Source

Our own plain-English summary of A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1911), Part III §2 (The Lesser Arcana). The keywords are Waite’s own words. Waite’s fortune-telling lists also contain harsher terms; we keep to the reflective readings he gives and never state an event as certain.

Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a prediction of fixed outcomes. This is not medical, legal or financial advice.