Six of Swords
The Six of Swords shows a ferryman guiding a boat away from a burning shore toward calmer, starlit waters, symbolizing a transition from turmoil to mental clarity. It highlights the necessity of acknowledging past wounds and accepting help in order to move forward. The card warns that movement without inner readiness or clinging to familiar pain can stall progress and yield only partial relief. Ultimately it counsels measured passage: steady your course, name the losses, and trust that leaving destructive circumstances behind opens space for quieter horizons.
Keywords
Visual description
A man in green overalls and suspenders stands with one hand on his hip and the other holding a long pole inside a small wooden rowboat set on a fiery red, smoky sea. In the background, six upright swords (labeled as pins) are planted in a distant shore beneath a star-speckled sky; a small booth at the boat's prow is marked 'TICKETS'. Ornate red curtains and a gilded frame border the scene, and the card title at the bottom reads 'GRANDUNCLE CHARON' and 'SIX OF PINS' with the words 'crooked way tarot' visible.
Meaning
A lone ferryman pushes a boat away from a burning shoreline and toward the quiet sweep of stars, the air thick with smoke and the metallic flash of six blades behind him. You can almost feel the rasp of the pole in his hands and the timbre of relief that comes with leaving a violent scene for calmer waters; the journey speaks of necessary transition, of moving from turmoil toward a place where thought can settle. The swords planted aft mark events and wounds already incurred, reminders that passage involves acknowledgement of what was lost rather than its denial. Sometimes the voyage is literal travel or help accepted from another, and sometimes it is the slow, inward crossing from confusion into clarity. Yet the same image can bend in another direction: the boat can stall, the ferryman can turn back, or you can cling to familiar pain and delay the crossing, dragging past burdens into the new shore. In that shadowed reversal the promise of relief is muted and progress feels provisional, teaching that movement without inner readiness will bring only partial respite. Ultimately the card asks for measured passage—hold the pole steady, name the losses, accept assistance, and trust that leaving a blaze behind opens space for quieter horizons.
Crooked Way tarot
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