King of Swords
The King of Swords represents principled authority, incisive intellect, and a commitment to truth and justice. He uses discernment and clear communication to advocate for the collective good and to hold systems and people accountable. The card urges action on truth—speaking, writing, organizing—rather than passive knowing, while reminding us to balance reason with feeling. If misused, his power can become harsh, controlling, or dismissive of emotion, so integrity and a calm, analytical approach are essential.
Keywords
Card Name
Keywords
Leading through discernment, fairness, rationality; authority through radical honesty, unbiased judgment, social justice and equity; truth-speaker.
Meaning
The King of Swords is the speaker of truth and upholder of justice. They are the witness and the judge, the activist and the organizer, the journalist and the whistleblower. As a King, their immense powers of discernment and communication are always put to work in the service of the highest good. When they speak or write or take action, they do it with foresight, integrity, and intelligence. They can be a diplomat or a demagogue, depending on the needs of the situation. Their insight is unrivaled, and their tongue is their sword.
In a Reading
In a reading, the King of Swords wants us to step up to our personal responsibility to the truth, asking if we are being faithful to what we know is right and true for ourselves and for the collective. As in the Justice card, knowing the truth is not enough—the King of Swords charges us to act on it. To uphold it, to write it, to paper the town with it, to petition it, to amplify it, to write a scathing polemic about it, to scream it into a megaphone at the head of a march. When ill-aspected, the King can wield their power too heavily, coming across as harsh, controlling, or authoritarian. With their massive powers of the mind, the King can diminish their own emotions and those of others, forgetting that truth is not just a province of the mind, but of emotion, too. In all cases, this card requires an analytical eye and a calm head, calling us always into the service of truth and into the embodiment of integrity.
Trailing Punctuation
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Visual Description
A single sprouting bulb with delicate green shoots and dangling roots floats above an open, upturned hand. Three elongated water droplets hang in the air around the bulb and a low mound of dark soil fills the card's lower edge. A simple, abstract symbol composed of intersecting lines appears between the hand and the soil. The image includes visible text: a watermark reading "FIFTH SPIRIT © CLAIRE BURGESS" across the soil and a Roman numeral "I" at the bottom edge.
Fifth Spirit tarot
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