Card 53 • swords

Four of Swords

Brief Description

The Four of Swords signals endings, withdrawal, and a period of rest or introspection following loss or exhaustion. It represents a stillness before a new phase, recuperation from illness or emotional depletion, and withdrawal into oneself to heal. The card also points to receiving knowledge, power, and inspiration through dreams and lucid dreaming. Reversed, it indicates recovery and reentering life after withdrawal, or warns that the querent has remained withdrawn too long and must face the world anew; it can also reflect excessive sleeping tied to depression or anxiety that needs addressing.

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Card Name

Four of Swords

Description

Death of a person, idea, or project; solitude; introspection; resting; an illness; a time of stillness before a new phase of life begins; a time of spiritual morose; the dark night of the soul; a period of inaction; closure; withdrawing into oneself; recuperation; resignation; feeling dead inside and devoid of emotion; avoiding life; a need to get out and get doing again; oversleeping; knowledge, power, and inspiration are received through dreams; lucid dreaming.

Reversed

A period of rest or inaction nears an end; reentering life after a time of withdrawal; a spiritual reawakening; recovery; coming back from the brink of spiritual, physical, or emotional death; sleeping too much as a result of persistent depression or anxiety that must be addressed; a lack of closure; The querent has spent too much time in withdrawal and it's time to face the world anew.

Magickal Uses

Useful in magick to aid lucid or prophetic dreaming, or in meditations to bring solitude and introspection. Reversed and covered with a healing card such as the Ace of Cups or Temperance, use to help bring healing.

Visual Description

A lone figure lies on their back in deep snow, hands folded and smiling faintly as if in a dream. Four swords stand upright in the snow around them, each hilt tied with a flowing orange ribbon. Four wolves or large dogs ring the scene, watching silently from the corners, and a single shoe with a small lit candle rests near the figure's feet. Jagged mountains rise in the distance beneath a pale, clouded sky.

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Modern Spellcasters tarot

✍️ Deck author(s): Melanie Marquis, Scott Murphy

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