The Four of Swords signifies benevolence on the intellectual level of human expression. Four of Swords upright: classification. Four of Swords reversed: bureaucracy.
Chesed is the Sephirah of benevolence, measurement, and order. On the intellectual level of human expression (swords), the characteristic of order takes precedence. Orderly thinking is benevolent and promotes expansion.
That mathematical equations can simulate quantum mechanics and black holes and predict the movements of the stars and planets, proves that the cosmos is a surprisingly orderly matter. In fact, one could make the point that the universe is the result of mathematical engineering. So-called cosmic constants, like the gravitational constant, the Planck’s constant, and the elementary charge, are fine-tuned to produce physical phenomena. If they veered just a tiny bit, the universe would fall apart.
According to ageless wisdom, the universe is not just an orderly but also a benevolent affair. Consider this: Sometime after the Big Bang, stars formed and died. Planets formed from the (exploding) corpses of dead stars. That has a ring of sacrifice to it, doesn’t it? And planets provide the materials for organisms. As you can see, organisms are literally made of stardust.
Order-making is the faculty of consciousness of the Four of Swords. This is where the secondary meanings of wise administration, circumspection, economy, precaution, and certain success following wise administration come from.
This brings us to the dualism of order and chaos. We can observe this dualism in many aspects of life. For instance, we can observe periods of order and chaos in nature, politics, and our minds. But chaotic tides are still part of the overall benevolent order of the universe. The tidings of order and chaos are the yin and yang within the tao of the cosmic order.
To prevail, an order must be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. Nature established itself despite the somewhat hostile geological condition of our planet. Nature’s adaptability allowed it to survive four apocalyptic events, weather five ice ages, and recover periodically from storms, droughts, and floods.
Man-made orders are not that flexible. Over time, they become bureaucratic or even tyrannical and their beneficence dries up. Hence, an inauspicious Four of Swords may indicate the need for reformation.
Order is the benevolent ground on which undertakings thrive. This is valid for civilizations, businesses, relationships, organizations, and families. An auspicious Four of Swords calls for order, organization, re-organization, regulation, symmetry, systematic approaches, and regularity.
If the querent’s question pertains to adversity, the Four of Swords calls for harnessing the all-present benevolence veiled by the appearance of adversity. And this calls for the exercise of gratitude and affirmations that remind the querent of the ever-working benevolence. Example: I recognize the perpetual working of the benevolent order of the universe in all the circumstances of my life.
An inauspicious Four of Swords may indicate a period of (seeming) chaos. Chaos is scary. That’s where the secondary meanings of fear, anxiety, stress, and overload come from. We deal with periods of chaos by weathering them, hence, an auspicious Four of Swords calls for patience and positivity.
An auspicious Four of Swords may also herald the end of a period of chaos. That’s where the secondary meanings of rest, relaxation, recuperation, peace, quiet, and regrouping come from.
Four of Swords Symbolism
The four swords in the picture assume a rectangular arrangement, which signals order.
They also indicate a clockwise movement, suggesting an orderly progression progression in time.
Hence, the square has the feel of a circle. This brings us to the alchemical mystery of the squaring of the circle. This mystery symbolizes illumination: the awareness of the spirit’s benevolent presence (circle) inside the physical (square).
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Four of Swords
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life. In the Enlightenment Tarot framework, the Four of Swords represents Chesed of Hod, i.e., benevolence on the intellectual level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produce either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings.
These are the five core meanings of the Four of Swords:
- Enlightenment Tarot title: Order
- Power of consciousness: Order-making
- Constructive use: Classification
- Unconstructive use: Bureaucracy (inflexible order)
- Auspicious state of mind: A sense of order
- Inauspicious state of mind: A sense of disarray
Reflective Questions
If the Four of Swords appears in your spread, it may be beneficial to ask yourself the following questions:
- In which area of my life do I keep order, and how does this prompote my progress?
- In which area of my life do I cling to a rigid order that no longer serves me? How can I reform this order to make progress?
- How do I respond to periods of chaos? Am I able to see the general order in lesser moments of order and chaos?
- What practices help me cultivate an inner sense of order — mentally, emotionally, or spiritually?
- In what ways have past challenges and the chaos they caused led to a more harmonious, organized life?
- Do I recognize and appreciate the benevolence within nature, time, and my own growth?
Four of Swords Summary
Making order is not pigean-holing or beraucracy, but building a dynamic order that is expansive and benevolent.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings Actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings have dominated because Astrology favors fortune telling. But Astrological meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life mingle with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlap. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot Cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective and holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical and, hence, easier to memorize.
What Do Various Tarotists Say about the Meanings of the Four of Swords
Let’s explore what various tarotists wrote about the Four of Swords.
Tarotists emphasize the astrological significances of Tarot cards since these lend themselves to divination and fortune-telling. The Four of Swords corresponds to the third decanate of Libra, ruled by Venus and sub-ruled by Gemini and Mercury.
Libra is associated with the Karma/Justice card.
The main Libran characteristics are: artistic, just, and cooperative.
The second decanate Gemini vibes add the following characteristics the mix: logical, perceptive, and impartial.
Venus rules Libra, and that’s where the artistic and aesthetic traits come from.
Libra rules the 7th house of relationships and partnerships. This house governs all transactional relationships, like the relationship with our spouses, children, and business relations. That’s where the cooperative trait comes from.
Accordingly, the 7th house also rules diplomacy, negotiations, agreements, deals, and legal matters.
Last but not least, this house governs our relationship with the external world, which is ruled by karma.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Four of Swords
For the Four of Swords, Paul Foster Case proposed the keyword
rest.
With rest, he means rest from sorrow and strife (Three of Swords), wich is the result of understanding the karma that caused strife and led to sorrow.
Paul also offered the secondary meanings of relief from anxiety, rest after illness, quietness, change for the better, success in legal affairs (house of legal matters), association with others in Mercurial (intellectual) pursuits, activity in writing, or short journeys. He arrived at the latter two meanings considering the sub-rulership of Gemini, which governs the third house of short journey, writings, and scientific pursuits.
Considering the balancing capabilities of Karma (Libra), as well as Gemini, Paul perceived the following meaning: The Four of Swords results, in any level of life, as the balancing of pairs of opposites. Its chief meaning is rest from inharmony of any kind.
His inauspicious interpretations are: inharmony with partners (seventh house), unsettled conditions in legal affairs (seventh house), disorder and loss through ill-considered writings or needless short journeys (Gemini and the third house), and vexation through petty strife and sarcastic speech (intellectual vices).
Paul emphasised that the Four of Swords is not a card of death (as the Rider-Waite card seems to indicate) and that it may signify a strong mental attraction to a person of the opposite sex. Why mental attraction? Because we are on the intellectual level of human expression. Mind also that Gemini (an airy/intellectual sun sign) is associated with the Relationship/Lovers card.
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the FOUR of Swords
Arthur Edward Waite suggested that the Four of Swords is predominantly inauspicious, which is questionable, since the root power is benevolence.
But he added that if the card is reversed, it suggests that a qualified success may be expected by wise administration of affairs.
According to him, the card carries meanings like vigilance (an intellectual virtue), wise administration and certain success following wise administration (see Paul Foster Case), circumspection, economy, and precaution. These meanings pertain to orderly approaches of challenges.
Arthur suggestions meanings that pertain to solitude, like retreat, hermit’s repose, exile, tomb and coffin, which have suggested the card’s design. How he arrived at these meanings is unclear. The astrological associations don’t lead to these meanings. Maybe, he elaborated on the meaning of rest, considering that solitude is the opposite of having partnerships (seventh house). Having said that, the house that opposes the seventh house is the first house, the house of the self, which is not a house of solitude.
Last but not least, Arthus suggested that this card signifies testaments (house of legal affairs) and greed. How he arrived at the meaning of greed is unclear.
What Etteilla Said About the Meanings of the Four of Swords
Etteilla, a French occultist and the first known professional tarotist, offers the meanings of solitude and savings.
Like in Arthur’s case, the meaning of solitude is questionable. Savings result from orderly management.
What Papus Said About the Meanings of the Four of Swords
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, suggests that this card signifies the defeat of an enemy.
This concurs with Paul’s idea of finding rest from sorrow after understanding karma and making adjustments.
However, conflicts are a subset of adversity and overcoming adversity would have been a better term.
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meanings of the Four of Swords
Like Arthur, Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, suggested that an auspicious Four of Swords signifies solitude, retreat, solitary, abandonment, and hermitage.
He also proposed the following meanings, which pertain to orderly management: economy, precaution, and regulation of expenditure.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meanings of the Four of Swords
Mme. Le Marchand, a 19th-century celebrated Parisian fortune teller, believed that the Four of Swords indicates that there is someone among the querent’s circle of acquaintances, who wishes to be united to him/her in marriage. If the querent consents he/she won’t regret it.
This interpretation goes back to the house of partnerships, which includes marriage.
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pents are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective, holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
If you want to delve deep into the psychological meanings of Tarot cards, read the book Tarot of Life.
If you are curious about how the Enlightenment Tarot came about, read this article.
If you are interested in learning how to perform psychological Tarot readings, subscribe to receive a free copy of a guide on how to perform psychological Tarot readings.
If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you have come to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
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This exceptional Tarot deck is based on an objective and holistic, psychological framework: the Tree of Life. All minor and major cards feature psychological titles. For example, the Magician has the title ‘Attention’, and the Six of Cups has the title ‘Decision’. The court cards exhibit psychological profiles. For instance, the Queen of Wands stands for a willful woman: generous or stubborn, resolute or revengeful, intense or tyrannical, magnetic or dangerous.