Card Meaning: VI of Swords
Keywords: transition, travel, movement toward hope, fresh perspective, leaving a mental rut, greater clarity, acceptance of change
Reversed: forced journey, refusal to move on, carrying baggage, feeling sad or depressed, low point, lack of direction
Associated Major card: The Star
Card Meaning: The VI of Swords is about transition. You have been through some tough times, possibly a major life defeat with the V of Swords, and now you are in the recovery phase. The VI of Swords is a relief, it is a rest after defeat, but it is not a break. You are still in motion. This time of transition is still a time for movement. An example of this could be if you are on a long journey, perhaps a trip around the world. You have seen all the sights and learned so much about yourself and the world in one city and now it is time to board a bus to your next destination. The 10 hour bus ride seems like it is a rest, a break for your weary feet and your reeling mind. It isn't restful though. You're still in a foreign land, you can't fully recline in your seat, you brain is still processing and assimilating all the the new knowledge that has been crammed into it.
This travel analogy seeks to highlight how the VI of Swords includes rest and break from strife, but also requires continued action. You can't rest of your laurels. If you have had a major mental breakthrough and suddenly know what you want to do, it is not enough to simply know, you must act. You are in the process of breaking out of a mental rut or bad mental situation. Perhaps you can finally see how damaging your negative self talk is, and know that you need to stop it. The next step is to find ways to stop that angry little voice inside of your head. Would meditation help? Do you need to seek therapy? Do you need a change of scenery to help you get away from people who reenforce negativity that you know is damaging to you?
Above all, the transitional phase of the VI of Swords is hopeful. You are no longer in conflict, you can rest, you can make a plan, you can get on the right track. Now that mental clarity seems within reach, you feel a bit lighter at heart. Perhaps you are leaving an abusive or dead end relationship that has left you depleted and empty. This is the low point from which things start looking up again. You have decided to leave, that is wonderful in the long run. The key now is to keep moving toward wonderful, to keep distancing yourself from that relationship and defining what a more healthy and happy relationship would look like for you. If you're coming out of a rough patch in a long term relationship and have decided as a couple to stay together and work through your issues, the VI of Swords comes up to tell you there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You're renewed commitment needs to be nurtured and honored and eventually you will be able to put the past behind you both.
VI of Swords reversed:
When this card is reversed, resistance clouds your transition phase. Perhaps you just can't put the past behind you. You were defeated, let down, hurt, or injured somehow in the past and you keep thinking about that episode or phase. You are replaying in your mind all the pain of the past and don't want to let it go. But when the VI of Swords appears in a reading, it is time to let it go and move on. You had your time of grief, angry, or regret. You truly experienced that down state and now you need to start formulating a plan for your future. Stop resisting forward motion so that you can remain stagnant and trapped in pain. Yes, moving on can be terribly difficult, but it will not be as bad as forever staying stuck in past hurts and sorrows.
The VI of Swords reversed can come up when you are being dragged away from something that you love or are comfortable with unwillingly. This could be a physical place, a mental position or possibly a career you were invested in. Sometimes our life partners take a new job and we are forced to move to a place we don't want to move to. Perhaps new evidence comes to light and we are no longer able to ignore the truth about a situation that serves us well. Other times we are fired or let go from a job we enjoy because of forces outside of our control, like the economy or a new direction for the company. These kinds of unfortunate events are upsetting, but know that with the VI of Swords, if you can just change your perspective a little bit at a time on the incident, you may find yourself ending up somewhere you actually like. This is necessary movement, and it doesn't often lead us anywhere horrible. It's one of those times when the Universe decides something for us that we can only accept or understand in retrospect.