Card glossary › Rider-Waite

Queen of Swords

Rider-Waite

General meaning

Upright

↕ Reversed

By topic

Love

clear boundaries in the relationshipdirect communication about what you want in lovehonesty about your own feelingsimpartial judgment about your partnerhealthy emotional independenceclarity about what you expect from the bondperceptiveness in detecting important signsfrankness in the relationshipwisdom earned from past relationshipsfirm personal judgment in love

↕ excessive coldness in the relationship, verbal cruelty toward your partner, emotional isolation in love, harsh judgment about your partner, cutting communication in the relationship, romantic bitterness, excessive emotional distance, merciless criticism toward the other person, independence that turns into emotional loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for the other's feelings

Friendship

clear boundaries in friendshipsdirect communication with friendshonesty about what you thinkimpartial judgment about social relationshipshealthy social independenceclarity about what you expect from a friendshipperceptiveness in detecting genuine friendshipsfrankness with your close circlewisdom earned from past social experiencesfirm personal judgment about friendships

↕ excessive coldness in friendship, verbal cruelty toward friends, social isolation, harsh judgment about others, cutting communication with the group, social bitterness, excessive emotional distance with friends, merciless criticism toward your close circle, independence that turns into social loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for others' feelings

Family

clear boundaries in the family dynamicdirect communication with the familyhonesty about household mattersimpartial judgment about family situationshealthy emotional independence within the householdclarity about what's expected within the familyperceptiveness in detecting what's really happening at homefrankness with loved oneswisdom earned from past family experiencesfirm personal judgment about household matters

↕ excessive coldness in the family, verbal cruelty toward relatives, emotional isolation at home, harsh judgment about the family, cutting communication within the household, family bitterness, excessive emotional distance with the family, merciless criticism toward loved ones, independence that turns into family loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for family feelings

Career

clear boundaries in the professional realmdirect communication about career goalshonesty about your own pathimpartial judgment about professional opportunitieshealthy vocational independenceclarity about what's expected professionallyperceptiveness in detecting genuine opportunitiesfrankness in the work environmentwisdom earned from past professional experiencesfirm personal judgment about your own career

↕ excessive coldness in the professional realm, verbal cruelty toward colleagues, professional isolation, harsh judgment about your own performance, cutting communication at work, vocational bitterness, excessive emotional distance in the professional environment, merciless criticism toward your own path, independence that turns into professional loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for colleagues' feelings

Work

clear boundaries in your roledirect communication with the teamhonesty about your own performanceimpartial judgment about taskshealthy independence at workclarity about what's expected of the teamperceptiveness in detecting problems in the processfrankness with colleagueswisdom earned from past work experiencesfirm personal judgment about your own work

↕ excessive coldness at work, verbal cruelty toward the team, work isolation, harsh judgment about colleagues, cutting communication in your role, work bitterness, excessive emotional distance with the team, merciless criticism toward others' work, independence that turns into work loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for the team's feelings

Studies

clearanalytical mindstudying independentlyobjectivityhonestydemanding but fair teacherbeing well organisedcritical thinkinghumanities or law studies

↕ coldness, excessive criticism, isolation, bitterness, demands that hurt, perfectionism, judging others, being hard on yourself

Money

clear boundaries with your own financesdirect communication about money mattershonesty about your own financial situationimpartial judgment about financial decisionshealthy financial independenceclarity about your own money prioritiesperceptiveness in detecting a good financial decisionfrankness in financial agreementswisdom earned from past financial experiencesfirm personal judgment about your own finances

↕ excessive coldness in money matters, verbal cruelty when talking about finances, financial isolation, harsh judgment about financial decisions, cutting communication about money, financial bitterness, excessive emotional distance in money agreements, merciless criticism toward others' financial decisions, independence that turns into financial loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for others' feelings about money

Pets

clear boundaries in its caredirect communication about handling ithonesty about what it needsimpartial judgment about its behaviorhealthy independence in raising itclarity about what's expected of its careperceptiveness in detecting its true needsfrankness with other caretakerswisdom earned from past experiences with animalsfirm personal judgment about handling it

↕ excessive coldness in its care, cruelty toward the animal from excessive self-demand, isolation in the relationship with the pet, harsh judgment about its behavior, cutting communication about handling it, bitterness related to its care, excessive emotional distance with the pet, merciless criticism toward raising it, independence that turns into loneliness in the bond, brutal honesty with no regard for the animal's process

Health

clear boundaries regarding your own bodydirect communication about your own healthhonesty about your own stateimpartial judgment about wellbeing decisionshealthy independence in self-careclarity about your own physical needsperceptiveness in detecting important signals from the bodyfrankness with health professionalswisdom earned from past health experiencesfirm personal judgment about your own wellbeing

↕ excessive coldness toward your own body, cruelty toward yourself from excessive physical self-demand, isolation in your own health process, harsh judgment about your own state, cutting communication about health matters, bitterness related to your own wellbeing, excessive emotional distance from your own body, merciless criticism toward your own process, independence that turns into loneliness in self-care, brutal honesty with no regard for your own healing process

Choices

clear boundaries when considering the optionsdirect communication about your own decisionhonesty about what you truly wantimpartial judgment between the alternativeshealthy independence when decidingclarity about your own criteriaperceptiveness in detecting the best optionfrankness in communicating a choicewisdom earned from past decisionsfirm personal judgment when choosing

↕ excessive coldness when deciding, verbal cruelty when opining about someone else's choice, isolation in the decision process, harsh judgment about the options considered, cutting communication about the dilemma, bitterness related to a past decision, excessive emotional distance when choosing, merciless criticism toward the alternatives, independence that turns into loneliness when deciding, brutal honesty with no regard for the decision's impact

Creative projects

clear boundaries in your own creative processdirect communication about the projecthonesty about your own workimpartial judgment about the workhealthy independence in creationclarity about your own artistic visionperceptiveness in detecting what works in the projectfrankness with collaboratorswisdom earned from past projectsfirm personal judgment about your own work

↕ excessive coldness in the creative process, verbal cruelty when criticizing a work, creative isolation, harsh judgment about your own work, cutting communication about the project, bitterness related to the creative work, excessive emotional distance from your own process, merciless criticism toward collaborators, independence that turns into creative loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for others' effort

Creativity

clear boundaries in your own processdirect communication about your own expressionhonesty about your own talentimpartial judgment about your own workhealthy independence in your own artistic voiceclarity about your own styleperceptiveness in detecting your own authenticityfrankness about your own creative processwisdom earned from past artistic experiencesfirm personal judgment about your own expression

↕ excessive coldness toward your own process, cruelty toward yourself from excessive self-criticism, isolation in your own creative process, harsh judgment about your own talent, cutting communication about your own art, bitterness related to your own expression, excessive emotional distance from your own talent, merciless criticism toward your own work, independence that turns into personal creative loneliness, brutal honesty with no regard for your own process

✨ 3 tips for combining it

1. With Justice, clear judgement without beating around the bush. Example: Queen of Swords + Justice is setting boundaries firmly and honestly.
2. With Cups, the head rules the heart. Example: Queen of Swords + Two of Cups speaks of choosing logically in love.
3. With solitude cards, chosen independence. Example: Queen of Swords + The Hermit is being comfortable in your own company.

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