Queen of Swords tarot card meaning: upright, reversed and symbols

The Queen of Swords sits high on her throne above the clouds, sword upright in one hand and the other hand raised as if to invite you or to stop you. Butterflies are carved on her throne. She is clear-sighted, independent and honest. This page covers what the Queen of Swords means upright and reversed, the symbols Pamela Colman Smith drew and how to read her as a person or an energy.

At a glance

• Upright keywords: independence, clarity, intellect
• Reversed keywords: coldness, cruelty, harsh criticism
• Rank: Queen, one of the four court cards of Swords
• Suit and element: Swords, Air Later tradition
• Astrology: Saturn, Libra Modern
• Yes or no: Maybe Modern

The pairing of suits and elements comes from French occult writers of the 1800s, and the Golden Dawn fixed the version used here in the 1880s and 1890s. The astrology line is the pairing printed on my first tarot deck. Other books pair the Aces and court cards differently, so if yours disagrees, follow your own deck. The yes or no lean is a modern reading habit. Use these layers if they help you remember the card, and skip them if they get in the way.

The card: what Pamela Colman Smith drew

Waite wrote that “her right hand raises the weapon vertically and the hilt rests on an arm of her royal chair; the left hand is extended, the arm raised; her countenance is severe but chastened; it suggests familiarity with sorrow.”

The upright sword

Her sword points straight up. She values truth and fairness.

The raised hand

Her open hand can mean welcome or a clear boundary. Many readers see both: she will hear you, and she will not be fooled.

The butterflies

Butterflies decorate her throne. They are creatures of the air and of transformation. Her clarity was earned through change and, Waite says, sorrow.

Upright meaning

Upright, the Queen of Swords holds clear sight earned through experience. She stands for independence, discernment and plain speech. She asks the question others avoid and sets a boundary without needing applause for it. Warmth is optional, accuracy is not.

Say what you see. Set the boundary. You can be clear and kind at the same time. If this Queen describes someone in your life, they may be the honest friend whose advice you trust.

Reversed meaning

Reversed, the Queen of Swords can show coldness, cruelty or harsh criticism. Clarity becomes a weapon.

Ask whether your honesty is helping. Sharp words leave scars. If someone else is being harsh, you can take the useful part and leave the rest.

Reversals are optional. Many readers never use them and read every card upright, and that is a complete way to read. If you do use them, decide before you shuffle what a reversed card will mean for you, and keep to that choice for the whole reading.

In love, work and spirituality

Love

Upright, an honest, independent partner, or clarity after hurt. Reversed, cold or cutting words.

Work and money

A sharp editor, a fair manager or clear communication. Reversed, harsh criticism.

Spirituality

Discernment: telling good teaching from nonsense. Reversed, cynicism.

As feelings

As someone’s feelings, the Queen of Swords shows clear, careful feelings. They like you, and they are honest about it.

The Queen of Swords as past, present, future and advice

• Past: An honest person, or your own clear sight, shaped this.
• Present: See clearly and speak plainly.
• Future: A time of clarity and independence is ahead.
• Advice: Set the boundary, kindly.

A Minor Arcana card usually describes the everyday texture of a situation: a mood, a conversation, a task or a step. If the Queen of Swords appears next to a Major Arcana card, let the Major name the big theme and let this card show how it is playing out in thought and the other things Swords rule. If it keeps coming back over several days, write down what was happening each time.

Is the Queen of Swords a yes or a no?

In modern yes or no readings, the Queen of Swords is a maybe. She sees clearly, but asks you to weigh the facts. Tarot is better at showing the shape of a situation than at handing down verdicts, so if the question really matters, turn it into an open question such as “What do I need to know about this?” and draw again.

Affirmation and journal prompts

Affirmation: I speak clearly and keep my independence without losing humanity.

Reversed affirmation: I drop needless criticism and let honesty stay kind enough to hear.

Journal prompts:

• What am I seeing clearly now?
• Where do I need a boundary?
• How can I be honest and kind?

The queen in the tarot court

The Queen holds the suit from the inside: embodied fluency, receptive mastery, care and discernment. She knows the element well enough to work with it calmly. Court cards are not limited by the gender of the figure on the card: a Queen can describe a man, and a Knight can describe a plan rather than a person. You can read the Queen of Swords as someone in your life, as a part of you, or as an approach to the situation.

Here is how the Queen looks across the four suits:

• Queen of Wands: confidence, independence, warmth
• Queen of Cups: compassion, intuition, emotional security
• Queen of Swords (this card): independence, clarity, intellect
• Queen of Pentacles: practicality, nurturing, financial security

Learning a rank across the suits is one of the fastest ways to learn the Minor Arcana: the number or court rank gives you the shape, and the suit gives you the setting.

The history and art behind the card

In most decks before 1909, the number cards showed only a pattern of suit symbols, the way a playing card does. The Sola Busca deck from late 1400s Italy is the famous exception. Pamela Colman Smith gave every Minor Arcana card a scene with people in it, and that choice is a big reason the Rider-Waite-Smith deck is still the easiest deck for beginners. In Italian decks the suit is Spade and in the Tarot de Marseille it is Épées, curved blades woven into patterns. Smith drew straight swords and big skies full of wind and cloud. Air is the element of the mind, and her Swords scenes are often about what we think and say more than what we physically do.

Butterflies are carved on her throne, along with the head of a small winged child, and one bird flies high in the clear sky above her. Butterflies and birds are both creatures of the air, the element of the suit. She holds her sword upright and raises her other hand, as if she is about to speak or to welcome someone. Readers often describe her as someone who has known sorrow and come through it with a clear mind and an honest voice.

When A. E. Waite published The Pictorial Key to the Tarot in 1910, he listed these divinatory meanings for the Queen of Swords: “Widowhood, female sadness and embarrassment, absence, sterility, mourning, privation, separation.” Reversed, he gave: “Malice, bigotry, artifice, prudery, bale, deceit.” Waite said he was offering “a harmony of their meanings” gathered “from all sources”, which means older fortune-telling lists, not his own reading of the picture. On this site I read the picture first and treat lists like this as history.

A spread for the Queen of Swords

Use this spread when you need clear judgment.

1. What is true here? The fact I see clearly.
2. What boundary do I need? The line to hold.
3. How do I speak it? One clear, kind sentence.

Lay the three cards in a row, read each one on its own first, then read them together as a short story. Write one sentence for each position and one small action you will take.

Common questions

Is the Queen of Swords a yes or no card?

It is a maybe. She asks you to look at the facts.

Who is the Queen of Swords as a person?

Often someone independent, clear-minded and honest, who has been through hard things. Court cards can describe any gender.

What does the Queen of Swords mean in love?

Honest, independent love, or needing clarity. Reversed, coldness.

Related cards

• Justice: the Major Arcana card of fair judgment
• King of Swords: her partner on the air throne
• The High Priestess: another wise, seated woman

Keep learning

The Queen of Swords is part of the lesson Meet the court in my free Tarot for Beginners course. To see the whole suit on one page, go to the suit of Swords. To keep walking the suit, read the card before it, Knight of Swords or the card after it, King of Swords, or go back to all the card meanings. For more on the court, see Tarot court cards without confusion. For every card with keywords, affirmations and examples, see my book The Novice’s Guide to Tarot. If you would like a printable cheat sheet for all 78 cards, my 45-page Tarot Workbook is on Etsy.

Sources

• A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: Rider, 1910), Part III, sections 1 and 2.
• Pamela Colman Smith and A. E. Waite, the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot (London: Rider, 1909).
• Nicolas Conver, Tarot de Marseille (Marseille, 1760).
• Lauri Mukkala, The Novice’s Guide to Tarot, entry for the Queen of Swords.